All Saints Church Podcast

After the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus came down the mountain and demonstrated his spiritual authority over sickness and demons, the nations and nature, and even sin itself. He begins by bringing holistic healing to a man with leprosy, and restoring him to community. Jesus continues to demonstrate his spiritual authority today, in and through the life of his church, by taking down the mountains we face in our ordinary lives. 

Luke 2:36–38 introduces the prophetess Anna, emphasizing long waiting, persistent prayer, and the posture of longing during Advent. Her story demonstrates how prayerful watchfulness prepares us to recognize Christ’s comings in everyday life. Practical invitations include setting aside focused time to encounter Jesus, memorizing simple prayers, and cultivating spiritual vigilance—‘buying oil’—so we are ready to receive the Savior with gratitude and active devotion when he comes.

Luke 1:5-25 tells the story of God announcing the miraculous birth of John the Baptist to a faithful, elderly couple, Zechariah and Elizabeth. Through their story we discover that we too can be blameless and still barren, and hear the call to keep our lamps burning, especially when life feels dark. God will meet us in our waiting. The question is, how will we respond?

Advent is a time of waiting that invites us to reflect on the ways we too await God's word to be fulfilled in our lives. This week, we reflect on Mary’s yielded life as a model for trusting God without full answers, committing to a costly process, and finding peace. Like her, we call our whole community to say “yes” to God with our whole selves, even when it costs us, trusting that God's light will outshine the dark.  This podcast episode also includes our first ever financial update as we reflect on God's faithfulness to All Saints through the generosity of His people. We invite our whole church to take ownership of the story God is writing in this church plant through regular, prayerful contribution to the work of Jesus in our community. Listen now for more!

As we close our Origins series and enter the season of Advent, scripture leaves us with a timely reminder: Even in darkness and wastelands, God is with us. He gives us hope to endure and a fire to carry until He comes again. 

Human sin unravels God’s good world and leads to death. Death unfolds through decreation and alienation, limiting our ability to multiply God's image and bring order and beauty to the world. Yet death is not the end. In Christ, sin never has the final word.

In the moments after the first humans reject him, God graciously moves towards humanity to speak with us–and confront our spiritual enemy. God exposes the serpent's deception and pronounces punishments upon him, culminating in the promise of a Savior born of human seed who will defeat the serpent for good. From the beginning of scripture we discover that when we hide, God hunts. He draws close to us and destroys our enemy.

Genesis 3:1-7 introduces the serpent, a mysterious creature whom Scripture reveals as a rebel against God and an enemy of humanity. In the garden, we discover the serpent's tactics—twisting God's words, telling us lies, and turning our gaze from God—while hearing God's call to recognize spiritual reality, resist the serpent's strategies, and rest in Christ's victory. We have a Savior who is sufficient, stronger, and worthy of all our praise!

Before sin entered the world, the only thing God calls "not good" is a human without community. You were created with a holy longing to be with others, and Genesis 2 demonstrates how God's good design for community is fulfilled in marriage, mission, and ultimately the Church. As we lean in to love and be loved by one another, we experience a foretaste of eternity right here on earth.

Genesis 2:4–17 introduces Eden as God’s original vision for human flourishing: a land of abundance, delight, and intimacy with God that leads to a life of discovery, discipline, and adventure. At Eden's center is a sacred garden where heaven meets earth. God places the first humans in this garden to enjoy his presence and extend Eden's borders over the face of the earth, carrying his presence with them to the rest of creation. Through Jesus' incarnation and The Holy Spirit dwelling within us, the Church carries on that mission today as we bring God's blessing and order to the broken parts of our world. 

Special guest Dan Braga explores the meaning of Shabbat, tracing how God’s rest at creation points to Jesus as the Lord of the Sabbath. Sabbath is a sacred rhythm—ceasing work to receive God’s presence—and this practice brings peace amid cultural chaos. Braga connects Sabbath to Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, urging believers to enter the finished work of Christ and to embody a non-anxious, restful presence in the world. He closes with practical encouragement to plan and fight for weekly Sabbath as a way to reorder lives and communities in shalom.

On this episode of All Saints Off the Cuff, we pull at loose threads that have come up in our Origins series so far. After sharing personal highlights from Genesis 1, we discuss the practice and ethics of creation care, explore the beauty of ethnic and embodied difference, and conclude with a closer look at how Scripture shapes unity and belonging across culture and gender. 

As we continue to explore the image of God in Genesis 1, we discover that all humans—male and female, of every ethnicity and ability—are made in God’s image and belong to God’s family. It’s as if the Divine Artist has painted a self-portrait in each individual, and also each culture, he has created. When we bless the dignity in others and embrace our embodied differences, we love our neighbors and honor the One Who Made Them.

Humanity is creation's crown jewel, called to rule on behalf of and represent the Creator to the rest of his works. When we understand our identity as divine image bearers, we begin to understand our destiny as God's children. This has big implications for our discipleship as we care for, cultivate, and protect the land and animals God entrusts to us. Thankfully, God sends Jesus, the New Human, to show us the way. 

As we continue watching God shape his good world in Genesis 1, we discover wisdom for how we can live the good life now. The final three days of creation reveal that this good life is rightly ordered, attuned to beauty, and bowed in reverence. It requires us to cultivate healthy rhythms, renew our wonder, and reorient our fears and affections toward the Creator. As we do, we join with all creation to magnify The Only One Worthy.

Watching the divine Artist work should lead us to wonder and give us wisdom to live by. In the first three days of creation, we unearth three practical principles—God promises the dawn will come; God’s best for us includes boundaries; and you can only reproduce who you are—that put this wisdom on full display. Each day also reveals Jesus, the Creator made flesh, in unique and wondrous ways. Listen now to learn more!

There is an Artist behind and before the universe. His work reveals his hand, and his heart towards his creation is kind. He alone is the Uncreated One who brings order, purpose, and beauty from chaotic nothingness. When we trust him, our chaos becomes his canvas.

Genesis 1-3 tells the true story of God creating the universe, with a major focus on the "why". It reveals God’s purposes for creation, God’s special relationship with humanity, and the consequences of trusting or not trusting our Maker. Exploring this ancient cosmology in its context reveals an intentional Creator, invites humility and curiosity, and ultimately points to Jesus of Nazareth as the fulfillment of our story.  Join us for Origins, a twelve-week series through Genesis 1-3 to learn more!

God’s family and God’s mission are inseparable. In Nehemiah’s story, we see a three-part strategy of how to do good works together in our discipleship communities in ways we were never meant to alone: move with God’s heart, understand the local assignment, and have each other’s backs. As we conclude our Formational Family series, ask yourself: How is the Holy Spirit inviting you, and your community, to love the least and seek the lost in this season?

True Christian unity is like a harmony: one song sung by many voices. Ours is the Song of the Lamb, overflowing from our shared love for, need of, and surrender to Jesus. As we sing the same song around the throne of Christ, The Holy Spirit draws out the distinct notes and unique riffs from our diverse cultures and individual experiences. This harmony provides a powerful, beautiful witness to the world around us, inviting those who don't know Jesus into the song that all creation will sing. Practically, the message invites the church to harmonize across cultures, political convictions, secondary theological views, and life seasons, emphasizing humility, mutual service, and curiosity. When we pursue unity, the Spirit brings beauty, authority, and life to the world. We end with a call to self-examination and commitment to community: repent where you cause discord, reject apathy, and join others in singing the gospel song together.