Through and To
When Jesus said, "follow me," he blew up the "first round draft pick" approach of the day and chose ordinary people to follow him, thrusting them into a 24/7 apprenticeship for which they were not qualified...by the world's standards.
The first twelve spent roughly three years with Jesus. That's over 26,000 hours. Discipleship is a slow, long walk. We cannot be empowered, equipped, and released to make disciples by attending church 50 hours a year…but we can grow as we go.
Follow our podcast on your favorite platform or right here on our website. We will have sermons, conversations with current disciples, and short teachings about discipleship, leadership, and life. Will we get to 26,000 hours? Not likely. But there's tremendous value in going together.
Episodes
50 episodes
Find Help
When people need help, the Community of Faith (Christians anywhere) should be the first place they think to go. BUT...people inside and outside the community of faith won’t even think to turn to the community of faith...
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40:41
Find Healing
When disciples - the people who are learning, practicing, and reproducing the way of Jesus - carry out the Bible’s commands for living in community, regardless of where or how we worship, we will impact the places where...
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Episode 49
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29:12
Messy Middle
How do we navigate the messy middle of embracing Jesus, allowing him to lead us out of slavery to sin and death by choosing to stay connected to him and deciding to obey his teaching while simultaneously living for the kingdom w...
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Episode 48
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28:40
The Exodus Way
The story of Exodus presents a pattern that repeats throughout the whole Bible: out of slavery, through the wilderness, and into freedom. Out, through, in. We live in this pattern today and it will find its ultimate fulfillment when Jesus retur...
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35:31
Missing the Mark
Sin is one of those topics that some people say you can't talk about enough and others say you shouldn't talk about at all. There are a lot of reasons for both of those extremes, but a healthy approach lies somewhere in the middle...and it begi...
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Episode 46
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35:16
Symme-tree
Genesis 2 tells about two noteworthy trees in the Garden of Eved: on that provides life and one that opens the door to death. The first humans chose death, but Jesus is present in the Garden and already has a plan to come as the new tree of lif...
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Episode 45
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30:04
Resurrection Day!
The Bible is one big collection of stories, songs, poems, letters, lessons, and more about our relationship with God - and ALL of it points to Jesus. This includes eating good fruit with bad results, sacrificing animals when you mess up, the ro...
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Episode 44
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32:13
What do you expect?
Expectations are influential. This simple truth is on full display as Jesus comes to Jerusalem during the most important week of the year - on a little donkey. People are confused and some wonder if he's was really the Messiah. Others knew not ...
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Episode 43
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37:07
The Art of Worrying Less
Spending time and energy being concerned about things that haven’t come yet adds to difficulties you already have to contend with today…AND you will have to contend with tomorrow’s trouble when tomorrow comes. So, in reality, you’re concerning ...
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Episode 42
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29:21
Treasure Hunting
When billionaire JD Rockefeller died, one of his highest aides was asked, “What did he leave behind?” The aide answered, “All of it.” And that’s how it will be for every one of us. When this life ends, everything we have will stay h...
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Episode 41
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36:52
Secret Ingredient
How are you supposed to give? Pray? Fast? What's the secret ingredient to doing doing these practices correctly? Also, what does Kung Fu Panda have to do with it? This sermon was originally given at Eaton Rapids Church of the Nazare...
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Episode 40
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38:57
T.H.U.G. Life
Word nerd warning: The Bible isn't written in English, but that's how we read it. The Bible wasn't written in the 21t century, either...but that's how we read it. So, what did Jesus mean by words like "hate" and "enemies" and "persecute"? It tu...
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Episode 39
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42:28
Anger Management
If you’re angry, you are standing at one end of a path that leads to unloving behavior like insulting others. And if you’re insulting others, you’re choosing to literally give voice to a violation of the law of love. While anger put...
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Season 1
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Episode 38
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42:33
How to Share Your Story
If we really believe what we’ve found in Jesus is good news, why don’t we share it with others? Keeping it to ourselves is like hoarding bread when you’re surrounded by people who are starving to death...and we know this, yet we still hold back...
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Episode 37
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46:10
Serve (Crowns and Aprons)
When Jesus had only hours left to live, what did he do? He loved to the end, setting aside his crown to put on an apron. This is the love that’s been changing the world for the last 2,000 years and the most vivid picture of this love we can pai...
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Episode 36
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34:28
Eat (Sinner Dinner Party)
Think about the things Jesus did during his time on earth. What comes to mind? Most of us think of things like teaching, healing, doing miracles, praying, walking on water, dying on a cross, right? After last week’s episode, you might even add ...
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Episode 35
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33:09
Listen (with Love)
Flipping through the pages of the Gospels, our attention naturally goes to the stories of Jesus doing over the top, amazing things like healing the sick, feeding thousands of people, and even raising the dead. We tend to remember the extraordin...
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37:29
Begin with Prayer
You are blessed to be a blessing. In Genesis 12:1-3, God says to Abraham - and to us, “However I have blessed you – I want you to use your blessing to bless others. But, where do we begin? Prayer. This is t...
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39:45
Renovation
When you live in a house for any period of time, it’s going to need some attention. Floors need to be refinished or carpet replaced. Walls will need painting. Eventually, nail holes, dings, nicks, and cracks will need to be repaired. Sometimes,...
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Episode 32
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40:00
Original Construction
Methods change, but the mission stays. Our past as a local church shapes our present and influences our future. Originally shared as week three of the Good Bones series at Eaton Rapids Church of the Nazarene, January 19, 2025.
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Episode 31
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56:55
Foundation and Frame
Who are we? We are a people, gathered and scattered in the name of Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to the glory of God the Father on a mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ. We are also Nazarenes. As such, we embrace seven character...
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Episode 30
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49:09
Good Bones
Welcome to our new sermon series called Good Bones. There’s a show on HGTV called Good Bones where a home renovation company in Indy buys condemned houses that still have workable foundations and solid frames, they identify what to keep,...
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Episode 29
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51:08
Prince of Peace
As a result of Jesus' life and sacrificial death, the Good News of peace is proclaimed to a worldwide audience, through those who receive his gift of peace and live in a covenant relationship of loyalty and love with him. Not only is it proclai...
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Episode 28
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35:31