Living Spring Podcast

As we focus on the Reach portion of our Mission Statement, what can we learn from Jesus' calling of Matthew the tax collector? What does following Him look like for you today?

Is it possible to have peace during the Christmas season? And what about the rest of the year? A peaceful life is possible, but it comes at a cost. Are you ready to give up control?

Many of life's big events come with great potential for joy, but fear can easily invade and steal it away. How can we keep our fears under control through life's ups and downs?

Do you want to Love? You'll need to learn how to "see" differently. Really differently. Like Jesus did.

Many of us move into the Christmas season with a lot of hopes; that we don't overdraw out our bank account, that the family gathering will go smoothly, or that new year will bring new beginnings. Maybe its time to shift what we are hoping for, and focus on Who we can hope in.

Do our expectations put a limit on God? It might be time to begin exercising our imagination about what God is capable of doing in our lives and those around us.

Sometimes, you can be doing all the "right" things and still end up facing very hard times. How could God let that happen? Isn't He supposed to be fair and loving? This week we take a look at the life of John the Baptist, someone who definitely had reasons to feel this way, yet stayed true to God.

Have you ever lent someone money? Have you ever felt the angst that comes when they don't pay you back right away, or at all? Often our expectations of others can put us in a position of power over them and score-keeping begins. Jesus gave us an excellent example of putting aside the power struggle and embracing our true position as servants.

How do you measure success? A good job, family, owning a home, serving in the church? This week we take a look at how God measures our success and value.

Alcoholics Anonymous has a saying that “Expectations are premeditated resentments.” This is primarily true but is it wrong to have them? Can’t we expect that our bosses will treat us fairly, our spouse will remain faithful, our kids won’t end up in prison and our steak will be cooked well? Can’t we have expectations about God? How do we respond when our expectations aren’t met.

Evangelism has to begin with me, how has Jesus made a difference in my life? This is the last week of our Game On series.

Being on of those "Christian words", Holiness often has a lot of misconceptions attached to it. But what is it really? How do we live as holy people in our daily lives, overcoming the struggles that can drag us down so easily?

It's hard to find good churches these days. Either the music is too loud, the people are hypocrites, or the pastor doesn't preach straight from "The Word". What's a Christian to do? Many have opted to skip the church scene and download sermon podcasts each week, buy the latest worship album, and have their 'fellowship' time via Facebook. The Bible however, is very direct about the importance of community in a church setting. Maybe we need to take a second look at why our gatherings are so crucial to who Jesus wants us to be as individuals.

God loves a stupid giver. Guest speaker Nate Jones continues our series "Game On" with the topic of Generosity.

There are many questions surrounding the topic of prayer: What makes a good prayer? Is it the words we use, the posture we take, the content? Why does God tell us to pray if He already knows what we need? If Jesus was God, why did He pray? Jesus gave us some examples of what an MVP (most valuable prayer) looks like.

Want to win at life? Add Scripture to your gameplan.

Ever wanted to know the true criteria of what makes "good" worship? Some groups would say that it depends on whether you use elements such as hymns or electric guitars. The Lord seems to have a different standard, and surprisingly it has nothing to do with music on Sunday morning.

If you were sitting at a sporting event watching the game, what would you do if the coach called you in from the stands to play? Jesus' disciples are in a similar situation when they learn that following Christ is about more than watching; are you ready to play?

It's not about your boss, your parents, your spouse, your friends, or the guy who just cut you off on the freeway. Our struggle is not against people, so then who is it against and how do we come out the winner?

Through this series we've seen the difference we can make when we can allow others to share their stories with us. But what about our story? How is ours going to play out and who's writing it anyway?