Southside Baptist Church Podcast

When we think about the arrival of Jesus our thoughts turn to the past (Bethlehem) or the future (His return). There is, however, a present reality to consider. After Jesus was arrested and crucified, He was placed in a borrowed tomb. His followers and His detractors thought it was over. Clearly this was not the world’s long-awaited Messiah. But three days later, Jesus rose from the grave and appeared to more than 500 people. Since that arrival on the first Easter morning, millions of Christians have claimed and continue to claim that their lives have been impacted by the arrival of the resurrected Savior. Not only did He come and will He come, but He comes to us in our present reality. Join us for part three of Arrival as we explore the present reality of the Christmas story.

If you have lived your entire life expecting God to send a conquering king to overthrow the most powerful empire known to man, you would probably not look for a baby born to an unwed, homeless, teenage refugee. But that is exactly how God chose to make His entrance into our world. The arrival of the Messiah was not what anyone expected and so most people missed it. Join us for part two of Arrival where we will look at Jesus’ arrival in Bethlehem and consider how our expectations can sometimes cause us to miss the very thing for which we are longing.

A longing is a yearning or a desire for something one does not have. Everyone has longings. We long for companionship. We long for a way of life. We long for health, more money, a second chance. And then there are the longings we cannot define. Longings that nothing in this world can ever seem to finally nor fully satisfy. The Old Testament is filled with the longings of a people who had been separated from their God. What if that is the ultimate source of all longing? In part one of Arrival, Pastor Gary Webber explores the universal longing of the human soul and shows how God has satisfied that longing.

At Southside, we believe our sending capacity is more important than our seating capacity. This means, among other things, that we do not measure our success by how many people sit in our worship services, but by how many people leave our worship services to live out the Gospel through word and deed. Jesus told His disciples to “Go and make disciples.” A fundamental part of our worship service is the ability to engage, equip, and empower people to fulfill the great commission. Join us for the sixth and final part of the BECAUSE series as Pastor Gary focuses on why we believe everyone needs to hear about Jesus.

Communion. The Lord’s Supper. The Eucharist. Mass. While it goes by many names, every Christian tradition includes a symbolic meal involving bread and wine or their equivalent substitutes. Where did this ancient tradition come from? What does it mean? Why do Christians around the world still do it? Join us for part 5 of BECAUSE as we consider why we eat the bread and drink the wine in worship.

There are only a few places where people sing together and everyone is expected to participate. The Birthday Song at a birthday party, Take Me Out to the Ball Game during the seventh inning stretch, and in church. Some people love to sing, others dread it, so why do we always do it in church? Are we singing for our own benefit and enjoyment or is there something more going on when we lift our voices in worship? Join us for part 4 of BECAUSE as we answer the questions why we hang out and sing in church.

An often-repeated criticism of the church is that, "They are always asking for money!" While there are examples of financial abuse by churches, there is also an important spiritual connection between our money and our spiritual health. In fact, Jesus talked about money more than He talked about heaven and hell combined! Join us for week 3 of BECAUSE where we explore the basic concepts of stewardship and generosity and learn why your money is like a thermometer revealing the condition of your heart.

The Bible is the best-selling book of all times. It is read, respected, revered, and reviled by people from every nation. Each Sunday, the stories, teachings, and history as recorded in this collection of ancient writings shapes not only the preaching, but the entire worship services of millions of churches. From the lyrics we sing to the creeds we believe; the Bible is the central source of authority for the church’s faith and practice. In week two of BECAUSE, Pastor Gary looks at the Bible and explains why we use it and how we often abuse it.

More than a religious ritual, baptism is a beautiful symbol of a person’s faith in Jesus Christ. Baptism is also a sign of what a believer is becoming as he or she follows Jesus from death to life. Finally, baptism is a seal of belonging. Like a wedding ring, baptism is a visible reminder that this person belongs to Christ and is a part of His Church. In part one of BECAUSE, Pastor Gary explains why we baptize people and what it means.

When Jesus commanded us to love our enemies, He was extending an invitation to live out the reality of the Gospel. We are never more like God than when we love our enemies, after all, it was when we were God’s enemies that He loved us and sent Jesus to die in our place. Join us for the final message of Love Well, as we consider the cost, the power and the standard for loving your enemy well.

When Jesus gave the command to “Love God and love your neighbor,” some in the crowd questioned how Jesus intended us to define “neighbor.” Was it based on geography, ethnicity, religious similarities, or was Jesus talking about something else? In part six of LOVE WELL, Gary explores the familiar parable Jesus told to answer the question, “Who is my neighbor,” and how Jesus’ answer actually cuts to the essence of God’s love for us.

Most people know John 3:16, but not as many people are familiar with 1 John 3:16, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.” This verse isn’t simply referring to our biological siblings. It is a call for every Christian to love his or her fellow believer enough to die for them. This is a call to Love Your Church Well. In an age when consumerism has found its way into the local churches, it is more important than ever to remember that the Bible calls believers to a selfless, sacrificial love for Jesus’ Church. In part five of Love Well, we consider the importance of the local church and how God pours His love out through His church when the people in it love each other well.

"Family" is the laboratory where a child first learns what it means to be loved and how to love in return. Unfortunately, as a result of sin and brokenness, what we learn from our families is sometimes not the love described in the Bible, but a broken facsimile. To love our family well means breaking broken patterns of generational sin. That can only be done when we are willing to love with the kind of love Jesus showed us on the cross. Join us for part three of LOVE WELL, as Pastor Gary explores an Old Testament example of how love can break the cycle of generational sin and set us free to love well. 

The most intimate of all human relationships is the bond between a husband and wife. That makes marriage the most fulfilling, and potentially, damaging of all relationships. When God created man in His image, He said it was not good for him to be alone. So, God instituted the marriage relationship. But from Adam and Eve, throughout the ages, to the couple that just said "I do", marriage continues to be the source of a lot of human pain. Join us for part two of Love Well, as we explore what the Bible says about marriage, divorce, and being single.

When we talk about love, we could mean a variety of things. For example, we say we love our family, and then declare that we love Italian food! Clearly, we do not mean the same thing. The Bible uses a variety of words to describe the various kinds of love we experience. John gave us the most basic definition when he said, "God is love". Paul gave a longer definition that we often hear at weddings. Join us for part one of LOVE WELL, as we try to understand the kind of love the Bible calls us to have and how to direct that love to God.

When asked to summarize the law, Jesus responded with two simple commands: Love God and love people. Simple ... but not easy. Jesus’ command to love is not a flippant invitation to warm fuzzy emotions, but a difficult, sometimes dangerous proposition. How we love God has a direct impact on our capacity to love others. How we love others, is the most accurate reflection of how we truly love God. From the love of a husband and wife to the love we are commanded to have for our enemies, every relationship has the potential to expand and strengthen our love for God. Join us for a series that explores what the Bible teaches us about how to love well.

We all want justice, but not everyone agrees on an objective standard for justice. In a world that increasingly accepts the idea of moral relativism, it can be hard to distinguish between right and wrong. Who ultimately decides? Who has the right to judge? The author of the book of judges describes a period in the history of srael that sounds very much like our culture today. He sums it up with the statement, "In those days, there was no king ... everyone did what they thought was right in their own eyes." Join us for the final message in a series from the book of Judges, in which Pastor Gary Webber asks the question, who has the right to judge?

In the beginning, God created man in His own image, and man has tried to return the favor ever since. So much of what we pass off as religion is really an effort to craft a god to fit our preferences. If we are not careful, we can pick and choose what we believe about God and His ways, leaving out those character traits and commands we find uncomfortable and inconvenient. This is nothing new. People have been tempted to create designer gods from the very first pages of the Bible. Join us for part nine of Anarchy, where Pastor Gary Webber looks at Judges 17-18 to uncover some of the very real dangers of designer gods.

Throughout the ancient book of Judges, there is an ongoing battle between what is right “in the eyes of the Lord,” and what people thought was “right in their own eyes.” That battle has persisted throughout history and continues to rage on some 3,300 years after the events recorded in Judges. The effects of this conflict are clearly summarized in the life of Samson. Join us for part 8 of “Anarchy,” as we consider the results of living a life that is right in your own eyes.