Living Hope's Podcast

It’s easy to think we have the right to it—to the blame, the offense, the grudge, the gossip. The truth is that it’s much easier to take a seat on the throne and act as judge than stay on our knees where we are known by our love and forgiveness. In the final installment of our Exorcised series, The Unforgiving, Pastor Jerushah explains how Jesus calls us to close the book on vengeance and to become those who will walk in lavish forgiveness. 

We’ve been talking about it—evil wants to create lies that become foundations in our lives. It seeks to separate us from Jesus and it’s what our King came to defeat. But, what does it mean to be those who defeat evil? What weapons are we using and what is the perfect weapon used by our King Jesus? In the next installment of our current series, Exorcised, Pastor Jess explains what the sword of Jesus looks like and what that means as we seek to be those who live in victory over enemy mode. 

Pointing fingers is easy, especially when it comes with the label of “evil”. But what, really, is the anatomy of evil and how is it different from sin? How do we respond as we begin to recognize enemy mode not just in the world around us but in ourselves? In the second installment of our Exorcised series, Pastor Jess explains the distinction between sin and evil and how evil leads us to turn on enemy mode causing us to live in avoidance and offense. 

It’s a big question and one that may stop us in our tracks—what is evil? More importantly, what does God do about evil? In the first sermon of our new series, Exorcised, Pastor Jess explains how history reveals evil and how God responds to the evil that wants to steal from us the created world He has given to us. 

What does the throne of our risen King look like? Our Covered in the Dust sermon series concludes with this Easter Sunday message, Covered in Hope, where Pastor Jess Strickland explains how our King Jesus rules from a cruciform throne where He rescued the world not from suffering, but through suffering.

If the cross is where the Kingdom begins, what does that tell us about the enthronement of Jesus? We are invited to reflect and remember the significance and meaning in the events of Holy Week. Continuing in our Covered in the Dust series, Pr Jess helps us see the crucifixion as the enthronement of our King and to hear His Kingdom edicts of forgiveness and restoration. 

Who is my neighbor? What happens when the answer to this question gets, well, complicated? As we continue in our Covered in the Dust sermon series, Pastor Jerushah Tanner guides us through a deeper look at a very familiar story—the Good Samaritan. She challenges us to think beyond our Sunday School understanding and to truly answer the question: What does Jesus mean when He calls us to love our neighbors?

We have heard the phrase—”I am the Light of the world.” What did Jesus mean when He made this claim? In the fifth sermon of our Covered in the Dust series, Beware of Sight, Pastor Jess Strickland explains how Jesus came to bring light to blindness—and not just the physical kind. 

When offense, hurt, or stress come, what do you grab? Do you pick up the sword and strike? Or, do you hear the invitation of Jesus to join Him and instead of the sword, to pick up a towel and serve? In the fourth installment of our Covered in the Dust series, Grab a Towel, Pastor Jess Strickland explains how laying down our God-created will and saying no to willfulness enables us to walk more freely in His love and mercy for others. 

Consider this—Jesus, fully God and fully Man, walked this Earth, and while doing so, He read the Old Testament. He listened to it, studied it, repeated it, and applied it. In the third installment of our Covered in the Dust series, Pastor Jess addresses how Jesus, who has complete and perfect understanding of willingness, understood the God of the Old Testament. 

As you walk with Jesus, where do you find yourself? In the second installment of our Covered in the Dust sermon series, The Dust That Doesn’t Stick, Pastor Dave Fields explains why it is crucial that we recognize Jesus as God as we follow Him. You’ll be challenged to take a closer look at what it means daily to stay in-step following King Jesus. 

There is an idea in Jewish culture—that to be a disciple of a rabbi was to walk so closely behind him—learning and living as he lived—that the dust stirred up by his sandals as he walked would land on those following him. Whose dust are we covered in? As we begin our new series, Covered in the Dust, Pastor Jess discusses what it means to be those who walk closely behind the true Rabbi.

The prophetic—is it necessary? How does the prophetic gift build the church and move our hearts to look more like Jesus? In this sermon, The Prophetic Necessary, Pastor Jess Strickland explains how God speaks, builds, and emboldens the church through prophetic voices and words.

Stay…why? How does staying keep us more aware of where and how God is moving? And what does it mean to move into new places while staying close to Him, the I AM? In the final installment of our Starving series, Pastor Jess Strickland addresses the way God desires to keep us attached to Him as we follow the Joshua 3 example of staying within His presence. 

Need a boost of encouragement as you finish out the Starving season? Check out these interviews full of real time truth from Living Hope members walking through Starving together. Stay tuned after the interviews for a word from Pastor Jess on the prayer, prophetic word, and promise from God for us now.

If Jesus is the beloved Son, what does that mean for you and me? In the second installment of our Starving series, “Pursuit,” Pastor Jerushah invites us to consider how we see Jesus and what it means to truly step into our belovedness as ones who are found in Christ, enveloped in His delight. Listen here.

What is attachment to God? In the first sermon of our new Starving series, ‘The Gift of Attachment,” Pastor Jess explains how God rebuilds and restores the “highways of hesed,” causing us to become a people attached to Him. Listen today!