Practicing the Way with John Mark Comer

"The question isn't, are you being formed? It's, what are you being formed into?" John Mark talks about the various influences that shape our lives and who we become. He challenges us to be intentional with our beliefs, habits, relationships, and experiences to form us into people of love. Key Scripture Passages: Ephesians 4v1-24; Galatians 4v19; Proverbs 4v23 Discussion Guide: htt...

"The main thing God gets out of your life is the person you become" - Dallas Willard Our calling isn't just about what we do with our lives: it's also about who we become. John Mark talks about the inward journey: who we are called to be as believers, and how to get there. Key Scripture Passages: Matthew 4v18-22; Matthew 9v9-13 Discussion Guide:  https://practicingthewayarchives.or...

Who are you, really? John Mark walks us through what the Scriptures tell us about our identity in Christ, helping us step into that reality through faith -- even when our lives don't seem to live up to it. Key Scripture passages: Matthew 3v13-17; Ephesians 1v1-15; Ephesians 4v1-3 Discussion Guide: https://practicingthewayarchives.org/identity/week-two This podcast and its episodes are paid for...

Our identity and calling has ramifications for who we become and what we do with our lives. John Mark lays out a biblical framework for this journey of discovery, encouraging us to embrace this process with community and the Holy Spirit. Key Scripture passages: Matthew 3v13-4v11; John 1v20-28; Matthew 16v13-18; Discussion Guide: https://practicingthewayarchives.org/identity/week-one This podcast a...

When was the last time you were disappointed? In our world, it's easy to put our hope in things that fail us. In contrast to the disillusionment of the world, John Mark talks about the Advent hope of Jesus's birth and second coming, showing us how putting our hope in that reality is the only hope that will never disappoint. Key Scripture Passages: Luke 1v16-38; Luke 24v13-27 This podcast a...

Are you happy? Many of us aren't. Yet Martin Luther once said "a Christian should be happy." And Rick Howe argued that "the pursuit of joy is a moral obligation." In a world filled with sorrow and grief, John Mark shows us how the coming of Jesus gives us a path to pursue joy and how we can hold it in tandem with the pain of our lives. Key Scripture Passages: Luke 2v1-20 This p...

How do we pray when we run out of words? John Mark talks about the practice of contemplative prayer and it's importance in our spiritual formation. He concludes with three primary obstacles to this form of prayer, offering ideas on how to move past these and embrace the depth of this path to life with God. Key Scripture Passages: 2 Corinthians 3v7-18 This podcast and its episodes are paid for...

"Learning to hear God's voice is the single most important task of a disciple of Jesus." John Mark talks about listening to God, exploring both they why and the how behind it. He challenges us to posture ourselves in surrender and obedience as we lean into a relationship with our creator. Key Scripture Passages: John 10v1-10; Deuteronomy 6v4-5; Matthew 28v19-20 This podcast and its epi...

There comes a moment in our prayer lives when we want to pray our own words to God. John Mark shows us how the ancient practices of gratitude, lament, petition, and intercession help us find words to place our lives before God in love. Key Scripture Passage: Luke 11v1-13 This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community of monthly givers. Special thanks for this episode goes...

How do we pray in a world full of smartphones? John Mark dives into Luke 11 and how Jesus taught his disciples to pray, showing how this prayer orients us to the character of God and how other pre-written prayers can help us grow in our walk with God. Key Scripture Passage: Luke 11v1-4 This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community of monthly givers. Special thanks for thi...

Do you ever feel stuck? John Mark speaks to the difference between our role and God's role in our formation journey, inviting us to embrace God's leading by letting go of attachments. He argues that surrender to God's work is a way to go beyond the surface level of our spiritual journey. Key Scripture Passage: John 21v18-19 This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our...

What do you do when everything falls apart? John Mark talks about overcoming fear in our lives, laying out a three-part journey of growing in faith, where we find deep peace and trust that transcends our circumstances. Key Scripture Passage: Mark 9v14-29 This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community of monthly givers. Special thanks for this episode goes to: Kevin from Ne...

What gives you hope for the future? John Mark contrasts the negative news cycle of our age with the good news of Jesus: that he's overcome death and is returning that we might walk in his resurrection. Key Scripture Passage: 1 Corinthians 15v1-28 This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community of monthly givers. Special thanks for this episode goes to: Eric from Lake Zu...

How would you work differently if you believed your work was essential to your apprenticeship to Jesus? John Mark argues that a subtle religion emerging in our culture is 'work-ism,' where work becomes the primary system of meaning and identity in our lives. In contrast, he proposes the practice of vocation - 're-weaving glory' by doing everything unto the Lord. Key Scripture Passa...

What if the way forward in our political moment isn’t sweeping reform, but a meal around the table? As much of the world becomes more divided than ever, John Mark challenges us to become peacemakers by demonstrating God's love through the practice of hospitality. Key Scripture Passages: Mark 2v13-17, Mark 3v13-19, Romans 12v13, 1 Peter 4v8-9, Hebrews 13v1-2 This podcast and its episodes are pa...

"If there's anything left of my annoying voice in your memory banks in 20 years, I would hope that you would hear me as a brother in your ear just saying, 'follow Jesus to the quiet and pray.'" All around us, people are angry and afraid. John Mark invites us to become a community of peaceful, 'non-anxious presences' by engaging in the practice of silence and solitude. T...

How do we love others in the moral decay of the modern West? John Mark argues that the world needs a community of holiness as the counter-culture to the mainstream. John Mark explores the concept of holiness, a theology of the body, and the practice of fasting as a path to joy in God. Key Scripture Passage: 1 Corinthians 6v12-20 This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our communi...

In a culture of deconstruction and ideology, how do we stay faithful to Jesus and His teachings? Through the practice of Scripture, John Mark challenges us to deepen our trust in God and the teachings of our rabbi, Jesus. Key Scripture Passage: 2 Corinthians 10v1-5 Resource for this teaching: After Doubt: How to Question Your Faith Without Losing It, AJ Swoboda This podcast and its episodes are pa...

How do we cultivate deep community? John Mark explores how the practice of community fits into our cultural moment of the loneliness of tribalism and individualism. He challenges us to press into community, even in pain, wounding, and trauma, since it is in community that we will ultimately find our healing. Key Scripture Passage: Romans 12 This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle,...

"This could be our finest moment. This could be the moment not of our death but of our rebirth." John Mark challenges us to dream again about what the Church can and should be in our cultural moment. He invites us to re-examine our Rule of Life as we think about being a counter-culture amidst the secular mainstream. Key Scripture Passage: Psalm 80 This podcast and its episodes are paid for...

How do we deal with emotional pain? John Mark explores Jesus's prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, and discusses how His model can help us process through our own moments of pain, turmoil, and disappointment. Key Scripture Passage: Matthew 26v36-46 This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community of monthly givers. Special thanks for this episode goes to: Jimmy from Rand...

How do we keep from becoming "pharisees"? In a time when deconstruction is the cultural tide we swim in and disillusionment with pastors is widespread and well-earned, how do we model the way of Jesus? John Mark looks at Jesus's critique of the pharisees in Matthew 23, and explores what it means for us: how we live our lives and relate to our leaders in the church. Key Scripture Passag...

What is life about? John Mark teaches on Jesus's teaching on the two greatest commandments in the Old Testament: to love God and to love our neighbor. He challenges us to examine how we can arrange our lives in such a way that love of God and neighbor is our natural response. Key Scripture Passage: Matthew 22v34-40 This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community of mont...

Is marriage a contract, or a covenant? Is the love that lasts a lifetime a fiery passion of desire, or something else? Is divorce a necessary evil to “be true to yourself,” or a rupture of a deep union? Jesus’ teaching on divorce is based in his vision of marriage, which is as radical today as it was nearly two thousand years ago. Key Scripture Passage: Matthew 19v1-10 This podcast and its episode...

What do we do when other followers of Jesus fall into sin and wander away? John Mark explores Jesus’ teaching on dealing with sin in the church. Even though it's one of the most abused teachings of Jesus, John Mark show that, rightly applied, it has the potential to help the church become everything it's called to be. Key Scripture Passage: Matthew 18v10-20 This podcast and its episodes ar...