Engage God Daily

I Can't Wait to Get There Scripture: Romans 1:8–15 Runtime: ~4 min Paul desperately wanted to visit Rome — one of the most powerful, cosmopolitan, morally complicated cities in the ancient world. But his reason wasn't tourism. It wasn't networking. He wanted to share the gospel, see people come to faith, and encourage the believers already there. What would it look like to bring that posture to yo...

Trust and Obey, There's No Other Way Scripture: Romans 1:5–7 Runtime: ~4 min Paul says he received grace and apostleship to bring about "the obedience of faith" — a phrase he uses to bookend the entire letter to Rome. It's not obedience instead of faith, or faith without obedience. It's both together, inseparable. The whole Christian life, condensed into four words. In this episode: What "the obed...

Remember Who He Really Is Scripture: Romans 1:2–4 Runtime: ~3 min Paul packs an entire theology of Jesus into three verses — so tightly arranged that many scholars think he's quoting an early Christian hymn or creed. Before we can share the gospel with anyone, we have to make sure our picture of Jesus is big enough. And for most of us, it isn't. In this episode: Why the gospel isn't a new idea: it...

The Power of the Gospel Scripture: Romans 1:1 Runtime: ~5 min How do you introduce yourself? Most of us lead with what we do — our job, our role, our title. Paul opens the book of Romans with a three-part introduction that has nothing to do with his resume: servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God. This week we're slowing down in Romans 1 to see the gospel...

The Holy Spirit at Work Scripture: Acts 10:44–48 Runtime: ~3 min Peter was still mid-sentence when it happened. The Holy Spirit fell on everyone in the room. The Jewish believers who had come with Peter were astonished — this wasn't supposed to happen to Gentiles. But God doesn't ask permission before he moves. That's the moment the gospel crossed a wall it had never crossed before. In this episod...

The Good News of Peace Scripture: Acts 10:34–43 Runtime: ~4 min Peter walked into a room full of Gentiles — people he had been raised to consider off-limits — and opened his mouth with this: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism." Then he told them everything. This is what the gospel sounds like when it's freed from cultural gatekeeping. In this episode: Peter's summary o...

Gather the Family to Listen Scripture: Acts 10:23–33 Runtime: ~5 min Before Peter even arrived, Cornelius had already done something remarkable. He called together his relatives and close friends. He didn't wait to see if the meeting would be worth it. He gathered people around an expectation that God was going to say something worth hearing. That's leadership. In this episode: Cornelius as a mode...

A Sheet Full of Surprises Scripture: Acts 10:9–23 Runtime: ~4 min While Cornelius's men were on their way to Joppa, God was busy rearranging Peter's assumptions. A vision of a sheet full of unclean animals — and a voice telling him to eat — wasn't really about food. It was about people. And it was about to change everything. In this episode: What the vision of the sheet meant: God dismantling the...

A Father Responds to an Angel Scripture: Acts 10:1–8 Runtime: ~4 min Most of us would say we want to be spiritually open — ready to hear from God, ready to act. But when a moment like that actually comes, it's easy to rationalize, delay, or wonder if we imagined the whole thing. Cornelius didn't. This week in Acts 10, we meet a Roman centurion who built a reputation for faith before God ever asked...

Joy Scripture: Acts 8:39–40 Runtime: ~3 min He went on his way rejoicing. That's the last thing we're told about the Ethiopian eunuch — and it's enough. An encounter on the road, a conversation about a confusing passage, a profession of faith, a baptism in desert water, and a life changed forever. Philip never saw him again. Sometimes that's exactly how God works. In this episode: The contagious j...

Baptism Scripture: Acts 8:36–38 Runtime: ~3 min Somewhere on a desert road between Jerusalem and Gaza, a man trusted in Jesus Christ. And almost immediately, he was looking out the chariot window for water. Faith moved into action. This episode explores what baptism means, why it matters, and what it might mean for you — or someone you love. In this episode: What baptism symbolizes: cleansing, dea...

The Best News Ever Scripture: Acts 8:34–35 Runtime: ~3 min The Ethiopian eunuch asked a question: "Who is Isaiah writing about?" Philip didn't pivot to a different topic or a rehearsed presentation. He started exactly where the man was — and from that very passage, he told him the good news about Jesus. That's a skill worth having. In this episode: Why starting with the question someone is already...

Answering Questions Scripture: Acts 8:30–33 Runtime: ~3 min The official was reading Isaiah 53 — one of the most profound and confusing passages in the Old Testament. He understood the words but not what they meant. Philip didn't wait to be invited. He ran. What would change this summer if you moved a little faster when God nudged you? In this episode: Why Isaiah 53 was so puzzling to Jewish reade...

An Unexpected Encounter, Led by the Spirit Scripture: Acts 8:26–29 Runtime: ~6 min Most of us don't think of a summer road trip as a mission field. But what if the person sitting next to you in line, or parked beside you at the campground, or reading in the stands at your kid's game — what if that person was exactly who God had in mind when he nudged you this morning? This week we're in Acts 8, wa...

The Story Isn't Over: Living the Big Story Right Now Show Notes: We made it to the end. But the story isn't finished — not for us. In this final episode of the Big Story series, Lisa brings the whole journey together and asks the question every good story demands: so now what? This week we saw Jesus revealed in his full glory. We stood before the great white throne. We watched the New Jerusalem de...

Back to the Garden: How the Story Ends Where It Began Scripture: Revelation 22:1–5 Show Notes: If you've been with the Big Story since the beginning, today's passage is going to feel like coming home. In Revelation 22, John's vision takes us deeper into the new Jerusalem — and what he sees there is unmistakable. A river. A tree. The presence of God. No curse. We've been here before. This is the ga...

He Will Make Everything New: The Promise of the New Creation Scripture: Revelation 21:1–7, 22–27 Show Notes: The Big Story has never been just about judgment. From the very first moment things went wrong in the garden, God has been working not only to hold humanity accountable — but to bring his people home. Today's episode is the one we've been building toward. In Revelation 21, John sees a new h...

Nothing Is Hidden: God's Justice and the Book of Life Scripture: Revelation 20:11–15 Show Notes: We live in a world where it can feel like people get away with things. The powerful cover their tracks. The vulnerable are silenced. Justice gets delayed, diluted, or denied. And something deep inside us knows — this isn't right. That instinct is not just cultural. It's God-given. We are made in the im...

The King Revealed: Seeing Jesus in His Full Glory Scripture: Revelation 1:9–18 Show Notes: We made it. After months of walking through scripture from Genesis forward, we arrive at the final book of the Bible — Revelation. This week, Lisa opens the last chapter of the Big Story and what we find is breathtaking. In today's episode, the Apostle John — the same disciple who leaned against Jesus at the...

Big Story Pt. 3 | Week 8 | Ephesians 3:14–21 We've spent the week watching Paul build a case for the church's unity, image by image: shared grace, a demolished wall, a temple rising, a worthy walk. Today we step back, take in the whole picture, and let Paul's own prayer become ours. Because by the time Paul reached the end of chapter three, he couldn't keep describing. He had to stop and kneel. In...

Big Story Pt. 3 | Week 8 | Ephesians 4:1–6 For three chapters, Paul has been telling the Ephesians what God has done . Now, with a single word — therefore — he turns the corner. Everything that's true about who we are in Christ becomes the foundation for how we live with each other. In today's episode, Lisa walks through Ephesians 4:1–6, where Paul names four virtues that make community possible (...

Big Story Pt. 3 | Week 8 | Ephesians 2:19–22 The wall is down. But Paul isn't finished. Tearing something down is only half the work — something new has to be built in its place. So Paul reaches for three images, stacked on top of each other, each one going deeper than the last: citizens, family members, and a temple under construction. In this episode, Lisa walks through Ephesians 2:19–22 and exp...

Big Story Pt. 3 | Week 8 | Ephesians 2:14–18 Yesterday we stood at the ground floor: all of us were dead, and God made us alive by the same grace. Today, Paul turns that vertical reality horizontal. If the same mercy saved every one of us, what does that mean for how we relate to each other ? His answer is one of the most powerful images in the New Testament: a wall coming down. In this episode, L...

Big Story Pt. 3 | Week 8 | Ephesians 2:4–10 Pentecost lit the fuse — now comes the hard question: how do people this different become one? This week in the Big Story, we land in Paul's letter to the Ephesians, where he lays out the only foundation that can hold a divided world together: grace. Before Paul ever talks about unity in the church, he makes sure we understand what saved us. And the answ...

We've arrived at the You Are Here dot on the Big Story timeline — and it turns out, we're still standing on it. This week's journey through Acts 1–2 wasn't just history. It's our story. In this wrap-up episode, Lisa invites us to reflect on the week, celebrate the God who keeps every promise, and consider how the four rhythms of the early church can take root in our own lives today. The same Spiri...