Destination Church Spokane Podcast

After 9 months (or more) of long silence, when Zechariah's voice was finally restored, the overflow of his heart was to glorify the Lord. The gospel can overflow our own hearts, not only in a specific season or a special day, but all year long, and every day of our lives. What is overflowing from our hearts this Christmas? It's a good question, a question that the good news of Jesus, our...

Friendships centered in God's promise and in an atmosphere of faith are so vital to helping us keep saying yes to God's plan for our lives. Especially when God's word seems challenging or even confusing, who can be an 'Elizabeth' for us, someone who is committed to honoring God and His word, and has seen Him move in their lives? We could almost always settle for someone wh...

When Mary is approached by Gabriel, she is filled with concern, and one big question: "How?" But she was being pursued by grace and God had a plan for her personally - by name - that would shape the course of all of history. Despite her initial bewilderment, she offers herself freely as the Lord's servant; and we, too, have the opportunity to say yes to God's grace. One of the...

Faithfulness in prayer and service is no small thing, especially when fruitfulness has been long delayed. In seasons of delay or little fruit, we could even begin to question if we're really qualified to approach God on behalf of ourselves or others. Our identity in Christ, however, is not dependent on our feelings; it's dependent on God's word of grace and truth. In God's own...

When we hear that people are praying for us and have such a passion and zeal for the church, it encourages us. As Paul thinks of the church in Ephesus, he is filled with thankfulness - and Paul is only man! When Jesus thinks of us, we can only imagine the extent to which he knows us. We already have so much to be thankful for and yet God is still working on our behalf to help us know Him more and...

Jesus went through temptations, none greater than when he went to the cross in perfect submission to the Father. And from this place of praying, Jesus encouraged and challenged his disciples to watch and pray so that they do not fall into temptation. Because Jesus suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those whose are being tempted. If hard times have not come to you yet, they will somed...

If God is sovereign and what He has spoken is going to come to pass, then how should we pray? While it would be futile to pray that we would never experience suffering or difficulty as God's purpose unfolds, Jesus does give clear instruction: pray for mercy as well as for limits on the wickedness in our time. When our prayers are also coupled with clear biblical vision aligned with the word o...

Even Jesus was often misunderstood! Our perspective of Him will shape our perspective of prayer. Are we praying to a God who is truly sovereign or only sort-of-sovereign? Learning to trust Him will help us come to Him with humility, honoring God in the way we pray.

Everywhere Jesus was going, miraculous things were happening. But He was planning something more when He taught His first disciples to, "Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send workers into his harvest field." What followed that instruction to pray? Preparation to go into those fields. Jesus sends the same ones who are praying, and Jesus doesn't send them ill-equipped for the missio...

Is it right for us to come with an expectant attitude when we're praying, especially when we're asking God for things? Is it rude for us to keep asking him for the same things? The answers to these questions have a lot to do with motive, of course, but Jesus' words are very clear: "Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened,&quot...

When Jesus says, "You should pray like this:" we're about to learn something very important if we pay attention. What follows these instructive words from Jesus is what we know as the Lord's Prayer. What if we really use this as not just something to recite, but a pattern for a life-giving, sustainable prayer life? Could this be a tool to help transform prayer from a laundry li...

Wouldn't it be amazing to have Jesus teach us to pray? In The Sermon On The Mount Jesus takes some time to teach into prayer. For people who feel like their prayers seem like a performance or a pretense; for people who feel distracted when they try to pray; and for people who are learning to relate to God as a Father rather than a CEO, nebulous 'force,' or a mere 'granter of wi...

As Destination Church celebrates seven years in the Hillyard neighborhood of Spokane, we look back on some of what God has done and look ahead toward our call to bring in a great harvest in the neighborhoods of our city as well as across the nations of the world. 1 Samuel 22:2 is a key verse: God gathering the desperate and mobilizing them under godly leadership. Jeremiah 40:12 is another great ex...

As Jesus comes toward the end of His prayer in John 17, He turns His focus toward... us! What is it that Jesus is praying for us, for His church? Unity: "May they all be one." Why is this so important to Jesus? "So that the world may believe." Can we actually experience what is, for so many, an elusive idea? While our ultimate oneness will be fully realized only in Jesus'...

Performance-oriented religion will leave us feeling weary and burdened, but Jesus has a different path for us! Breakthrough belongs to Him and salvation through Him, so when we feel weary or burdened Jesus wants us to come to Him with all of it. He doesn't just give a motivational speech, merely reprimand us, or simply tolerate us. He, "...will give you rest" ... "rest for your...

What would it be like to have Jesus pray specifically for you? What do you think He would say? In John Chapter 17, Jesus prays personally for His disciples, revealing His heart for those who follow Him. His prayer doesn't begin with a 'laundry list' of demands or requests for God, but rather He talks reflectively with His Father about how things are going with them. As we listen to...

What would it be like to listen in to Jesus praying? What could we learn? In John Chapter 17, we get the opportunity to do exactly this, and one the discoveries we make is that the God to whom we pray is a God of relationship. This God is deeply generous, and really wants  us to be with Him. If we want to know Him in return, to glorify Him in the earth, and to find our greatest fulfillment in His...

Scandalous grace! God's compassion and care for not only 'good' people, but really not good people is astounding, and can even offend our sensibilities. Jonah is furious that God would act this way toward 'those people!' The surgery God does on his heart begins with a simple question: "Is it right for you to be angry?" God leads Jonah - and us along with him - in...

The people of Judah we encounter in the Old Testament book of Joel are struggling after serious disaster. Crops have been decimated by infestations of locusts, while fire and drought have destroyed pasture land. The resulting lack is so significant that even temple offerings of grain and wine have been cut off. The prophet Joel calls all the people, from the greatest to the least, to pray. In resp...

Jonah has already run away from God's purpose once, but that isn't the end of his story or of God's calling on his life. Like Jonah, we may not always like the places and people to which God commissions us to go, but Jesus' Great Commission to go to all peoples and nations - even the 'Ninevahs' of our time - is in full effect. Despite Jonah's reluctance, the peop...

Just when things couldn't get any worse, God had a surprise in store for Jonah, and he was swallowed - yes, swallowed - by a huge fish! What probably seemed like the end for Jonah was actually God's plan of rescue, and from the belly of the fish Jonah prayed. During his three days and three nights in the darkness and the juices of a fish's stomach, God was doing a work in his heart,...

The sailors had tried everything to avoid throwing Jonah overboard, but all their collective efforts were not enough to save themselves or the ship. They prayed to Jonah's God and then they listened to Jonah's instruction, throwing him into the raging sea. Jesus, our Greater Jonah, has also been cast into the grave on our behalf, and through faith in Him we'll discover the power and...

The ship Jonah used in order to run from God's presence ran him straight into a storm, and no matter how hard the sailors tried to row they couldn't break free from it. When we find ourselves in a serious 'headwind' that threatens to sink our ship, it's important to remember that not every storm is because of sin! It's also important to remember that every sin does le...

God isn't afraid to ask us to do something we really don't want to do or that doesn't feel at all natural to us. This was certainly the case when He asked Jonah to go to "them," the people of the wicked city of Nineveh. Jonah's response? He's so offended that he runs away, not only from God's call but also from His presence. So, Jonah finds a ship going as f...

In this final message of the Son of David series, we are discovering Jesus in a way we might not have expected! Psalm 45 is a royal wedding song, a beautiful poem of love and joy. The writer of Hebrews makes it clear this is also a foreshadowing of Jesus, the Bridegroom King. His appearance? - "the most handsome." His speech? - "grace flows from His lips." He has the character...