Four Oaks Midtown Podcast

In this sermon on Exodus 32, we look at the story of the golden calf and what it reveals about the human heart and our tendency to turn toward idols. Through three key truths, that idolatry is irrational, habitual, and relational, we consider how fear and uncertainty can lead us to seek security in things other than God, how our habits reveal what we truly worship, and how idolatry damages our rel...

In the last episode Paul wrapped up his third missionary journey and landed at Caesarea where he received an ominous prophecy from Agabus, “This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.” (Acts 21:11) The disciples take this as a sign that Paul should not head back to Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost. Paul, on the other ha...

In this sermon on the Tenth Commandment in Exodus 20, we consider how God’s commands reach beyond our actions to the desires and motivations of our hearts. We examine how unchecked desires can lead to temptation, sin, comparison, and discontentment. Rather than simply avoiding sin or trying to eliminate our desires, God invites us to bring our hearts before him and allow the Holy Spirit to shape w...

In this episode we finish up Paul’s third missionary journey leading up to his return to Jerusalem where he fill face persecution. All three of Paul’s missionary journeys features common patterns. First, Paul proclaims the gospel to Jews and Greeks. Second, that proclamation brings about either conversion or persecution. Third, that persecution fuels the mission of the gospel forward. In all of th...

The ninth commandment explores why truthfulness is essential to loving others and building a flourishing community. Through three key areas- courtroom, conversation, and confrontation- we examine how honesty upholds justice, protects others’ reputations, and strengthens relationships. Ultimately, this commandment calls us to be honest about God, ourselves, and the world, which allows us to walk in...

In this episode we look at Paul's second missionary journey which takes the gospel to Europe and brings about harsh opposition from opponents. Yet God continues to bring salvation to men and women from all walks of life as the kingdom of God expands to the ends of the earth.

The eighth commandment calls us to more than simply refrain from stealing; it calls us to work honestly, steward what God has entrusted to us, and generously share with others. Because all we have is ultimately from God, we are called to work faithfully, receive His provision with gratitude, and give freely as we look toward the greater treasures we have in Christ.

In this episode we look at Paul's first missionary journey and the climactic council in Jerusalem. Both of these narratives show the gospel spreading to both Jews and Gentiles, but also facing opposition. Through it all, God brings about his sovereign purpose to unite Jew and Gentile in one new man through Christ and the Spirit.

In this episode the gospel goes to the Gentiles with key conversions and surprising turns. We also the Exodus-like judgment of Herod and deliverance of Peter as the church continues to embody the life of Christ.

The sixth commandment, “You shall not murder,” reaches beyond the external act of taking a life to the condition of the heart, where anger, hatred, insult, and unforgiveness can take root. In Matthew 5, Jesus calls us to examine our relationships by asking whether we are harboring anger, using our words to wound others, or refusing to pursue reconciliation, reminding us that obedience to God means...

In this episode we look at how God spreads his church through persecution and makes converts out of the most unlikely people.

As God calls children to honor their parents and parents to faithfully exercise their authority, the family becomes a foundational place where we learn obedience, authority, grace, and ultimately what it means to worship God. And this is a commandment with a promise: as we learn to honor rightly, God promises that it may go well with us and that our days may be long. Yet because our families are d...

The ascension of Christ and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost answer the question at the heart of Acts — who are the true people of God? The answer — those who follow Jesus Christ. Christianity began as a movement from within Judaism which explains why the Temple plays such a large role in these early chapters. The Spirit of God now rests in a Temple of living stones called the churc...

The Sabbath reminds us that we are not self-sufficient but created, dependent people who are called to trust the God who made and redeemed us. Rather than viewing rest as a legalistic obligation, Scripture presents it as a joyful gift that reorients us toward worship, dependence, and the abundance of God’s grace. Ultimately, the Sabbath points us to Christ, who invites the weary to find true rest...

God takes His name seriously, and as His people, we are called to do the same. His name carries His authority, character, and power. The third commandment calls us not only to avoid misusing God’s name, but to faithfully bear the name He has placed upon us, remembering that there is no other name by which we are saved. Because we bear His name, our words, prayers, worship, and lives should reflect...

We rightly celebrate the birth of Christ at Christmas and the death and resurrection of Christ on Good Friday and Easter. But if that’s all we celebrate we’re missing half the story. The gospel is not complete until Jesus ascends and the Spirit descends. The ascension of Christ and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit are not add-ons to the gospel. They are essential to it. More than that, they are...

The second commandment reminds us that God alone has the authority to define who He is and how He is to be worshiped, guarding us from reshaping Him into something more convenient or familiar. When we attempt to reduce God to an image or understanding of our own making, we diminish His glory and settle for something far smaller than the God revealed in His Word. Rather than fashioning God accordin...

The book of Acts is filled with strange and awe-inspiring events. Tongues of fire. Miraculous healings. Dramatic exorcisms. Jesus ascending into the clouds. If this is your first pass through the book of Acts, the spectacle is hard to miss. But the greater miracle in Acts isn't the pyrotechnics. It's how God builds his church through ordinary, flawed, suffering people, and uses his church change t...

God’s commandments reveal who He is and invite His people into deeper relationship with Him, showing us what a flourishing life with God looks like. Because God moves toward us first in grace and mercy, our obedience is not a means of earning His love but a response to remembering the love of our Father. The first commandment calls us to put God at the center of our lives, asking us to consider wh...

The Israelites arrives at Mount Sinai and encounters the weightiness and glory of a holy God inviting His people into covenant relationship with Him. God gives them a covenant and commands and He provides Moses as a mediator. The covenant points us to Jesus, the greater Mediator who brings us into the very presence of God, allowing us to draw near to the Holy One with a privilege Israel could only...

In this chapter, we see Moses pause, remember, and declare the ways God has been faithful as he recounts to Jethro God’s deliverance. In response, Jethro rejoices. Our declaration of God’s faithfulness allows others to see and savor His goodness. Jethro sees all that Moses is doing and encourages him to allow others to shoulder his burdens, as God intended. As we pray for one another and carry eac...

 Even as Israel doubted and tested God, He responded with grace, providing water from the rock and victory over Amalek. These events point forward to Christ, the true Rock who was pierced to give life and the greater Deliverer who defeats the serpent and will bring perfect justice. Rather than testing God as Israel did, we are called to walk by faith, trusting Him in every circumstance.

In the wilderness, God tested Israel through healing, provision, and rest to expose their hearts and teach them to trust Him. Though they repeatedly grumbled, God graciously revealed Himself as their Healer, Provider, and the source of true rest. Every test in the wilderness ultimately points us to Christ, who is our daily bread and the One in whom we find true and lasting rest.

Israel sings not because life is easy, but because God's victory has become their victory. The Song of Moses celebrates the mighty power of God that defeats every enemy and assures us that, through our union with Christ, death itself has been conquered and God's strength is always for His people. God's calls us to make His victory known, so as we await the day when all creation joins the new song...

Pharaoh’s “shock and awe” strategy in going after the Israelites was an attempt to overwhelm them with fear, but Moses calls God’s people to respond differently: “Fear not, stand firm,” trusting that the Lord Himself will fight for them. As God parts the Red Sea and defeats Egypt, He reveals His holiness, power, and glory, inviting all people to stand in awe of Him, for His steadfast love endures...