Growing Hope Living Faith

What does it mean to become like a servant? Pastor Rhonda and Pastor Seth discuss this as they look at the lectionary this week. Pride is something that can be very hard for us and lead us to some dark places. It leads us to complacency and potentially the abuse of others. The pharisees allowed their pride and position to get them to that place. Jesus speaks directly against this. What is our iden...

In this episode, Pastor Rhonda and Pastor Seth discuss the Gospel passage for the lectionary and its important to our lives. Jesus here is asked what the greatest commandment is, and His response is one that we are very familiar with. But, what does it actually mean and how does it drive our lives? We hope you enjoy this discussion about this as much as we did and know that we are praying for you...

In this episode, Pastor Rhonda and Pastor Seth catch up with all of the happenings in life. There has been so much going on, and we are excited to tell you all about it. We also discuss the Exodus passage from the lectionary. In this passage, God tells Moses that He will be with him and the people, and proves this by showing Moses His back. It is the fullness of this glory that pushes us and moves...

In this episode, Pastor Rhonda and Pastor Seth continue discussing the Philippians passage from the lectionary that was started last week. In this weeks passage, Paul states his case for being able to be proud of his past. The reality though, is that once he encountered Christ, everything changed. The past, his previous way of thinking and believing, his previous way of living, everything was now...

In this episode, Pastor Rhonda and Pastor Seth discuss what it means to live out the humility of Christ. It is so easy during hard times to focus on religion, instead of living the life that God desires for us to live. We believe that there is and can be a difference. As we look at the Philippians passage, it is so important that we approach the faith with as much humility as we can, as this allow...

In this episode, Pastor Rhonda and Pastor Seth discuss the lectionary passages for this week, focusing on the Jonah passage. This week truly is an extension of last weeks passage that talk about forgiveness and judgement. Grumbling is easy to do when things don't go exactly like we like it. Jonah knew that God was going to be gracious to the Ninevites, and instead of being excited about their...

In this episode, Pastor Rhonda and Pastor Seth return to the lectionary, focusing this week on the Romans passage. This passage looks at how the church is suppose to treat each other, especially within the church. Our call is to encourage and journey with each other, not judge and tear each other down. It is important that we are patient with each other, even when we do not see eye to eye on every...

In this episode, Pastor Rhonda and Pastor Seth discuss the life of Moses. The overall story of Moses is an amazing story full of twist and turns. So many times we get so hyper focused on small portions of biblical characters, but it is interesting when we take a step back and look at the whole story of the characters. It gives an interesting perspective, and should bring us hope. Everyone in the b...

In this episode, Pastor Rhonda and Pastor Seth discuss theology and its importance to the faith. Pastor Rhonda has been working through a theology class, it has led to some great conversations between her and Pastor Seth. They wanted to let you in on some of the conversations they have been having. Theology is very important for us. It is important to understand what we believe and why we believe...

In this episode, Pastor Rhonda and Pastor Seth wrap up their discussion on spiritual formation and its importance. Looking at Romans 12:1-8, it is important that we understand the way that we live our life becomes an our sacrifice. We must be renewed in our minds, and push into the things of God. The way we do this is through spiritual formation. We are all apart of something that is so bigger tha...

In this episode, Pastor Rhonda and Pastor Seth discuss worship and why it is important to our spiritual formation. Worship can take several different forms, but it is important for us to worship together as a community, and within our own personal lives. We do that through celebration, corporate worship, and experiencing God is creation. We hope you enjoy this conversation as we continue on the di...

In this episode, Pastor Rhonda and Pastor Seth continue the discussion on spiritual formations they have been having over the last several weeks. This week, they begin to look at incarnate living and how it forms us and shapes us. It is important that we take care of our bodies. This will allow us the best opportunity to be ready to hear from Jesus and a longer opportunity to carry on the message...

In this episode, Pastor Rhonda and Pastor Seth discuss prayer and fasting and why they are important in our lives. We talk about the why pray and different methods that we can use to hear from God. There is a reason that relationship is so important to God, but it is vital that we do not have a one sided relationship. Prayer allows us to communicate with God, and part of that communication is list...

In this episode, Pastor Rhonda and Pastor Seth continue the discussion of Spiritual Formation by talking about the bible and how it plays apart of our formation. This is such an important aspect of formation, as the bible helps us to understand God better and allows us to understand our purpose in the world we live in. Many times though, we approach scripture with the goal to learn information, no...

In this episode, Pastor Rhonda and Pastor Seth discuss the discipline of silence and solitude and why it is important to following Jesus. We see all throughout scripture the need to STOP and be quiet. The Israelites had a whole day dedicated to this called Sabbath. We see all through scripture though, there is something amazing that happens when people apply silence to their lives. The amazing thi...

In this episode, Pastor Rhonda and Pastor Seth discuss Spiritual Formation/Discipline, and why it is so important to followers of Jesus. It is so easy to brush over things that help in our formation, and put our relationship on the back burner. It is important that we actively pursue spiritual formation in our lives and scripture says if we do, God will change and shape our hearts. Come back and j...

In this episode, Pastor Rhonda and Pastor Seth continue discussing the article by Carey Nieuwhof entitled,  13 Signs Your Church is Dying . Please don't be discouraged as you listen. Our hope is that as you listen, you might see your life and ministry in a new way. If you are a lay leader/person, look with new eyes at what your church is doing and how it operates, and be part of the solution t...

In this episode, Pastor Rhonda and Pastor Seth discuss an article written by Carey Nieuwhof entitled, 13 Signs Your Church is Dying . It is a hard conversation to have, but a necessary one for the church. What are the things that get in the way of spiritual and numerical growth in the church? How can we set ourselves up to be vibrant to the next generation and push them in their growth and journey...

In this episode, Pastor Rhonda and Pastor Seth discuss Paul, and the stories of hardship he had to go through. God's grace was sufficient throughout it all though, even when the suffering was at the highest he would experience. Although a slight continuation from last week, we hope you enjoy as we dive deeper into the sermons we preached this last Sunday. We also want to wish all those fathers...

In this episode, Pastor Rhonda and Pastor Seth discuss some of the things that have been going on in their lives over these last several weeks as well as discuss the topics for their sermons they will preaching this Sunday, 6/11/2023. It all started with a blessing. God promises to bless Abraham, and then the call is that Abraham will go and bless all people. We can learn so much from this call, a...

In this episode, we revisit the interview with Rev. Jacobi Campbell, and the conversation on racial reconciliation. This was such an amazing interview, and one that we belief is important to hear over and over. It was such an awesome time recording this episode, and we hope you enjoy it as you hear from Rev. Jacobi Campbell again. Thanks for your time and know that you are loved! #GrowingHopeLivin...

In this episode, Pastor Rhonda and Pastor Seth discuss the biblical birthday of the church and what it means. God desires to pour out His Spirit on all people, and this is not just seen in the book of Acts, after the ascension of Jesus, but is a theme that is seen throughout the old testament as well. Moses and Joshua had to deal with God pouring His Spirit out on people other than them. This can...

In this episode, Pastor Rhonda and Pastor Seth continue to discuss the Easter season passages with the focus being on the Ascension of Jesus. It is so important for us to dive deeper into the reality of this event, in order for us to be able to fully understand the arch of the Christian Calendar. The Ascension points to the kingship and lordship of Christ. Even as the king, Jesus still shows conce...

In this episode, Pastor Rhonda and Pastor Seth discuss Paul's conversation with the Athenians that we see in Acts. Paul is telling them of the "unknown god" altar that they have amongst all the other altars to other gods. Paul clearly lays out who this God is, and how through Jesus, he proved to be the true living God. He did not abandon us, but is the God that lives with us. Paul es...

In this episode, Pastor Rhonda and Pastor Seth continue to discuss the Easter season and the scriptures that are provided through the lectionary. As we flow from last week, we are called to be sheep. This calls us to believe in Jesus. This is never easy, but requires for us to rely on Him for our all. As we do this, God does something amazing within us and to those around us. We become a holy nati...