MCC Podcast

I’ve made a big deal out of the fact that Corinth was the home of the temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. And that had a HUGE influence on the morals of the city. But I’ve also mentioned that it was a port city, so they had access to trade and tourism and became a place where different lines of thought and philosophy flowed through; all kinds of ideas from around the world about different go...

If someone is looking for a church, what should they be looking for? If you have ever moved into a new city and you’re looking for a church, maybe you’ve asked that question. What is that set of criteria? I’m wondering how many of us have even pulled out a piece of paper and written down a set of criteria that you’re looking for. That allows you to not be driven by feelings, but by a well thought...

When you hear the word freedom what do you think about? Soldiers? America? The right to do whatever you please? Freedom is one of those words we love because it largely benefits us. But what happens when our freedom becomes a stumbling block for others? How can we set aside our freedom so that others might grow? This week Eric will help us uncover what it means to set aside our freedom so we can e...

Last week Paul addressed how sex in the Corinthian culture was influencing the church (rather than the church influencing the culture). This week Paul addresses sex inside marriage. What he is talking about in chapter 7 answers one of the questions they have written to him. And it may surprise you, but God actually has a lot to say about the subject of sex. Now it shouldn’t surprise us because God...

I hope you have been enjoying our walk through the letter that Paul wrote to the church in Corinth. One of the advantages of sitting in a book like 1 Corinthians is that you get more of a feel for the background of the people and why they are doing what they are doing. We also get to be reminded that what was true for/about them is true for/about us. I had a guy come up to me in Kroger one time an...

This week Paul will talk about judging others. So let me ask 3 questions: Do you like to be judged? Have you ever judged someone? Is it ever appropriate to judge another person? Jesus says, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” That’s from Matthew 7 in case you want to look that up because there is more to that teaching. Our culture is constantly saying we shouldn’t judge. But did you know th...

This Sunday Eric will continue our conversation around unity as we dive into 1st Corinthians chapter 3.  As Paul addresses the “who do you follow argument?” happening in Corinth, he reminds the church that he, Apollos, and Cephas all belong to the church.  And that the church belongs to Jesus,  and Jesus belongs to God.  So exo facto all things are God’s.  The leaders of the church, the ministry v...

We have seen in the last 2 weeks that this very young church is in an urban setting and there are a bunch of new disciples of Jesus. The whole Christianity thing had just been invented. With a bunch of new people come a bunch of new opinions and new ideas and perhaps some soapboxes. People could show up and they had their ideas and their opinions and there is some division in the church. What the...

Last week we looked back 100 years to see what life was like here in the U.S. This week we’ll see a few predictions that people made in 1923 that they thought would be true about life today. While some of them are not accurate (at least at the moment), some are hauntingly similar to everything happening in the world right now. What’s true in the world, is true in the church. The more some things c...

The more things change, the more they stay the same. This week we will begin to walk through the letter Paul wrote to the church in the city of Corinth to find out that it’s not just true of the US one hundred years ago, but the church 2000 years ago. We will also see what we can learn from them about how to respond to people and issues in our culture today.

This Sunday I get to conclude our Ekklesia series by jumping straight to the last verse in the book. For the last few weeks we’ve been following how God used Paul. Paul, who helped start at least 10 new churches in his life. Paul, who wrote 13 of the of 27 books in the New Testament. Paul, who influenced people whose names appear on books in the New Testament, people like Mark, Luke, Timothy, Titu...

By now, you should be seeing some obvious characteristics of the early Church. Acts doesn’t paint a rosy picture of first century Christians. We see personality clashes and differences of opinion regarding strategy. The missteps of God’s people trying to be a part of Kingdom building. This week Rich will guide us through chapter 18 where we see the fruit of Christian’s loving God, loving people an...

For this weekend, to get you thinking about what we’ll be seeing that God chose to reveal about Himself through His church then (and His church now), fill in this blank: Outside of the Spirit of God, one of the most powerful tools the early church had was __________. How would you answer that? Miracles? People sharing their faith? Good deeds? There are a lot of ways to fill in that blank. This wee...

This week we see another HUGE moment in Acts. The first 12 chapters focus on the work of the Apostle Peter and the church in Jerusalem. But beginning in chapter 13 that focus shifts to the Apostle Paul and the church in Antioch. So this week we will see what God is saying to us about being a witness for Him.

This Sunday is special as we turn a corner with an event in the life of the early church. What we talked about last week, the conversion of Saul (later known as the Apostle Paul) was a major event for the early church, this week is about to be a bombshell. And if this is your first time reading through Acts, you probably won’t pick up on this. And maybe if you’ve read this book many times, it’s po...

Eric and our intern Leah talk about the gospel.

Eric and Josh talk about sanctification.

This week, we will continue our study of Acts and early church disciple making. This series has been so fascinating to examine and I am really excited to hear what Mike will share with us about Paul!

Kingdom work. It’s a call for us all. Not just a pastor, not just a select few, but for all who call on Jesus as lord and savior. This week Eric will be diving into Acts chapter 6 and 7 as we learn from an early disciple of Jesus, Stephen, and discover what it looks like for us to proclaim the Gospel and step into Kingdom Work.

The 1st Century Church was a remarkable thing to observe! There are so many things that we can see that marked a pretty discernible difference from then to now. Words like passion, commitment, and sacrifice are prominent in my mind. This Sunday we will be studying Acts 4 together. Please read through it a time or two before Sunday. That chapter's stand out word to me is Courage. We will talk t...

We are taking several weeks to look at the church and what the Bible tells us happened when the church started and how that plays out today. Last week I shared that the word that we translate “church” is the Greek word “ekklesia” which means, “the people called to assemble for a specific purpose.” The church, in Jesus’ mind, was never merely a location, it’s always been people who come together fo...

Eric and Chad sit down to talk about the Holy Spirit.

If you missed last week, we have begun a series of messages where we will walk through the book of Acts. We’re calling it Ekklesia.   The Ekklesia means a people called to assemble for a specific purpose. It’s understanding that God gathers us (like on Sundays) so He can send the church into the world, as opposed to the church being a building where we open the doors and expect the world to come t...

This week Craft sits down with Mike and Rich as they talk through the Essentials For Salvation

The church has not always existed.  I’m not talking about MCC. Did you know that 50 people met in May of 1954 to start MCC?  I’m talking about THE church.   If you go back to the beginning of the Bible in Genesis, the church is not there.  But in all fairness, nothing else is either, except God.  The church is nowhere in the Old Testament.   The church is nowhere in the gospels.   It isn’t until J...