MCC Podcast

In our culture there are several words used to describe who we are: MCCers The Church Christians Jesus Followers The Bible word for those who followed Jesus, is disciple. And we are going to take the next several weeks to flesh out what that means to us today and why at MCC, we are using a word that seems foreign to our culture but has great meaning for how we are to live our lives.

One of the passages of scripture that we may find hard to want to say out loud is what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:1 (NIV): Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. We should all be able to say it. But what does it mean? In real life, how do we do that? Last week we looked at what the pace of Jesus teaches us about how His example should shine through ours. This week we’ll look at t...

For the last few weeks, we have been looking at what I believe we as a culture have a hard time doing appropriately. We've been in a series we’re calling Play AND Purpose and it seems to me that we either lean too much into one or the other.  Either we can't remember the last time we were not fully absorbed in a work week or we can't remember the last time we forgot about work.  We can’t...

Continuing in our Play And Purpose series, Student Pastor Eric Craft talks about how a life of purpose is centered in Jesus.

This morning we are beginning a series called Play and Purpose.  We wanted to take a few weeks to look at these because we’re closing in on summer and I hope you will take some time to play.  And next week is graduate Sunday and we want to talk about purpose and the importance of that. As our students transition out of high school and onto the next phase of their lives - purpose is what...

I know you are well aware that our world is divided. It actually has always been divided, but that division now seems to be wider, more obvious, and more filled with hatred. However, as we prepared, we also determined that just as important as the stand we take is how we do it. Peter said (1 Peter 3:15-16): 15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyo...

“If I ran the world everything would be better.” Have you ever thought that? For most of us, it's a joke, but there is a kernel of truth there. This small belief that if everyone saw like you did the world would make sense and be better. The problem is it explains away a lot of shortcomings that we all have. The reality is we judge others by their actions and ourselves by our intentions. We know w...

This weekend we are beginning a new series called Take A Stand. Originally the idea for this series was to take a few issues that are current with our culture where, as followers of Jesus, at a minimum, we should know where we stand and why we stand there. But we’re not just going to tell you what we think or feel, we’re going to show you what God has said through the Bible. I hope you’ll join us...

Celebrating Easter is all about Jesus’ death and burial and resurrection. And we celebrate this weekend with egg hunts and baskets and family gatherings and coming to church together or coming together in your home to be part of this there. But this weekend is HUGE because at the cross we find forgiveness for our sins. That is why we follow Jesus right up to the cross. But we’ll also be reminded t...

I still remember sitting in my office with someone who wanted to talk about beginning their relationship with Jesus. They wanted to be baptized. We talked about that. And as we were finishing, she looked at me and had this troubled look in her eyes.  She said, “What happens after I’m baptized?  I mean, what if I sin?” I asked, “What do you mean?” She said, “The Bible says that when we gi...

It has been a difficult two years, pandemic, social unrest, geopolitical crisis. As these things continue to pop up we can be tempted to wonder, “when will things get back to normal?” we can follow up with another tough question; God, why? In seasons of great uncertainty, it’s really hard to get to peace, and a lack of peace sends you searching for reasoning. Uncertainty or anxiety can become a do...

Have you ever asked God for something or for someone? A teenager who is having her 5th open heart surgery? A young mom whose husband left her? A young man fighting cancer? Your dad when he is fighting for his life? A young couple who want a child but don’t seem to be able to get or others who can seem to sustain pregnancy. Maybe none of those are prayers you’ve prayed,  but they are all praye...

Over the last few weeks we have been talking about One Word Prayers that, my guess is, we’ve all prayed at least one of these. And maybe it wasn’t a literal one word prayer, but it might have been. This Sunday we are going to look at: Yes. And many of us at MCC have prayed this prayer. So what does it look like to say Yes to Jesus? Again, many of us here have done that. But there are some who, for...

There will be a time in your life if it hasn’t happened already when you will need help. Thankfully, we have a father in heaven who loves to write stories of redemption. It is the fact that all of us will need help that we should also look for ways to serve those around us, because when we participate in God’s kingdom of restoration it becomes stronger and everyone is served better. Charles Spurge...

Thanks almost seems like the easiest of prayers. It rolls off our tongues. It is what we say to someone who holds the door for us - even if we never look up from checking our texts on our phones. It is what we say to the grocery clerk absent-mindedly after we have purchased our groceries that were a bit more than we had budgeted. It is what we say to Fedex delivery. We even say thank you when the...

Today we are going to look at a word that God considers a 4-letter word.  The problem is, not many people, even Christians, seem to view it the same way. According to HireRight's 2017 employment screening benchmark report, 85% of employers caught applicants fibbing on their résumés or applications, up from just 66% five years ago. A new study co-authored by a UW-La Crosse faculty member shows...

Occasionally the phrase "four-letter word" is humorously used to describe common words composed of four letters. Typical examples include the word work, implying that work can be unpleasant, or the game of golf, jokingly referred to as a four-letter word when a player's pastime becomes an exercise in frustration. Charlotte Observer journalist Doug Robarchek noted in 1993 how many politicians have...

In a dictionary, you might read that four Letter Words are words written with 4 letters that are considered profane or coarse. The “four-letter” claim refers to the fact that many (but not all) English “swear words” are incidentally four-character monosyllables. The term was used in this sense as early as 1886 in the United States. So we took the idea and applied it to words that - as followers of...

We all learned growing up that 4 Letter Words are words you’re not supposed to say. In preparing for this weekend I actually searched for the phrase “4 Letter Words” online. I read, “Four Letter Words are words written with 4 letters which are considered profane or coarse.” I’m hoping certain words are not popping into your head now. So we took the idea and applied it to words that, as followers o...

This month we have been looking at What If… In other words, What if those who call themselves followers of Jesus actually did what Jesus did? What would happen? How would our lives be different? How would our marriages or families be different? What difference would it make in our neighborhoods? How would MCC be different? How would our community be different? What if we make disciples who make di...

What is something that someone has done to serve you that has impacted your life? I remember serving as a counselor at a high school week of camp and we reenacted the stages of the cross which includes scenes from the night before Jesus was crucified. The scene where I portrayed Jesus was where He washed the disciples’ feet. I wasn’t sure how they would respond. I wasn’t sure how I would respond....

We are asking the question, “What if?” What if we discipled? What if we served? What if we prayed? If we did those things we believe that our church, and the world around us. Specifically, the places that we have influence could be transformed. We are looking ahead to the not yet shaped future and thinking about what we can do today to transform that image in all the ways that we have control. We...

Our definition of a disciple comes out of Matthew 4:19. If you missed last week's message go back and listen to that one first. Our student Pastor Eric Craft did a great job with the background on the story as well as helping us come face to face with the decision of whether we will choose to follow Jesus. In that verse, Jesus said, “Follow Me and I will…” That leaves us hanging. If we choose to f...

I remember sitting next to my best friend one evening and saying “ I think I should go kayaking.” And him seizing that opportunity, knowing that moments, where I do outdoorsy things, don’t come often immediately pulled out his phone and rented kayaks. And so that weekend he and I went out to Ceasers Creek and began to kayak and for the first ten minutes, I was fine, until I tipped the kayak over....

Mike Tuttle speaking, Be: series: July 26, 2020