Mercy Commons Podcast

Galatians 3:1-14 // It's scandalous to believe that faith is all we need. Nothing we do is enough to save ourselves. We are not enough. There is nothing we can do to justify ourselves to God. Our salvation is found complete in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross!

Galatians 2:11-21 // In this passage, Paul gives a reprimand and a reminder. Peter is struggling with fear of man. He is giving into a false gospel. This is not a gospel difference, but a different gospel – adding to Christ's work on the cross. It altered the truth and Paul had to contend for the truth in public. We must remain firm that it's the gospel plus nothing and the gospel minus nothing. C...

Galatians 1:11-2:10 // Why did God choose Paul? "Seriously, seriously? You chose this guy, this this murderer to do that?!" What a scandalous choice. A man approving of imprisonment and murder of Christians became the principal missionary of Jesus. Many people reject the gospel because of God's choice. The gospel is scandalous and can rescue anyone. "For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, b...

Galatians 1:1-10 // The cross of Jesus Christ is a scandal, it is an offense, it baits us, it can cause us to stumble. The cross is where brutality and sacrificial love collide, where perfect justice and boundless mercy meet. It has been viewed as immoral, outrageous and shocking and so it is. The implications of the cross are no less scandalous. We are a people saved by and shaped by the crucifie...

Pillar 1: We have been rescued by His mercy, so we REVEL in His mercy. Pillar 2: We DISPLAY His mercy by the way we live as a family. Pillar 3: We have been called to PROCLAIM His mercy to those in our spheres of influence/relationship. Pillar 4: We PARTICIPATE in acts of mercy for the common good of the world and the glory of God.

Matthew 2:1-12 // At Christmas time it is very easy to give into our wants. The world tempts and entices us with empty wants that will never satisfies our true needs. We often don’t long for what we need. JESUS is the gift that satisfies our needs and our wants. “If death ruled because of one person’s failure, those who receive the multiplied grace and the gift of righteousness will even more cert...

Luke 2:21-35 // Christ has come! Salvation now has a name. It is in Him – Jesus Christ. Salvation is also personal, it’s His presence, and it’s a blessing for all. Salvation is comprehensive. It delivers us from darkness and removes our shame. However God’s salvation was not easy. Simeon prophesied the pain that Mary would go through seeing the suffering of her Son. “We do not come to a set of doc...

Luke 2:6-20 // “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” The host of angels proclaim the birth of Jesus! To whom was this song sung? To lowly shepherds known for their dishonesty and thieving. Not the recipients you would expect of this most glorious news. The angel’s song gives us courage to conquer our fears – fear of the mundane, rejection, and the darkness of the...

Luke 1:25-55 // Mary’s response to the announcement by Gabriel, shows us her immense faith and in the Lord. Being pregnant and not married in those days was a death sentence. Yet, Mary trusted that God would take care of her. She magnified the Lord’s name, “From now on, everyone will consider me highly favored because the Mighty One has done great things for me.”

Luke 1:5-25 & 57-80 // Advent is a season of both reflection and expectation. Songs are important because we sing to express the posture of our hearts and we sing to re-posture our hearts. These four songs are monuments to us, marking the incredible moment where God broke into our natural world, our history. And they serve to posture our hearts to expect that God fulfills His promises and Christ w...

Philippians 4:10–23 // Our call as believers is to be content. However the world we live in a world constantly tempting us to be discontent with our current state. We pursue contentment through the practice of gratitude. No matter what we have or don't have, who is in our lives, what season we are in, what unexpected situations we face, or the emotions we carry – we can be content in all these cir...

Judges 14-16 // The story of Samson, part 2. The unrestrained pursuit of legitimate desires in illegitimate ways leaves us blind, captive, and broken. How do you know you are pursuing legitimate desires in an illegitimate way? – When our prayers are immature (Judges 15:18-19). When we repeat destructive patterns (Judges 16:4-7). When we rely on our own strength (Judges 16:10-13). When we trust the...

Judges 13-14:4 // The story of Samson. When we first are introduced to Samson, we are told about his mother. However, she is never named. Yet we have confidence that she was not unknown to God. God sees us, knows us, and loves us. Psalm 139:1-6. Samson’s mother was barren before she gave birth to her son. When we consider fruitfulness is our lives – we must remember that it is expected however sea...

Judges 11 // The story of Jephthah. A man who was affected by the sins of his father and committed sins as a father. Two important questions: what are we like? What is God like? We know that we are flawed, fickle, and forgetful. YET, God is good and God is great. Sins of a father leave us feeling rejected. God is not limited by our failures or the failings done to us. Our hope is in a good Father...

Judges 8 // Gideon goes from threshing wheat to threshing flesh. He goes from stopping idolatry to leading people back into it. He goes from humility to hubris. How can we guard against collapse in our lives? Beware of turning God out. Are we expecting to hear from Him? How do we listen to His voice? In what ways do we tune Him out? Beware of feeding anger. Scripture warns about anger giving a foo...

Judges 6:11-32 // This week we look at the story of Gideon. The Lord’s first commandment to him was to go and tear down his family altar to Baal. An altar is a place in our hearts where we are worshipping an idol. Tearing down these altars is a messy business because it exposes our idolatry and areas in our hearts that rely on something or someone else more than God. The grace and mercy of God is...

Judges 4:6-5:2 // Insecure faith is still faith! “True faith takes its character and quality from its object. Its strength therefore depends on the character of Christ. Even those of us who have weak faith have the same strong Christ as others!” ~ Sinclair B. Ferguson

Judges 3:7-30 // In chapter 3 of Judges, we learn from Israel’s mistakes. They forgot the Lord their God and it lead to them doing what was right in their own sight. Their disobedience led to their captivity. God’s discipline is designed to help us remember who the Lord is. We are called to remind ourselves and others who God is and who we are in Him. 2 Peter 1:3 // By His divine power the LORD HA...

Judges 21:25 // The book of Judges shows that without a God above us all, things spiral out of control. When we allow the idolatry of the land to live in our hearts, we forget that Christ is where truth resides. This book has many challenging stories that ultimately show God's judgement is merciful and meant to bring us back to Him.

Ephesians 5:18-21 // God wants us to sing together because it unites us as believers and is an act of warfare against the devil. It also creates an environment of faith and expectation.

James 5:16 // Confessing our sin to God gives us fresh access to His ongoing grace and keeps us from being crushed by hidden sin. When we confess to each other, we foster a culture of humility, honesty, and healing.

Romans 12:9-13 // Hospitality is about being and eating together. It is having an open heart, hand and home in order to display who God is, advance the Gospel and bring God glory. Jesus showed us how to do this through how he spent time with people and how he invites us now into his home.

Ephesians 4:25-32 // We sometimes have a hard time forgiving one another because we forget that it is a command from God. It’s easy to misunderstand what forgiveness is and bitterness or deception can block us from offering it. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.

John 15:8-17 // The most profound way we can save one another is to seek and to save that which is lost.

Hebrews 10:19–25 // To consider one another and stir up one another we need to be known, loved, and challenged.