Midtown Church Podcast

It is easy to believe that “Things would be so much easier if I had been there when Jesus walked the Earth”. While that is an understandable sentiment, it misses what Jesus taught about the Holy Spirit.; through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, all who call upon the name of Jesus can develop a deep friendship with God.

In this world, we are bombarded with voices that tell us we are unworthy or undeserving. These voices are energized by shame, fear, and insecurity; making us feel like impostures everywhere we go. Against these voices is the voice of the Spirit, declaring that in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we have become children of God.

In the introduction of his biography of Jesus, the author Matthew,  summarizes the Hebrew scriptures and suggests that the Jewish messiah has come. God is answering the Israelites' desperation, their primal cry for a Savior. A man empowered by the Holy Spirit who would not just save them from physical captivity but would save them from their sins, from this never ending cycle of human failure...

As evident in the scriptures, Jesus believed in the church. We believe that church is family and so every year we want to revisit how we participate in this family or do this whole Jesus thing together. Participants in the Midtown Community are asked to commit to five things; (1) Reveal the Kingdom of Jesus, (2) Belong to a Microchurch, (3) Gather on Sundays, (4) Serve, and (5) Being Generous.

In a world that is confusing, disorienting, and complicated we need luminaries to show us the way. We need those who have explored the reservoirs of human knowledge and found a way to the good life. In the days of Moses, these luminaries were called “Prophets”.

In the History of Israel, we see God’s liquid Spirit, His anointing rest on the person of David. And David foreshadows the true anointed one, Jesus the Christ. The anointed one is a person who brings God’s Spirit to earth through both suffering and victory. Jesus is that true anointed one, the very embodiment of God’s liquid spirit, God’s presence brought to earth, the bridge, the ultimate priest,...

There is a pseudo-religion that has quietly grown in popularity called “workism”; the belief that our job is not just for economic production or personal provision, but that a job can be the center of our identity. Set against this culture stands the biblical vision of work not as an identity, but as a collaboration with the Spirit of God. And two artisans, Bezalel and Oholiab, show us that we hav...

Many of us have come to believe that God’s presence is only available in a church on a Sunday morning. We start to think God only shows up with the environment, music, and setting are just right. We think God only shows up in the extraordinary. But as Genesis 1 reveals, this is untrue for the Spirit of God is in the very breath we breathe. And if he is that close, then the question isn’t “is he th...

The ugliness of reality is often uncomfortable to look at. It makes us restless. It drives us to distractions. It makes us desperate for a savior. Malachi, the final book of the Old Testament, sums up the experiences of the Israelite people and articulates their hope in God's salvation; reminding them that it is a salvation worth waiting for.

Against the pain, chaos, and suffering life can inflict we can be left wondering, “Why believe?” Like the Israelites mourning bygone days and the beauty of a city they will never see, we can find ourselves hopeless. But the Prophet Zechariah’s message to the Israelites, and to us, is to renew our trust in God and discover faith again. “Waiting for you is like waiting for rain in this drought, usel...

Procrastination is an experience all humans know well. We can put off eating better, a financial goal, a work deadline, or a house project. But we can also procrastinate our discipleship to Jesus, we can put prayer, study, or community on the back burner, waiting to start when we are “less busy.” The challenge of Haggai to an Israelite people who have put off rebuilding the temple is to get starte...

The Prophet Zephaniah warns his fellow Israelites and neighboring nations of the coming judgment of the Lord. Zephaniah’s poetic work ties God’s justice and hope together promising the people of God correction, love, and restoration. Zephaniah was the Great-Great Grandson of King Hezekiah He would have the third most royal blood in his veins behind King David and Solomon. Final decades of the sout...

When our world is filled with evil, heartbreak, and injustice the natural question is why? The book of Habakkuk is one prophet’s honest dialogue with God around this subject; it is a divine conversation in which God assures his followers and promises his justice. HABAKKUK & GOD Habakkauk’s Complaint: Violence of Judah “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you...

The one of most powerful nation in the ancient world was Assyria; an empire infamous for its violence, brutality, and oppressive practices. At the height of Assyria’s power, the Prophet Nahum offers a dark and unbelievable prediction that the Assyrian empire and its capital city, Nineveh, will fall. Nahum knows the Israelite God is one of justice, despising evil, and correcting wrongdoing. Nahum’s...

The Prophet Micah’s instructions to ‘act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly’ first function as an indictment against Judah’s rich and powerful. Judah’s political and religious leaders had turned to exploitive practices to line their pockets and accumulate influence all at the detriment to the disenfranchised. Thus, Micah’s prophesy reverberates through the ages as a poignant reminder for the peop...

The story of Jonah lives in the imagination of many as the story of a runaway prophet and a big fish. While those are elements of the story they are far from the point. Rather, Jonah is the startling and bizarre story of what happens when our enemy-hate runs into the grace of God. Context: No other book like this one in all of scripture. Jonah starts off similar to the other Minor Prophets but is...

Pride is any internal deliberation, or outward attitude that diminishes others. It is an insidious emotion that disrupts the community and isolates us from others. The Prophet Obadiah’s message is a divine pride check for the nation of Edom centuries ago and for us today who maintain the same sense of unhealthy pride. In order to become a spiritually, and emotionally healthy community, we must ref...

Whether it is multi-million-dollar settlements where companies do not have to admit guilt, ministries hiding sexual abuse or covering up theft, or platforming the narcissistic pastor so that they can save face. We have witnessed the fallout from wrongdoing, both on a personal and national level. This is just how the world works, right? The Prophet Amos challenges this status quo and reminds the pe...

In a moment that is marked by celebrity, clout, and influencers, we can come to believe that the work of God is reserved for the few, the special, the called. But the prophet Joel outlines that a day is coming in which God’s Spirit will be poured out on all people. Joel says God’s invitation is for everyday ordinary people to join him in the renewal of our world. A 2022 report done by the Mental H...

The Story of Hosea offers a jarring illustration of Israel’s unfaithfulness and idolatry through the marriage of Hosea and Gomer. But the story of Hosea does not dwell on the actions of Gomer, but rather it emphasizes God's action through Hosea and the restoration we are all offered. The prophets are messengers sent by God to call the People of God back to covenantal faithfulness. God is consisten...

Following the victory of Jesus’ resurrection, the natural impulse would be to think ‘practicing resurrection’ is to move from mountain top to mountain top; from spectacle to spectacle. However, anyone who has followed Jesus for a significant amount of time knows that most of our life is lived between mountain tops, in the mundane and ordinary. Jesus’ invitation is to become aware of His presence i...

In a society where friendship is networking, a strategy for career moves, a transaction, where you can be lonely in a room full of people, Jesus-followers can demonstrate a friendship that reflects Christ's wholly undeserved and self-sacrificial death. To live as Jesus did, to practice resurrection, we must be in community. We have to have friends. You cannot preach the Gospel alone. You cannot lo...

In the West, we are experiencing a monumental shift in which the culture at large is increasingly post-Christian. It's not that culture has abandoned Christianity altogether, it is that culture is reacting against Christianity. In this moment, how do we proclaim the good news when so many have already decided that it is not good news? We believe that there is a practice of Jesus that subverts the...