Normandy Presbyterian Church Podcast

Johnny Appleseed Christianity with Dr. Michael Bradley

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻✨ How have you received “grace upon grace” in your life through Jesus Christ? Can you think of times when God has turned your mourning into joy, your sorrow into gladness? Does the incarnation of Christ call us to “make flesh” the love of God for others? Join us for worship this Sunday, 9am In-person and online, as we contemplate these questions!

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻✨ Like many immigrants today, Joseph took his family across the border when they were in danger. Though they eventually returned to their home country, danger was still a present possibility. In what ways did Jesus, in his life and ministry, threaten those who held power in his day? How are we, as we practice the Christian life among present powers, challenging violence and injus...

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻✨ In Romans 1:1–6, Paul defines himself according to (1) who Jesus is (promised through the prophets), (2) what Jesus gives (grace and apostleship), and (3) why Jesus is for all people (to foster faith). How do those qualities and gifts inform your own definition of self? How might you amend, or more greatly appreciate, your own self-image and the image you have of others because...

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻✨ Look for places where the wolf and the lamb lie down together in peace. Where do you see that peace in your relationships, in your family or circle of friends, in the neighborhood, the city, the nation, and the world? Even within yourself, where has peace been forged between previously warring factions? Join us for worship this Third Sunday of Advent with guest preacher Roger S...

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻✨ What does it mean to “get your house in order” for the coming of the Lord? Can we ever be perfectly ready for Christ’s return? Why is the coming of the Lord compared to a thief in the night? Is there grace in God’s surprising advent, God’s unexpected arrival? Join us for worship this Sunday, 9am In-person and online, as we contemplate these questions!

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻✨ In the hurry of the Holiday Season, how do you make time for God’s purpose and meaning of the season? Join us for worship this Sunday, 9am In-person and online, as we contemplate this question for ourselves!

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻✨ In a world filled with commercial ads and secular appeals when and how do we find time and ways to give thanks to God? Join us for worship this Sunday, 9am In-person and online, as we ponder this question!

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻✨ Jesus’ words in Luke are particularly challenging; he assures his disciples and believers that they will be persecuted, handed over, betrayed, and hated (Luke 21:12–19). Where is there good news in a text filled with such scary assurances? Join us for worship this Sunday, 9am In-person and online, as we ponder this question!

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻✨ The writer of Second Thessalonians implores his readers to “hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter” (2 Thess. 2:15). Identify some traditions you should hold on to. Are there traditions we should reclaim? What about traditions that have served their purpose and can be let go? What are the traditions of the church? Join u...

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻✨ The writer of Second Thessalonians “boast[s] of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring.” How do Christians remain steadfast and faithful in the face of suffering? What sustains your hope, and how might you share that hope? Join us for worship this Sunday, 9am In-person and online, as...

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻✨ What is prayer? When we hear the prayers of the two men in the temple (Luke 18:9-14), what does Jesus’ appreciation of the tax collector’s prayer tell us about the purpose of prayer? Join us for worship this Sunday, 9am In-person and online, as we contemplate these questions!

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻✨ The widow represents not only our need to pray relentlessly but also to see the Holy Spirit in this insistent widow. The Spirit is at work, earnestly, unrelentingly encouraging us to pray. What causes you to lose hope in your own prayer life? What might the Spirit be urging you to pray and work for on behalf of someone else? Join us for worship this Sunday, 9am In-person and on...

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻✨ Jesus heals a “double-outcast,” a man who is a Samaritan and a leper. Is there someone in your own life whom you feel is an “enemy” to you—or someone you would rather not be associated with for some reason? Who are enemies in a larger sphere (national, political, or social)? How can you “seek their welfare”? How may you, in faith, reach out to such a one? Join us for worship th...

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻✨ In Luke 17:5–10, the disciples ask Jesus to increase their faith. By asking this, they acknowledge that faith does not grow by our own works and hard efforts but is a gift from God’s grace. How has the gift of faith in your own life changed over time? Was there a particular time when your faith weakened? Can you recall a time when the strength of your faith helped you endure? G...

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻✨ Jesus has harsh words for those who live in luxury and ignore the needs of the poor. The epistle reading warns that “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Tim. 6:10). What is an appropriate Christian attitude toward wealth? How are we called to treat those who are poor? Join us for worship this Sunday, 9am In-person and online, as we contemplate these questions!

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻✨ How do we, individually and corporately, embody both lament for the world and the hope that is in Christ? Join us for worship this Sunday, 9am In-person and online, as we contemplate this question!

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻✨ How are you a lost sheep, in need of someone to come and search for you? How are you a religious leader, grumbling at the community’s disintegrating standards? How are you called to engage in the search for others who live in isolation from God and community? Join us for worship this Sunday, 9am In-person and online, as we contemplate these questions!

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻✨ What must you give up to follow Christ more faithfully? Join us for worship this Sunday, 9am In-person and online, as we contemplate this question!

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻✨ How does your experience of the culture prevent you from fully embracing the call to serve with humility? How can you seek out the stranger in your community? When have you realized that you were doing God’s work, only after the fact? Join us for worship this Sunday, 9am In-person and online, as we contemplate these questions!

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻✨ When are times that you are not open to God’s healing? How does the knowledge of God’s love and care for you open you more to God’s healing? How do you seek God as a refuge in your daily life? Join us for worship this Sunday, 9am In-person and online, as we contemplate these questions!

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻✨ How do you reconcile a sense of division within yourself and the world with the unity we are promised as the people of God? What sustains you in times of conflict? Identify some occasions in your life when you were unable to recognize an invitation to reconciliation and wholeness. And join us for worship this Sunday, 9am In-person and online, as we contemplate this.

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻✨ What does it mean to be ready for Christ’s coming? In what sense is the coming of the kingdom like “a thief in the night” (Luke 12:39)? Join us for worship this Sunday, 9am In-person and online, as we contemplate these questions!

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻✨ Sometimes divine love includes judgment. But the judgment of God is love. What do you think might be the only way that we can be rejected or separated from that divine love? Would God be rejecting us, or would we be rejecting God’s love? Join us for worship this Sunday, 9am In-person and online, as we contemplate these questions!

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻✨ Do you feel that you know how to pray? Join us for worship this Sunday, 9am In-person and online, as we consider this question!