Northwest Christian Church Podcasts

For 400 years the world had been waiting for the arrival of the King. Everyone knew that things were broken and needed to get fixed. The problem was, during that wait, many people took it upon themselves to fix things. Instead of waiting for God’s solution, they came up with their own solutions. At least until the real King showed up and changed everything!

Sometimes life is hard, and we go through seasons that the Bible and others call “The Wilderness.” These seasons of wilderness can be long, they can be tiring, they can be painful. Sometimes it can feel like there is no end in sight and there is no point to the pain, BUT what we see in the Bible is that these seasons of exile or wilderness are seasons of purification and preparation and even, if w...

Have you ever heard the term “tipping point?” It’s the idea that, at some point, you cross a line or overfill the cup or whatever analogy you want to use, and it opens the flood gates. Today, in our series, we see the People of Israel get to a tipping point and then the judgment comes. What does that mean for us? What about for our country? What can we learn from this?

There’s an old cliché that says those who don’t remember their history are doomed to repeat it. One of the reasons there is so much history in the bible is because God wants us to learn from the mistakes of the past. Even as we look at the life of one of Israel’s kings there are lessons we can learn that apply to us today.

Why do you do the things you do? Most people like to think that they’re unique and special and individuals who march to the beat of their own drum. The reality is, however, almost all of us are people pleasers…at least on some level. We chase the things that others have and want to fit in and be like everyone else. Sociologists call that the “herd mentality.” We all have it but God has called us t...

What’s one habit you wish you could break? Habits are tough, aren’t they? As they say, humans are creatures of habit and once a pattern is established, it can be very difficult to change that pattern. If the habit is small, like brushing your teeth the same way every time, no big deal. What if, however, the habit is big? Or bad? The Bible reveals to us a pattern of behavior that many of us fall in...

Almost everyone, regardless of background, has heard of the 10 Commandments. We’ve posted them in classrooms, fought over them, made movies about them. They’re famous, but what are they really, and why did God give them to us? Are they just an old, outdated moral code put in place to try and control behavior or might there be something more there that God wants us to see and understand?

Exodus 5–19 reveals God’s unfolding plan to redeem a people, confront spiritual and earthly powers, and establish His Kingdom on earth. Chapter 6 stands as the theological anchor, where God reveals His covenant identity and promises to act decisively on behalf of His people. Moses emerges as a profound foreshadowing of the Messiah—deliverer, mediator, prophet, shepherd, covenant‑bearer, and Kingdo...

There’s a lot of stories in the Bible that don’t really seem to connect to one another, isn’t there? In Genesis 15, God makes a covenant with Abram that makes sense but then there are a whole bunch of episodes that don’t seem to advance the story line…at all! What are we to do with that? Why are those stories in there? Maybe there’s a bigger point God is trying to make through these stories that r...

What is a covenant? How do you define that word? Most of us think of a contract when we hear the word covenant, which isn't a bad definition but it doesn't go quite far enough in explaining what a covenant is, at least not in Biblical terms of covenant. In Scripture, a covenant was more like an unbreakable vow and covenants, unlike contracts, were affirmed in some pretty weird ways. In Genesis 15,...

Most of us have heard of the story of Adam and Eve. Most of us know the gist of the story too. Nakedness, apples, trees, talking snakes! But what if there’s more going on in this story than just this? What if this story is really about a rebellion and a lesson that raises an important question…what voices are you listening to in your life right now?

Christians love to fight over the story of Creation. We fight over how long each “day” lasted, whether everything happened in the order the Bible talks about it and even if it was just God the Father involved or other persons of the Trinity. Rarely, however, do we talk about the WHY of creation. Specifically, why God prompted Moses to write the way he did. This week we dig into the WHY of Genesis...

Shakespeare famously quipped – “All the world’s a stage, and the people merely players.” While he may not have meant it in this exact way, there is truth in his saying. We are all part of a grander story, a meta-narrative so to speak. There is one large story that gives meaning and purpose to all of life and each of us has a part to play. The question is, do we know what story we’re a part of and...

How was Christmas for you? Hopefully it was fun and restful and a day marked with celebration of the Savior! So how about today? A lot of people, AFTER Christmas, experience what some call the “post-Christmas blues.” It’s the letdown that comes for so many after the holidays are over. Even though Christmas was over, God’s involvement with Mary and Joseph didn’t end. There is more to the POST-Chris...

If I had been in charge of announcing to the world about God's Son being born, I wouldn't have selected shepherds: unclean, uneducated, unknown. But who best to tell about the Lamb of God being born, than shepherds?

One of the hardest things to wrestle with is unmet expectations. You have a plan, an idea of what life is supposed to be like and then life throws you a curve ball. Someone leaves. Sickness hits. The job dries up. There are a lot of curveballs in life. What do you do when your plans don’t pan out? What can God do with those unmet expectations?

You’ve probably heard the cliché – ‘Big things come in small packages’ before. It’s such a great truth that is easy to lose sight of in the hustle and bustle of Christmas and amidst the cultural pressures to go bigger with everything. Often times, it’s not the big, powerful, or flashy things that make the difference. It’s the small acts of obedience or kindness that change the course of history.

God has given us an amazing vision for 2026. It flows from our definition of what it means to be a “devoted disciple of Jesus.” In 2026 we are going to focus on a phrase we are calling “Fellowship around the Word.” We believe that God is going to do some amazing things in this next year as we get serious about Him and His people.

It’s beginning to look a lot like…Thanksgiving! In just a few days most of us will gather around a table somewhere, eat too much, spend time with friends or family and give thanks. It’s a great thing to do on 4th Thursday in November but what if we did it every day, not just Thanksgiving?? Not the giant meal with all the cousins but what if we gave thanks every day? How might we all be changed?

If you were going to make a beautiful cake, what ingredients would you need? Eggs. Flour. Sugar. Maybe milk? What else? What would you leave out? It’s amazing how such different ingredients, when mixed together in the right proportions, can become something amazing like cake. At the end of 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul gives us a “cake recipe” for what it takes to make our church communities beautiful “...

The end is coming! Have you ever seen someone with one of those signs standing in a crowd or on a street corner? When most of us see that or hear people talking about “The End” we close off and try to ignore it. Some, however, are hyper-focused on the end times and that’s all they want to talk about. The Bible lands right in the middle and in 1 Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul gives some of the cle...

What should a Christian do when someone dies? Is it okay to cry? Do they go straight to heaven or hell, or do they stay in the ground for a while? We have lots of questions about death and dying but most people are unwilling to have that chat. Paul goes right after it and gives direct instructions on how to handle death and the hope we can have in Jesus!

In today’s message Pastor Stacey continues the "Living for Eternity" series in Pastor Jay's absence. Delving into 1 Thessalonians 4, he explores striking parallels between modern life today and the challenges faced in ancient Thessalonica. As Solomon wisely noted, there's nothing new under the sun—our nation remains divided by "tribes" much like in biblical times. Discover the timeless similaritie...

Everyone wants to know God’s will for their life: what school to choose, what job to take, who to marry. But in 1 Thessalonians, Paul reminds us that God’s will is first about who we become. God’s will is our holiness, learning to live set apart from the world around us. In 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8, we’ll see that sexual purity isn’t a side issue for the Christian life; it’s the starting point for li...

When the apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonian church, he emphasized that those who know God must live to please Him. Pleasing God is supposed to be the guiding principle of balanced Christian behavior. While our standing with God is not based on keeping His commands, if we love Him we will seek to delight Him through our attitudes and actions.