Port City Community Church Podcast

We all fight with forgetfulness, especially with our faith. We suffer from spiritual amnesia. We get so caught up in the here and now that we forget how many times God carried us through challenging times. Forgetfulness rears its ugly head most often during these moments of struggle. When we come face-to-face with adversity, we forget all that God has done for us.

We need to learn to stop listening to ourselves and start speaking to ourselves. We respond to the enemy's lies by shouting back God’s truth. This is what’s taking place in Psalm 42. The author is having a tough conversation with his soul and not pulling any punches. He goes further than simply asking why his soul is downcast; he urges it to continue hoping in God and praising Him.

In trying circumstances, what we do with our doubts and questions matters. Doubt can become a barrier toward faith, an excuse to give up hope, or utilized as an opportunity to take determined steps of faith and obedience amid trying times. Faith is not having all the answers but being convinced enough to commit and continue with courage. It is our faith that pleases God because faith requires trus...

Despair is the backdrop for Psalm 42. In an attempt to capture the depths of what he was experiencing, the author leans on a familiar imagery in Scripture – water and thirst. The author finds himself beyond thirsty, but he’s not looking for relief from his circumstance; he has an aching longing for a relationship with his Creator. Like our bodies require water to function, our souls desperately ne...

How do our moments of quiet, rest, and reflection help us process what we see and experience? Mike joins us to share how the Summer Sabbath experience is helping him navigate all the turmoil and difficulty present in the world.

Our responsiveness to His grace and guidance hinges on our ability to remember and rejoice. And, in today’s episode we want to practice just that - and spend some time remembering and rejoicing in God’s faithfulness, care, and forgiveness.

Before, our hidden struggles encouraged us to hide from God. With sin creating distance, the last thing we’d want is for God to be close; we'd resist looking to Him for guidance. But, now things are different - a restored relationship influences how we respond to His direction going forward. Since He is responsive to us, God invites us to posture our hearts to be responsive to Him.

Being vulnerable and availing ourselves requires bravery, honesty with God, and a persistent trust that He can do more with our mess than we could even imagine. When we acknowledge our struggles, radical forgiveness, unconditional love, and redemptive grace reach the deepest places of our souls.

If God didn't design our hearts and souls to bear sin, how do we reconcile this with our desire to manage it? Our lives depend on getting found. There is no healing in hiding. To come out of hiding means to stop trying to cover our faults and sins.

As we turn our attention to Psalm 32, we'll witness a different type of turmoil; rather than something beyond our control, this fight resides within ourselves - the pains of hidden struggles, unconfessed sin, and covered-up shame. Our natural tendency will be to avoid this tension and to avoid exposing our darkness to the light, but when we do, we rob God of the opportunity to show a different sid...

Being alone with ourselves is a scary venture, so we rush to avoid the silence. We’re afraid of slowing down and what those silent moments will reveal to us and also about us. But, the busier our life is, the more we need quiet time alone with God. If we do nothing about it, our lives will reflect our culture: busy, distracted, angry, hectic, and loud. So, God invites all of us who are weary and w...

As we’ve walked through this passage together, we saw the ups and downs of David’s faith journey -  confidence and contemplation along with struggle and pleas for guidance. David ends Psalm 27 with an encouraging rallying cry that he speaks over not only himself, but to you, me, and his readers - “ Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

The pleading from David continues but shifts to a desperate prayer for guidance - ” teach me Your way, O Lord.” For God to be our teacher, we must posture ourselves as humble students willing to listen, receive, and act upon His wisdom, correction, and guidance.

Up to this point in our journey through Psalm 27, David's confidence in the Lord has been rock-solid, expressing itself through courage, celebration, and contemplation. Today, we encounter a vastly different David - one shaken and struggling. He can't sense God's presence or hear His voice. Instead, he's crying out to God. His words feel oddly familiar because his laments have, at times, been our...

The person who finds themselves blessed is the one who meditates on the law of the Lord day and night. David isn’t calling us to leave the world behind and embrace a monastic lifestyle. Instead, his words encourage us to  enter into a mindset and heartset inclined toward God.

Anyone who has found themselves in crisis, periods of waiting, or trying circumstances understands Psalm 27 isn't two separate psalms, but an accurate representation of the human experience, the highs and the lows, of navigating troubling times. What we do in the waiting matters more than we realize - it is here where our faith gets tested, formed, and shaped.

We speak of “searching for God,” “exploring spirituality,” and “finding faith.” But what if we have it backward, and God is the one pursuing us? What if our job is not to go find God but stop running and hiding? Not to discover the light, but step out of the shadows? Not to earn God’s love, but simply receive it? Jesus reveals a pursuing God who comes after us, and when He finds us, a celebration...

Today’s episode will be a bit different in its format and flow, and this switch is done with intentionality. First, we will read Psalm 23 together. and then use its words to offer a prayer back to God. As we meditate on the psalm verse by verse, we will be reminded of His goodness while strengthening our understanding of His truth.

Up to this point in Psalm 23, David has described God as a caring shepherd who leads and watches over his flock. Then, in verse 5, the imagery changes from a loving shepherd to a gracious host who throws a victory feast. But, it's not just an ordinary party; it's a celebration in the presence of our enemies. The conquering king invites his honored guest to the table not in a giant banquet hall but...

Our valleys don't need to be places of despair but the very spot where we declare our trust in God. We're often guilty of chasing mountaintop experiences or yearning for green pastures, BUT we recognize our need for a shepherd most in those valleys. His presence doesn't eliminate the existence of evil, but it does eradicate our fear of it.

Let's address the elephant (or, in this case, sheep) in the room about Psalm 23. We don't like to be dependent on anyone but ourselves. In our eyes, being compared to a helpless and foolish creature prone to wander isn't a badge of honor, especially in a culture that applauds self-sufficiency and encourages hiding our weaknesses. Yet, the more determined and defiant we are to go our own way, the m...

If the Bible had a soundtrack, Psalm 23 would likely be the first track. Its comforting words have brought hope and courage to countless individuals wrestling with grief, sorrow, and trials - and rightfully so. Yet, our familiarity with this passage can have adverse effects over time. Because we can recite it, we think we "know" it, and as a result, we lose sight of the beautiful insight it provid...

God was so serious about us experiencing the Sabbath that He commanded it. He invites us to work from rest rather than the inverse. But the pattern of our lives is often the latter. We work…then we crash, and in doing so, rest becomes a form of recovery or even survival. We carry all the pressure for everything we have to do. Sabbath is about trust, and we reveal our confidence and faith in God wh...

Over the past week, we’ve slowed down, sat with, and reflected on the inspiring words of Psalm 1. So today’s episode will be a little different - as we want to help you articulate the things you’re learning, sensing, and feeling, as well as the ways God has spoken to you through Psalm 1.

Today, we will see that delighting in Scripture and enjoying God’s presence does something in us. It molds and shapes us; the question is - into what?