Real Life Church Podcast

Jesus noted that the religious leaders of His day would go 1/2 way around the world to convert someone but He told His own disciples to start at home and then spread out. Too many times followers of Jesus think missionary work is for missionaries. Jesus' disciples make disciples wherever they go, but they start at home, first.

What is a disciple? Is every follower or christian a disciple? How does one become a disciple? At Real Life we define a disciple as someone who is striving to look like Jesus every day. In this series we'll discuss how to be a disciple at work, at home, in your own neighborhood, everyday.

Many christians today are afraid of struggle and immediately ask God to deliver them from whatever they may be facing. But the early followers understood that without struggle there is no strength. So instead of praying for deliverance they prayed for determination to face their struggles and grow. Every time we're delivered from our difficulties we get further away from our destination.

Luke ends Acts 2 with a summary statement of the state of the church after Holy Spirit came upon the 120. In Acts 3 Luke records an example of the "signs and wonders" that the Apostles were suddenly able to perform as Holy Spirit led them. Once again, God's love for those who appear unlovely is overwhelming and life-changing.

The followers of Jesus felt alone and abandoned. They thought Jesus was staging a coup but instead He let Himself be crucified. And even though they had seen Him alive again they did not understand what He said, that His Kingdom was not of this world... but they're about to find out.

One of the biggest challenges we face as followers of Jesus is waiting on God's timing. Like JG Wentworth clients, "we want IT now." Whatever "it" is. But before the Church could be launched Jesus' followers had to be prepared - and they couldn't do it themselves.

Melody Gault shares how to live dependently on God while enjoying the freedom of dependence in and from the world around you.

If we had to sum up the culture we live in by one phrase it could be, "don't judge me." Even Christians have used this, citing bible passages such as Matthew 7:1-5 as proof that we shouldn't judge others, or more specifically, no one has the right to judge me. While we all want to avoid the judgement of others, we are all professional judges of others. But are we really not to judge anybody? Is th...

As Jesus final I Say To You statement He let's it all fly - be actively FOR the other person even if they hate you, love your enemies just like God waters and powers the earth, be better in your relationships than those who are not part of God's Kingdom and Jesus' rule, be completely mature in your discipleship... easy right?!

Pastor Corey is recovering from a pacemaker procedure on June 8 so we're checking in with a message by Justin Miller of Real Life Church in Clermont, FL on Matthew 7:1-5. It's a step away from our series but still a step to looking more like Jesus.

Being a part of God's Kingdom family means living according to the highest ethics of that Kingdom - acting in love toward God and others. You may not realize it but when we hide who we "really" are from others we're not only being dishonest with them, we're not acting in love. Since Jesus, the King, has already chosen you to be a part of His Kingdom you don't need anyone elses approval, so put awa...

The question Jesus is answering for those early followers and looky-loos was, How do I live in this new Kingdom? Much like today divorce was rampant and easily obtainable. Jesus raises the bar for what constitutes a reason for divorce while at the same time raising the dignity of women in the culture. But honestly, being a disciple is difficult, in the end, what God thinks about our relationships...

In a surprising twist, where Jesus seems to tell people to mutilate parts of their body that might lead them into sin, He actually takes on the male patriarchy and elevates the position of women (as well as marriage) in the Jewish social system. The point? Behavior isn't more important than belief - God is actually watching both.

Where do you go to discover what it means to live as a disciple of Jesus? What even IS a disciple? Jesus called His disciples to repent, believe and follow - not as a one time event but as an ongoing process where we learn to look more like Him every day. In this series, we'll discover how Jesus interpreted and exposed the law of God (the Commands of the Old Testament), in order to renovate the he...

Many people have adopted Jeremiah 29:11 as their life verse without realizing what Jeremiah was actually telling God's people. When Jeremiah wrote this promise to the people of Israel they were 1700 miles from home exiled in a foreign country with strange customs, language and idols. God's promise to the people was that he wouldn't forget them, not that He would free immediately. The people had to...

We are saved by grace and not by works, meaning there is nothing we can do to force God's hand in salvation. But what it doesn't mean is equally as important. Being saved by grace doesn't mean we shouldn't work out our salvation or that we shouldn't try to live and love like Jesus. God's grace empowers us to look like Jesus, it doesn't excuse us from that work.

Phil and Barb started their first church straight out of seminary and consider themselves missionaries to the North American continent. Their first assignment was to “start a church for unchurched people using only unchurched people to do it.” It was an exciting ride… The Claycomb’s stayed in hands-on church planting for 13 years, planting 2 churches which each planted a daughter church. In 2001 P...

Does God really love the world soooo much that it compelled Him to offer His Son as a sacrifice?! Often we see this as a verse that puts us, (you, me, humanity) at the center of God's existence - Because we're so important to God, He gave up His Son in order to have a relationship with us and all He asks is that we acknowledge His feelings/sacrifice and we're in. But is that all there is to it? Le...

It's the hinge question of Jesus' ministry, the churches mission and your personal spiritual journey. Who is Jesus? It's an important question because if you're looking for a genie to magically fix your problems, or a guru to help you wring as much out of life as possible, you will probably not like Jesus very much. Jesus isn't just your helper, friend or Savior, He's The King. Who is He to you?

It's day 3 and Mary is at the tomb of Jesus crying. She had been crying all weekend because Her teacher, leader and friend had died and with Him all her dreams of the Kingdom He said He came to establish. But now she cries for a different reason; the body she had come to honor, according to Jewish tradition, was gone and now she couldn't even say goodbye. But through her tears her eyes are open an...

Every person has a name. But an individuals given name is probably not the only name they will be known by. Sis, Son, Stretch, Curly or Captain are some of the more pleasant names a person might receive. Some names we receive aren't so pleasant, names like, Freak, Nerd or slut. And some names are even worse, loser, failure, homo... Some names we earn because of things we've done, cheater, thief, m...

Storms can be scary things - there's a lot to be afraid of in our world. But it's not just waves or wind or the earth shaking storms that scare us. It's the emotional and relational storms that cause us the most trouble. That's why it is so important that you see Jesus as the God of the material universe as well as the spiritual. And that you remember God is the God of your calm as well as your ch...

You probably have a long list of questions you want to ask God when you get to heaven. But what if God has questions for you? In this series we'll look at 5 questions Jesus asked and see how our answers to those questions reveal our heart and can help us look more like Jesus every day. Today's question is do you want to be healed? If you do you need to know who to go to.

We live in an increasingly connected world. We used to only have to worry about our lives from two perspectives, Public and Private. Now we have to deal with our public persona, private persona and our online persona. Our struggle as followers of Jesus is to find ways to make and engage disciples in every part of our world, whether physical or virtual.

When online we tend to say things that we might not say in-person. We talk big hidden behind our social media profile and perhaps hundreds or thousands of miles of physical distance. But for the believer, who we are both in-person and online should be the same is we want to look like Jesus. So you'll learn some questions to ask before you post or comment that might help you look more like Jesus an...