Redeemer OC Podcast

#MeToo. These two words have dominated much of the news over the past few months and carry a lot of weight. They reveal both the deep pain and abuses of sexual freedom, while also giving us hope that certain sexual acts will not and should not be tolerated. This Sunday we are continuing our study of 1 Corinthians by looking at chapter 6 verses 12-20. In this section of his letter, the Apostle Paul...

How big is the story you are living? This week in our study of 1 Corinthians, like last week, we find a passage addressing a very specific issue facing the Corinthian congregation. Apparently some in that small church were suing each other, yet another example of the division and arrogance plaguing their church. We must be careful not to think that this passage is relevant only when we are tempted...

That doesn’t seem nice at all! This Sunday we return to our study of 1Corinthians. In the fall we made our way through the first section of the book and now in this new section Paul is taking up some very specific and controversial issues facing that first church in Corinth. This weekend read 1Corinthinas 5:1-13. This is a tough one. Followers of Jesus are called to be a missionary people, formed...

Epiphany is the day, followed by a season, in which Western and Eastern churches have historically celebrated the manifestation of Jesus Christ to the nations as represented by the Magi (Matthew 2:1-12), who paid homage to a young Jesus. Along with the visit of the Magi (aka wise men or three kings) Epiphany is a time to focus on the life and ministry of Jesus. Passages on Jesus’ baptism and his f...

Time flies. It is almost 2018! As we approach 2018 and our calendars change, we are reminded of how our time flies. Psalm 90 is a prayer of Moses which helps us begin our year on the right foot and in the proper mindset. ​Right before we ​ring in the New Year, this Sunday we are honored to have Rev. Doug Swagerty, Southwest Regional Director for the PCA’s Mission to North America, preach from Psal...

Who is Christmas for? These last weeks we have been wrestling with the experience of feeling like God is gone. We have been trying to listen to the whispers of the incarnation to help us interpret this “God is gone” feeling. Is he absent or hidden? Is he missing or involved? The incarnation assures us that even when it does not feel like it, God is lovingly hidden and intricately involved. A God i...

Join Redeemer for our annual Lessons and Carols Christmas Eve service. We will sing the great Christmas songs interspersed with readings from Scripture, and a short Christmas message. Edward White Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury, first created the Nine Lessons and Carols service in 1880. The best know version is broadcast from King’s College, Cambridge, each Christmas Eve where they have been cel...

God does not just feel gone. God is gone. The season of Advent reminds us that when we feel like we don’t have enough of God in our daily lives, like our connection with him is not all that it could be, we are not making it up. In one sense God is gone. At least gone enough that it is right for us to long for him to come again. The incarnation shows us that God is fully, deeply, more than we could...

What do you do when God feels gone? Advent is about those times when we long for God’s presence, but feel like we don’t have it. In those moments, or long seasons, when God feels gone we have a decision to make. Whether we realize it or not, we emotionally decide whether God is absent or hidden. Absent as in God is gone or does not exist and we are alone, or hidden in that for our good and his pur...

As another calendar year draws to a close, a new church year is just beginning. This Sunday we will gather together to celebrate the first day of Advent. Wreaths will be hung, candles will be lit, and carols will be sung. It is my favorite season of the year! In all of our joyous and festive parties, we do need to remind ourselves that Advent is not Christmas. The season of Advent is the 4 weeks p...

God will provide. He will. Abraham knew this truth when he was climbing the mountain to sacrifice his son Isaac. Pause for a second, imagine Abraham climbing a mountain thinking that he was going to sacrifice his only son, his son whom he thought was the fulfillment of God’s promise to bless him as the father of many nations. We are very privileged to have Redeemer’s own Rev. Chris Stratton preach...

What is the one thing that when you forget it you finally come to know it? Our passage from the ancient letter of 1Corinthians for this Sunday draws to a close the first section of the Apostle Paul’s letter. Take a few minutes this weekend and read 1 Corinthians 3:18 to the end of chapter 4. Our focus will be on 3:21-4:7, but it would be good for us to linger this weekend over the broader passage....

If you were a building what kind of building would you be? In our passage for this Sunday the Apostle Paul uses three images to help the Corinthian congregation understand who they are and what they are for. Who are we? What are we for? Take a few moments this weekend and read, meditate on and pray through 1Corinthians 3:5-17. I can’t wait to worship together. Pastor David

Um… What? He can’t really mean that, right? Read 1 Corinthians 2:6-16. Doesn’t this seem almost the opposite of what the Apostle Paul wrote in the opening of this letter? How are we to make sense of this? Is there really some kind of “secret” wisdom that only some special people get? If so how would we get it? Now read 1Corinthiains 3:1-4. For a people longing to be wise, longing to be special thi...

No one could have seen this coming. We all know at least the basics. I mean we have all made it this far in life. We aren’t perfect of course, but we’re functional. Mostly. We are no different than the normal folks in the Corinthian church so long ago. Then the cross. Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous. This is God’s plan? The cross simply does not fit with how life really works. Take a few moments th...

It looks really bad. Worse than we thought. When we look out at the world the evil is staggering. When we look in at the shape of our own hearts, at best we are a mix of truth and error, compassion and selfishness, love and hate. Even when we look at the condition of the Church it is really no better, sometimes worse. What are we to make of all this mess? What hope do we have of becoming the peopl...

Prayer begins by listening to God speak to us. Like children learn to speak from their parents speaking to them first, so Christians learn to pray by God speaking to them. This Sunday we will listen to God speak to us through the passages of Psalm 29, Hebrews 4, and John 1. Prior to Sunday morning, take a few minutes and read aloud these chapters. Listen to God speak to you and reflect on the resp...

Have you ever thought about the difference between hearing and listening? Attention. Auditory neuroscientists will say that paying attention to sounds is the difference between the sense of hearing and the skill of listening. The skill of listening is key for any type of relationship: spouse to spouse, parent to child, friend to friend, employer to employee. It is also foundational for Christians...

Let’s do this. Hopefully at this point the idea of taking a weekly Sabbath rest sounds like a good idea. It’s now time to move it from an idea to a reality. After all just thinking about rest isn’t very restful, it can actually be stressful! This Sunday we conclude our series on Sabbath rest. Let’s move it from theory to regular practice. We are going to learn two new things about the Sabbath from...

Was the Sabbath just an Old Testament practice? Does the New Testament say anything about it? Most often when we think about the Sabbath we remember the Old Testament’s teachings. However, when we survey the New Testament we also find plenty of passages on the Sabbath. The teachings in the New Testament on the Sabbath don’t just cause us to look backwards, they show us that part of our Sabbath pra...

A lecture exploring a technique of reading/praying scripture from a devotional and contemplative perspective.

Sleep is a mystery. According to the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School, “despite decades of research and many discoveries about other aspects of sleep, the question of why we sleep has been difficult to answer.” Researchers can prove it is critical to our health, but how it works exactly remains unclear. Sabbath rest is similar. The scripture tells us that it is critical to our...

God is resting. What are we doing? Why? This Sunday we start another installment in our Spiritual Formation sermon series. Last Spring we explored the formative practice of generosity and now we turn to the active practice of rest. Formed by Rest: Finding true rest in a culture of exhaustion God’s word tells us that he is transforming us, conforming us to the image Christ. He does this by the work...

I am excited to announce that our guest preacher for this Sunday is the Rev. Dr. Jim Belcher, founding pastor of our church! Dr. Belcher is currently the President of Providence Christian College and resides with his wife and four children in Pasadena, CA. He will be preaching on Jesus’ fourth Beatitude in the Sermon on Mount from the Gospel of Matthew chapter 5, “Blessed are those who hunger and...

Have you heard of Simon Johnson? You probably have – but didn’t know it. Simon Johnson became world famous but under a different name. He almost wasted his life away until Jesus pursued him and saved him from himself. This Sunday we’ll talk about who Simon Johnson was and why he had to die. I’m looking forward to being with you this Sunday. Invite your friends! Pastor Chad Brewer RUF at UC Irvine