Refuge Audio Podcast

In Matthew 11, we read of Jesus addressing two vastly different groups. On one side were the arrogant, overfed, unconcerned, and self-righteous religious elites who either opposed Jesus or were indifferent to Him. On the other side were the seventy Jesus had sent out to minister to the surrounding cities. These were the foolish, the forgotten, the unworthy, and unimportant in the eyes of the relig...

As Jesus went to preach and teach in the cities in Judea, He encountered the religious elite who were either indifferent to Him or actively resisted Him. Even after witnessing all that Jesus did, they still did not believe. This prompted Jesus to call out to them with a broken heart, warning the hard-hearted and self-righteous. But even when the majority of people in cities or countries are indiff...

Which is worse in terms of someone coming to Christ and finding everlasting life in Him: resistance or indifference? At face value, it seems like a simple question to answer. Those who don’t really seem to care are usually easier to deal with than those who want to argue with you. The question is not who is the easiest to deal with, but what mentality is less open to the Gospel. Those who are cons...

It’s difficult to appreciate just how good the good news truly is without first working through the bad news. Part of that was the responsibility of John the Baptist. He prepared the way for the good news of Jesus Christ by preaching repentance, which meant bringing to the forefront the bad news of sin. Some readily receive the bad news that they are sinners, which prepare them to receive the good...

There’s an interaction that Jesus has with two of His disciples in Luke 24 that shows us His heart after His resurrection. He wants to meet with His followers and walk with them in familiar intimacy. But we often tend to miss God in our midst, not because he's too extraordinary, but because he's too ordinary. When our hearts are tuned to His voice, we can experience an intimacy with Him that allow...

John the Baptist was the greatest prophet, and yet he still needed to learn how to be content in any and every situation, that God’s grace is sufficient, and that His power is made perfect in weakness. And yet, at times John still wondered about Jesus: “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” This wondering and doubt is something that we struggle with too. Jesus’ answer should be enoug...

Have you endured so much pain & uncertainty that you muster up enough strength & faith to move the hand of God? Does it seem like the Lord is silent but responding to everyone else? You are not alone. The greatest man born among women also experienced this kind of discouragement. He asked Jesus, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” It’s a tough question with a tougher answer

In Matthew 10, we read of Jesus sending the twelve Apostles on their first mission trip and giving them several Christian principles to put into practice. In those principles, we learn that what Jesus was sending them to do had no guarantee of total success. There was a chance that people would treat them poorly. But what often draws us into a deeper and more reliant relationship with Jesus is the...

After calling the 12 disciples who were called to be Apostles, Jesus sent them on their first mission. And in the remainder of Matthew 10, we read of the way that Jesus prepared them for this special task. He gives them a series of principles to put into practice. It’s a somewhat rapid-fire list of important truths to consider as they encounter much of ministry for the very first time.

The unlikely and gloriously ordinary men that Jesus called to be His Apostles were transformed by His great love. But one of the Apostles missed out on that transformation. He never saw the resurrected Jesus or received the indwelling power and presence of the Holy Spirit. Though he wrestled with remorse, he never repented. In the end, his sin and unwillingness to repent of it eventually consumed...

As we continue our study of the Apostles, we turn our attention to a group of lesser-known Apostles. Though they aren’t mentioned much in Scripture, Jesus chose these three young men from His disciples to be His apostles: James the son of Alphaeus; Judas (not Iscariot), who was also called Lebbaeus and Thaddaeus; and Simon the Cananite, who was also called Simon the zealot.

As we considered Thomas and Matthew, we again see the kinds of people God calls to follow Him. Thomas was a realist who was often perceived as a pessimist. Matthew was a notorious tax collector—a traitor to the Israelites. But we see that Jesus looks beyond those attributes and changes them from the inside out. Maybe you feel like you say the wrong things and are often misunderstood. Or perhaps yo...

Philip and Bartholomew were Apostles of Jesus. They were also real people—just like us. And just like us, Jesus loved them so much that He received them just as they were. But Jesus loves us too much to leave us as we are. He fined-tunes, harnesses, and focuses the best parts of our personalities while He alters, transforms, and changes those parts of us that need His touch.

For the past several Sundays, we’ve been looking at portraits of the people Jesus chose to be His followers. They were the unlikely ones—real people with failures and flaws who encountered Jesus and were impacted by His ministry. They were compelled to follow Him. Then, the cross happened. Their hopes and dreams of Jesus being their Messiah were dashed. Had they gotten it wrong? If He was the Mess...

Pontius Pilate would have been intrigued to hear that Jesus was calling Himself the King of the Jews—or at least that was what the Jewish religious rulers were counting on. They hoped the claim would cause Pilate to do what they wanted. Of course, they would have handled the matter by stoning Jesus, but only the Romans could carry out capital punishment. They perfected it through crucifixion—a bru...

Palm Sunday commemorates the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem. It wasn’t necessarily how Jesus entered the city (riding on a donkey) that made it a triumph, but how He allowed Himself to be publicly hailed as the Messiah. When Jesus saw the city, He wept over it (Luke 19:41-44) because the people didn’t realize that God was coming to them, making their salvation possible. Just b...

When Jesus considered sending out ministry workers into the harvest, He chose and sent a rag-tag bunch of young men from Galilee to radically change the world. Young men like James and John—two brothers with a reputation for retribution. They were sectarian, zealous, and ambitious, known informally as the “Sons of Thunder,”… yet they were changed eternally by the love of Jesus.

Over 10 days in March of 2025, a small group of faithful servants traveled over 650 miles to 7 cities in 3 different countries to bring the hope of the Gospel to multitudes of refugees from Ukraine who have been displaced from the war. They had countless conversations, gave lots of hugs, shed many tears, and laughed many laughs. In the places they visited, they had dozens of opportunities to pray...

We are confronted daily with headlines about wars, famines, earthquakes, tsunamis, terrorists, disease, and death. If God existed, surely He would not allow these things to exist or to continue…or would He? And if so, why? Couldn’t He prevent some of these things? Couldn’t He have made a better world?  Guest speaker Charlie Campbell answers these and several other tough theological questions relat...

This past Sunday, we continued our study of the twelve ordinary men Jesus called to be His apostles and focused our attention on Andrew. Although we read more about his older brother (Simon Peter) God knew that this quiet, bold, faithful, and humble man would be willing to do what God had called him to—the good work of The Good Shepherd. There are three passages in the Gospel of John where Andrew...

Jesus, fully God and fully man, is still only one man. He knows that the opportunities for pastoral ministry are endless, but those willing to partner in the work with Him are few. He instructed His disciples to pray that more workers would be sent into His harvest. When these ordinary people prayed, they probably thought that God would send experts from religious institutions in Jerusalem or supe...

All of us are called to glorify God in all that we do—no matter the specific call God has for our life. Whether you’re an artist, teacher, banker, plumber, or pastor, God’s call on your life is no less holy and no more sacred than anybody else’s call. The key to bringing God glory is seeing our calling as from Him and for Him. It’s for Him that we work and labor. No matter where or to what He has...

At the sight of the multitude, Jesus was moved with compassion because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd (Matthew 9:36). This was specific language God used in the Old Testament to describe His people. Jesus is the Good Shepherd that God promised to do the good word of feeding, tending, and seeking and saving the lost.