Rethink & Return with Jason Shepperd

This episode covers Colossians 2:1-5 , where Paul challenges believers to fight for the faith of others, pursue gospel goals greater than themselves, seek more of Jesus, resist deception, and grow in spiritual discipline. Through Paul's words to the church, we discover what it means to live a life fully engaged in gospel work and committed to the growth of others. Following Jesus was never me...

This episode covers Colossians 1:24-29 , exploring what it means to rejoice in suffering, serve the Church, proclaim Jesus, and live with the end in mind. Paul’s words challenge us to see suffering not simply as something to avoid, but as something God can use to shape and sanctify us. While suffering may seem antithetical to our human spirit, God does some of His deepest work in the crushing, sha...

This episode covers Colossians 1:21-23 , exploring the powerful reality of what it means to be reconciled to God through Jesus. Paul begins by reminding us of the seriousness of our former condition—we were alienated from God, enemies in our minds, and living in evil behavior. But the gospel tells a completely different story: what was once broken has been made right through the physical death of...

This episode covers Acts 11:19-24 and the pivotal moment when the gospel began moving beyond the familiar and comfortable. Jason Shepperd and Dave Edwards explore what happened when some believers went further than they had gone before and began sharing the good news of Jesus with people outside their normal circles. Through the story of Barnabas and the believers in Antioch, they unpack what it l...

This episode covers Colossians 1:18-20 and the supremacy of Jesus over His Church, His power over death, the fullness of God found in Him, and the reconciliation He accomplished through the cross. Paul describes Jesus as the head of the body, the Church. Jesus does not simply call us into a relationship with Himself; He makes us part of His body and calls us to belong to one another. We cannot cla...

This episode covers Colossians 1:15-17 and the supremacy of Jesus over all creation. Paul gives us one of Scripture’s clearest pictures of who Jesus really is—not simply a good teacher, prophet, or spiritual guide, but the visible image of the invisible God, the Creator of everything, and the One who holds all things together. What does it mean that Jesus is “the image of the invisible God” and “t...

This episode covers Colossians 1:9-14 , where Paul gives us a powerful picture of what it looks like to follow Jesus and how we should pray for ourselves and others. As the gospel continues to move and grow, Paul reminds the church that gospel participation requires the power and protection of prayer to persevere. We’ll explore why one of our greatest desires should be to know the will of God and...

This episode covers Colossians 1:3-8 and what it looks like when the Gospel takes root in a church, transforms individual lives, and continues to grow through people who faithfully share it. Paul begins by thanking God for the Colossian church and praying for them. His example reminds us that praying for our church should become normal—not casually, but always, often, passionately, and with faith....

This episode covers Colossians 1:1-2 and the powerful truths found in the opening words of Paul’s letter to the church in Colossae. Though only two verses, they reveal what it means to be changed by Jesus, called according to God’s will, committed to His mission, connected to His Church, and growing in grace and peace. Paul begins by identifying himself as “an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will o...

This episode covers 2 Peter 3:1-9 and Peter’s urgent call to remember the way of God. We talk about how Peter, near the end of his life, writes to stir up wholesome thinking by reminding us of the words of the prophets and the commands of Jesus through the apostles. We look at the scoffers who mock the promise of Christ’s return, deliberately forgetting God’s power in creation, the flood, and the...

This episode covers the raw warning in 2 Peter 2:13-22 about false teachers infiltrating the church, God’s certain payback for the harm they cause, and the shocking reality of those who taste the gospel but return to sin. We unpack how these teachers carouse in broad daylight, seduce the unstable with greed and adultery, promise freedom while enslaved to depravity, and why leaving the straight pat...

This episodes covers 2 Peter 2:4–12 and explores the sobering reality that God is both the righteous Judge and the faithful Rescuer. The passage walks through examples of divine judgment—from angels who sinned, to the ancient world destroyed by the flood, to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah—to show that no one ultimately escapes God’s justice.  At the same time, Scripture highlights God’s pattern...

This episode covers 2 Peter chapter 2 and the reality of false teachers among the people of God. We talk about what actually qualifies as heresy, the difference between disputable matters and gospel essentials, and why denying the lordship of Jesus crosses a line. The covenant changed, but the human condition did not. That means false teaching did not disappear either. We also wrestle with the dan...

This episode covers 2 Peter 1:12–21 and Peter’s urgency as he nears the end of his life. He calls his body a tent and knows his time is short. Instead of chasing something new, he doubles down on reminding the church of what is already true. We talk about why mature believers must stay open to being reminded, what it means to live with the brevity of life in view, and why making every effort to pa...

This episode covers 2 Peter 1:5–11 and the tension between grace and effort. What it means to participate in the divine nature without trying to earn what has already been given. Why effort is not opposed to the gospel, but apathy is. How spiritual growth actually happens, why stagnation is dangerous, and how forgetting grace leads to blindness. A call to keep growing, keep adding, and keep taking...

This episode covers formation beneath the surface, deep conviction shaped by theology not trends, and the kind of leadership that actually lasts. In a leadership conversation with Rob Wagner, we talk about the hidden cost most leaders are never warned about, crucifixion before influence, and why sustainable fruit only comes from abiding. This is a word for leaders who are more concerned with being...

This episode covers divine power and where it actually comes from, what it means that God has given us everything we need for life, and how godliness grows through waiting, endurance, and participation in the life of Christ. A slow walk through 2 Peter 1 that reframes power, maturity, and what true life really is, with guest Calvin Taylor. Website: jasonshepperd.com Audio Devotionals: startwith7.c...

This episode covers a conversation with Josh Hussman of Mercy Road Church and Multiply Indiana on leadership shaped by loss and faithfulness. Josh reflects on planting a church, the loss of a child early in ministry, and how that season reshaped his understanding of calling, success, and endurance. They talk about suffering, perseverance, and what it means to keep leading without becoming hardened...

This episode covers power, godliness, and the claim Scripture makes without softening it. God has already given everything needed for life and godliness. Not eventually. Not after growth. Not after maturity. The conversation presses on why believers live beneath what has been given, how excuses quietly replace faith, and why sanctification is not about trying harder but living from what is already...

This episode covers the opening words of 2 Peter by slowing down to consider the man God chose to speak through. Before doctrine, warning, or instruction, Peter introduces himself as a servant and apostle shaped by failure, restoration, and long obedience to Jesus. Written near the end of his life, these verses carry the weight of a man who knows who he is, why he believes, and where his hope rest...

This episode covers why the church still matters in a world that feels divided, exhausted, and increasingly hostile to faith. Through Colossians 1, we rethink what the church actually is—not a building, a brand, or a weekly event, but a committed spiritual family formed for a real battle. We talk about the spiritual, cultural, and personal wars every believer faces, and why Jesus designed the chur...

This episode covers why joy is so often misunderstood and why the gospel announces joy in the middle of difficult, uncontrollable, and disappointing circumstances. Using the Christmas story and the context of the incarnation, we confront the false beliefs that joy depends on government, control, ease, timing, possessions, recognition, or certainty of outcomes. By looking closely at how joy entered...

This episode covers the process of preparing a sermon, from sitting with the text to standing before a room of people. The conversation focuses on how sermons are actually formed over time, why preparation is more than outlining points, and how pastors learn to move a message from the page to the heart. This episode explores developing a personal process, trusting the work of Scripture and the Spi...

This episode covers how the Christmas story reveals God’s larger plan colliding with ordinary human lives. We explore the incarnation as more than a holiday tradition how God enters real stories, carries the weight of the work Himself, and invites us to trust Him when His plans disrupt our own. Through Mary’s response, we examine favor, fear, surrender, and what it truly means to live inside God’s...

This episode covers the foundational principles and perspectives on preaching, focusing on the journey from insecurity to confidence in delivering God's message. You’ll hear an honest conversation about the importance of expository preaching, the balance between exegetical, apologetic, and prophetic elements, and how to steward the gift of preaching with humility and authenticity. The discuss...