The 5 Minute Discipleship Podcast

The Big Idea:  It’s easy to be fully focused on this life and to give very little thought about eternity. After all, this everyday life is what we see and know. It is our present reality. Yet, the truth is, eternity awaits us all. Relatively speaking, it’s not far away. Main Points: 1. The Bible is abundantly clear on one thing.  When this short life is over we will all die and we will all stand b...

The Big Idea:  Jesus is telling us that while God can do great things with small faith, our faith doesn’t have to stay small. It can grow. In fact, it’s God’s will for your faith to grow. A mustard seed can grow to become a strong, tall tree. So it is with your faith. The more you trust God, the more you will experience his power. The result is greater faith. Main Points: 1. Faith is essential for...

The Big Idea:  One of the reasons we fail to offer God true repentance is that we don’t always see sin as sin. It seems awful to call it a sin, so we call it something more acceptable. We’ll say it is a struggle, a mistake, a challenge, or even a failure. But we must see sin through God’s eyes. Sin is missing the mark. It’s missing God’s standards and for our sins, He calls us to repent. Main Poin...

The Big Idea:  After his departure, Jesus would send his followers a Helper. This helper is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit lives within us and though we cannot see Him, we can feel him and we sense he is working in our lives to make us more like Jesus. Main Points: 1. Although we cannot see the Holy Spirit, we should be able to sense His work in our lives changing us to be more like Jesus. 2. Tr...

The Big Idea:  Apart from a heart of gratitude, we begin to be self-focused, self-centered, and self-pleasing. But when you and I, as Christ-followers, decide to live with a daily heart of thankfulness, it changes us. A peaceful heart is the result. Main Points: 1. Gratitude causes us to focus our hearts on God as the source of every blessing. Being thankful is a part of a lifestyle of worship. Gr...

The Big Idea:  Today, you and I can work on our foundation. In fact, we never stop working. We are to keep growing in God’s grace. We continue to pursue a closer relationship with God. We go deeper in His Word. We grow in our faith. We use our gifts to serve God. We obey His Word. All of this contributes to a strong foundation for our lives. Main Points: 1. We are all building a spiritual house. W...

The Big Idea:  Maybe you have wondered why some do not respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have often thought, “If they could only see how wonderful Jesus is. If they could only see how amazing it is to know the Lord and to be forgiven of our sins.” But that’s just it, they cannot see. They are spiritually blind. Main Points: 1. The God who spoke at creation and brought light into the darknes...

The Big Idea:  As I look back over my life, it was the most difficult seasons in which I have experienced the most miracles. I’ve often thought, everyone wants to see a miracle, but no one wants to need one. I have discovered that in our times of struggle God gets the last word. Maybe today you feel as if every door around you is closed. Remember, no one can close a door that God opens. Keep trust...

The Big Idea:  Our efforts at personal goodness, no matter how consistent they may be, will never save us. In fact, good behavior is incapable of bringing us into a right relationship with God. We must be born again. Main Points: 1. Everyone of us, no matter how kind, decent, and respectful we may be, are still sinners. We have sinned. We have violated God’s laws.  2. A newborn baby will need a se...

The Big Idea:  In Matthew 6:33, Jesus says we are to seek God, but he goes on to say that we are to seek him “first.” This is the matter of priority. We all seek for something. We might seek for opportunity, position, resources, and open doors. We could seek for pleasure, enjoyment, comfort, success, and fulfillment. We might seek for friendship, family, and connection. We all seek something, but...

The Big Idea:  Think about this truth. God didn’t have to love us. He didn’t have to offer us grace and mercy. Nothing forced God to show us forgiveness. Nothing compelled Him to give us the precious gift of eternal life, but God chose to. He chose to love us. He chose to call us His own. He chose to make us children of God.  Main Points: 1. If you’ve ever been tempted to doubt the love of God, re...

The Big Idea:  Forgiving others begins when we realize how much God has forgiven us. You and I could make a list of the offenses God has forgiven. We didn’t earn his forgiveness and we certainly don’t deserve it. He has offered us forgiveness because he loves us. When we realize that we have been forgiven for so much, it is a lot easier to offer forgiveness to others. Main Points: 1. Jesus’ comman...

The Big Idea:  We must see that with God’s help, we have the power to flee and to run away from temptation. If we are hesitant, if we wait and entertain the temptation, we lose power against it. God’s Word teaches us to flee. Main Points: 1. Temptation is something everyone of us will face. No one is immune. To be tempted is not sin – it’s what you do with the temptation that’s important.  Even Je...

The Big Idea:  Every morning when you wake up God has given you the gift of another day. Each morning we have a choice of how we are going to start this new day. How we start the day is often an indication of what kind of day we will have. Main Points: 1. If we oversleep that impacts our day. If we rush into work tasks that will impact our day. Throughout scripture we see examples of people starti...

The Big Idea:  Here’s what I believe: As long as you are alive, God has purpose for your life. There is always a next assignment. When our time on earth is finished, we have the joy of spending eternity with the Lord, but until then, no matter our age, or season of life, God has something for us to do. Main Points: 1. God knew how he wanted to use your life, even before you were born. He has good...

The Big Idea:  If God is so powerful that by his word he can create heaven and the earth, is anything I’m facing too hard for him?  Do I have a problem he can’t solve? Do I have a need he can’t meet? Do I have a  burden he can’t carry? No, the God we serve is the maker of Heaven and earth. Main Points: 1. Having been a Christ-follower for many years, I often think, “For those who have no relations...

The Big Idea:  Sometimes our blessings come to us in disguise. What we thought was adversity, later becomes a blessing. What we thought was a trial or difficulty, actually is a tool to help us know God in ways that were previously not possible. Main Points: 1. It’s in our difficult seasons that we seem to grow the most in our faith. When we are sick, we discover God is a healer. When we struggle f...

The Big Idea:  Gentleness isn’t weakness; it’s strength under control. Gentleness means you don’t use strength to hurt those who are weaker. It’s true physically, and it’s true emotionally. If you’re ever in a confrontation where you could verbally or intellectually destroy the person who disagrees with you, gentleness prevents you from hurting them. Main Points: 1. One of the character traits of...

The Big Idea:  Like the disciples of Jesus, we must learn how essential prayer is to our lives. If we see the value of communication with God, prayer won’t be something we do only in times of emergency. It will be a vital part of our growing relationship with our savior. Main Points: 1. For Christ-followers like you and me, prayer is one of the things we want to do, need to do, but often feel guil...

The Big Idea: Jesus is not just another god. He is set apart in a category all his own. There is no one like Him. According to the scriptures, Jesus is God. God himself leaves the glory of Heaven to come to earth to take on human flesh, to be one of us. He lived a sinless life and taught about the kingdom of God. Main Points: 1. Who is Jesus? This is a question you will have to answer. 2. Jesus ca...

The Big Idea:  The great passion of God’s heart is lost people.  It’s the reason He sent his son into the world.  In Luke 19:10, Jesus said he came “to seek and save those who are lost.” Every person that does not have a relationship with Jesus is lost and headed towards an eternity separated from God.  This makes our message urgent. Main Points: 1. While the term “lost” may be offensive to some,...

The Big Idea:  Inertia is not God’s plan for our lives. The Christian life must not be inactive, apathetic, or stagnant. If your relationship with God was stronger in the past than it is right now, that is a problem. We must see that it is the will of our Father that we move forward in our faith.  Main Points: 1. In your past you may have pain, struggles, old relationships, addictions, hangups, an...

The Big Idea:  God decided to devise a plan of salvation where he would remain holy and just, and still provide a way of forgiveness for guilty sinners.  It must be a place where grace and wrath could meet.  That place is called the cross of Christ.  Main Points: 1. For the believer, the cross is everything. Our salvation and eternity is based on the work of Jesus at the cross.  2. There are many...

The Big Idea:  For all of us, trusting the unseen hand of God is a part of our faith journey. There’s not a person listening today that hasn’t struggled with this. We wonder and we question. “Where is God?” What is He doing?” It’s in these moments we have the opportunity to grow in our faith. We believe when it’s hard to believe. We trust when we feel like giving up. But through it all, we are act...

The Big Idea:  What is compromise? Compromise is to act a certain way that contradicts your own ethics, morals , and beliefs. I believe the temptation to compromise our beliefs, morals, and convictions will come to us all. We will feel this pressure to give in, to let down, and to hide our faith. Main Points: 1. I’m confident you and I will experience our own temptations to compromise. The temptat...