The Gathering Windsor Podcast

One of the surprising things Jesus said early in his ministry is about a sin that could never, ever, ever be forgiven.  That’s in the Bible!  In the last two thousand years, many tortured souls have wrestled over this warning. 

We’re all tempted in some way to deviate from what God says about us in His Word. The battle is and will always be to believe God’ sovereign purposes for us are good, including those who wrestle with sexual identity. The question at the heart of this issues is, what does it mean, if anything, to be a man or a woman, and is our biological assignment fundamental to who we are and what God purposes f...

We are tempted every day to love everything else but God. Yet for the believer, we must love above all else. Today, we’ll learn that God wants to teach us something important about how to authentically love like him.

Having described love in verses 4-7, Paul picks up where he left off in verse 8, and again begins to contrast love and the three most elevated spiritual gifts in the Corinthian spiritual gift arsenal: prophecies, tongues and knowledge. Paul will give us two reasons why love must be what we are known for.

Things haven’t changed since the first century because the nature of sin hasn’t changed. We still live in a selfish, sin-cursed world that doesn’t understand what agape (God-like) love is. If we’re going to be the kind of people who are motivated by love, then we need God to show us what that agape love looks like in his Word. What does love do, and what does love not do? We find out this week fro...

The question that this chapter asks us is, when it comes to the character of our service for God, what should that look like?  What pleases God about what we do? What ingredient, if it were missing would, would empty our service of any value from God’s perspective? We find out this week from 1 Corinthians 13:1-3.

Not everyone understands what Communion is or why the church continues to celebrate it.  Pastor Phil walks through 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 and explains four responses Christians should experience as they celebrate Communion.

Most people have no idea why they’re here on planet Earth.  They have no sense of God’s plan and purpose in their lives.  No sense of direction.  No path they are following. We’d like to change that!

Ephesians 5 exhorts us to live as children of light “and find out what pleases the Lord.” Do you know what that is? It should be one of our holy obsessions – to find out what makes Him smile!

There is much confusion in our culture today with respect to personal identity and so much turmoil in the media. Developing a gospel-shaped sense of self has never been more difficult or more crucial.

It’s common, and it’s also recurring. You can catch discouragement several times, and relapses are frequent. There is no vaccination available for discouragement but God’s Word has an amazing prescription for it!

Today is the first of five messages during the month of January that will try to answer some of the very real and very honest questions that may be bouncing around in your heart these days. So close to New Year’s Day, we want to ask, “How can I ever change?”

One of the longings of humanity throughout all ages has been peace. Is peace possible? The hope of Christmas is that the peace with God, the peace of God, and peace with others. Can all of these be ours?   

Home is like a magnet at Christmas time!  “I’ll be home for Christmas” is a song we hear everywhere at this time of year. But was we read Luke 2, we discover that just about everybody involved in the story was away from home at Christmas.  Joseph.  Mary.  The angels.  The wise men. Even Jesus Himself was away from home.

Eternal life is the goal at Christmas.  It’s the purpose of God in sending Jesus Christ.  It’s the reason behind the baby in the manger, and the man on the cross. Eternal life is the destiny of those who believe in Christ, but how does one acquire it?

Genuine faith in Jesus Christ provides the fundamental connection between your soul and God’s love. If the danger in John 3:16 is perishing , and the design is love , then the duty must be faith .

John 3:16 is very common to many people, but it’s still amazing and wonderful and mind-boggling all at once. God the Father gave up his only begotten Son for us because his perfect design from the beginning was love .

One of the reasons John 3:16 is so widely memorized and so deeply loved is that it is such a remarkably full summary of the Good News. Yet this verse contains a warning of potential danger. It mentions the possibility of perishing .

These are the final words of the Apostle Paul to the church at Rome. He concludes this long letter full of theology and gospel with a deluge of praise and adoration: “To the only wise God be glory forever!” and makes two assertions that everyone should memorize.

Doctrinal error is always a legitimate and significant threat to the spiritual health of every believer. To ignore this danger is to set ourselves up for spiritual derailment and guaranteed misery; from the path of God’s blessing in our lives; and the inability to be part of the movement of the gospel here. How can we be faithful under fire? We find out this week from Romans 16:17-23.

We live in a day where division and deception abound.  With some of his final words, the Apostle Paul warned the church in Rome to "watch out," for both.  Pastor Phil explains what our church must do to guard against division and false doctrine.

As Paul nears the end of his letter to the church at Rome, his tone changes. The mood is modified, the disposition is different, and we get to see and hear the heart of Paul in a fresh way. He pours out his love and compassion on God’s people, including us!

Paul had a deep desire to visit the church in Rome.  He asked that they would strive in prayer with him for this request and for God's will.  Pastor Phil reminds us that believers in Jesus must strive in prayer.

In light of the gospel, what should my priorities be? From the life of Paul to the experience of every believer, Romans 15:17-29 helps us to appreciate what God’s people care about: they let the gospel define them, they submit themselves to God’s Leading, and they want to give like God. 

Our circumstances in life have many ups and downs, much like a roller coaster.  But our ability to be thankful must not be rooted in our circumstances.  Pastor Phil explains that God's people must remember God's character as they seek to be thankful.