The Goodness of God

At the end of Matthew 25, Jesus portrays the judgement as a separation between those who served others and those who didn't. This is also a way of looking at faith. We are meant to have a faith that motivates, that produces action, that leads us to care for the people that God cares for. Also, Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily watched the Righteous Gemstones, and while, yes, this is perhaps an untradit...

The Parable of the Talents applies to humans and churches alike. God has poured out incredible gifts, and we keep not using them for God's purpose. Then, we wonder why things aren't going well. We have to move beyond scarcity to see the abundance of God's gifts. Also, Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily are joined by the crew from Grace UMC in Palestine, TX, Pastor Jimmy Calvert and Sister Brandy Dudley,...

Christians sure can be quick to jump to the end times' talk. Just about any turn of the news cycle can promote someone from some corner of the Christian world to declare the end neigh. Is this a healthy way to live? Is that how Christ wants us to be ready for his eventual return? Maybe, not.... Instead, maybe, we should use the reality of an unknown end, at an unknown movement, as motivation for d...

Live your faith genuinely - not for show. It can be easy, when you live everything else for the likes, to add your faith life into that column. We are not the first people to have this issue, and why you're living your faith may not change your actions. God care about your motivation. Also, Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily are joined by Pastor Robert Burke to talk about his life as the pastor of a new...

We call it the love commandment, love God and love neighbor, because its a, you know, commandment. Jesus claims his authority as God among us, and says, what his audience already knew. God loves, so we love. This should be of fundamental orientation - the way that we direct our entire existence. Also, Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily watched the movie Jesus Revolution, about the birth of the Jesus Mov...

For generations, we've been sold the idea that the stuff that we accumulate will mean something down the road. We can buy for it a high price, keep it, and sell it for a higher price. This process will bring us peace and security - except when it doesn't. This isn't God's priority for us. Instead, God call us to invest in God's Kingdom - our relationships in the world. Also, Pastor Trey and Pastor...

How are you doing in this stressed out world? Is it crushing you, mind, body, and soul? The story of the Golden Calf is certainly about idolatry, but the Hebrew people were also incredibly traumatized and stressed. Like the rest of us, they weren't exactly at their best. This doesn't make idolatry okay, but it does mean we need to be cognizant what's going on and find ways to help us all be a litt...

The Ten Commandments have two sections - how to love God and how to love neighbor. Keep to the love neighbor section is that we have to actually mean it, when we love neighbor. It's not enough to simply not kill them or to avoid taking their stuff. We cannot let even a psychological barrier come up between us and our neighborhood (even in a age of shocking levels of polarization). Also, the worshi...

Christianity went from a ragtag group of brave missionaries to a global force within a few hundred year. It totally transformed the religious landscape of the Greco-Roman world. Certainly, the Holy Spirit was the wind in their sails, but it involved a lot of direction action and risk taking by people like Paul, who took the leap and went on the journey. This early Christian way of life hit a roadb...

Humans crave hierarchies. We like winners, losers, and getting a higher status than the next guy. We want exclusive villas at exclusive festivals. We want to rise up a ladder. God doesn't seem to value any of that. Instead, the first are last, and the last are first. Everyone gets the same reward in God's Kingdom. You cannot buy a higher tier. For churches, this means that all can serve, and all c...

The escaping Israelites find themselves between an advanced military and the ocean. They probably would have rather had a rock and hard place. Yet, God shows up in a reality bending way, shifting an entire sea to create a way. That same way making ability is our lives as well, but as churches, we have to learn to use it faithfully and responsibility. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more...

Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily are joined by Shawn Winburn and Shaun Sandefur from the Spiritual But Not Religious podcast to deep dive on church conflict, how it can bleed into everyone's spiritual life, and how to make church more a place for more kinds of people. Do you want more young folks in your faith community? Shawn and Shaun do a show on that, and the answer may surprise you! Actually be a...

In Scripture Talk: Moses gets God's name, and God gets to work kicking Pharaoh's butt using Moses as the mouthpiece. Exodus isn't a hero's journey. It's God thoroughly wiping the floor with Pharaoh and remaining present with God's people from that moment forward. We should remember that we have power in our corner too. In How to Restart a Church The church may be back from the pandemic, but pastor...

Paul calls us to give the totality of ourselves over to God and use the gifts that God gives us to serve God's people. He sets this up as the true way to respond to God's grace, yet how many of us can confidently declare that we actually do it? Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily take on this challenge and explore what it means for us and our churches. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more info...

Joseph forgives his brothers, breaks a vicious cycle, and replaces it with a virtuous one. The whole family of God could have died out and may have deserved that fate. Instead, Joseph, and, by proxy, God provides proving that forgiveness gives life, and God's provision can come from the most unexpected places. This resonates deeply with Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily's experience of life and ministr...

Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily are joined by Rev. Katie Newsome, Pastor and Executive Direction of Union Coffee in Dallas to talk through how Elijah (and all of us) are not failures in the eyes of God, when we don't live up to some earthly standard of success and to dive deep into the joys of a coffee shop meets church. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jesus feed the 5,000 shows up in all four Gospels, and it's a wonderful display of how God can break the rules of reality to take care of God's people. It can work on another level too. Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily see also the challenge for all of us to be a part of God's miracle of provision. Also, Pastor Emily is famous now or at least a church she works with made the news for its work of resta...

God loves us. God loves us. God loves us. God's love is the most powerful force in the universe. God makes sure that nothing stands in its way for those who want it in their lives. Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily look at both sides of that love - how it can be so freeing for us and how it should effect the way we approach others. Also, they talk about the joy of alternative takes on Christian communi...

We want God's victory to appear crystal clear, all the time. We want to feel like we are winning, and, if we're honest, we've been guilty of liking when others lose. This isn't what faith or following God means. Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily remind us that faith means believing when it's not obvious and that God wants everyone in God's Kingdom. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inform...

Freely choosing to opt in or opt out is at the heart of any healthy relationship. The same goes for our relationship with God. Pastor Trey, Pastor Emily, and Anthony lay out that part of God's goodness is our ability to exercise our own free will. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Evil is indeed a thing, and we, as individuals and as larger groups, interact with it and from time to time participate in it. Pastor Trey, Pastor Emily, and Anthony connect Paul's words of challenge and encouragement to our need for grace and the reality of God's grace. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.