The Naz Church Podcast

Pastor Dale Benson   The one who has ears to hear, let them listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. -Jesus 
 
Ephesus > Boundary Keeping > Mercy - Revelation 2:7 
Smyrna > Consumerism > Simplicity & Generosity - Revelation 2:11 
Pergamum > Accommodation > The Sacraments - Revelation 2:17 
Thyatira > Privatized Faith > Confession within Community - Revelation 2:26-29 
Sardis > Apathy >...

Pastor Mark Fuller   Philadelphia: The Spirit of Fear Revelation 3:7-13   This is the only letter of the seven that Jesus offers no criticism of the church. He only has encouragement and commendation for the church in Philadelphia. They have learned to face the spirit of fear and overcome.   Challenges the church in Philadelphia faced: - Destruction from earthquakes
- Rejection from Jewish believe...

Pastor John Keating   Laodicea: The Spirit of Self-Sufficiency Revelation 3:14-22   Laodicea was a lucrative, comfortable city. This letter contains all critique! Jesus describes them as wretched, miserable, poor, blind, naked. Jesus is knocking...wanting to come in and have a relationship.

Pastor Dale Benson   Sardis All in all, Sardis was a very comfortable, but unexciting place to live. They were a fortified city. Difficult to attack. Nearly impenetrable.

Or so they thought... The city was conquered, and we learn it is more important to BE something rather than to SEEM like something. Watch becoming overconfident, proud, arrogant, or apathetic.    They seemed like a church that w...

Pastor Dale Benson   Thyatira What dose it mean to have a private, compartmentalized faith? What does it mean to live a consistent Christian life at home, at work, at church?   Thyatira had the spirit of privatized faith.   In your life, where may you begin to privatize your faith? (ie: work, marriage, friendships, family) Revelation 2:18-29 (NLT)

Pastor John Keating   God knows of the suffering of his faithful people.  He values faithfulness. He will reward your steadfastness. Those unmoved by evil around you will be rewarded!     Don’t give in, don’t give up. God’s aware.   God watches over us, even when we aren’t aware of it.  Revelation 2:14-16 (NIV)

Pastor Dale Benson   Jesus writes a letter to one of seven different churches from chapters 2 & 3 of the book of Revelation.
 When Jesus writes these letters, He writes about the overall spirit of the church in that city, and both the good and the bad that accompany the church found in that city. 
All seven of these letters should be read with the understanding that Christ has already won. The bat...

Pastor David Morrison   Let's look at this scripture through the lens of a relationship cycle. Relationships fade over time, but it takes a choice to return, repent and overcome.  This balance between Growth and Maintenance is hard for a church, but it ultimately returns to what our purpose is. 

Your love for God and others is the light. John 13:35 (NLT) 
Return to your first love, repent, and tr...

Pastor John Keating Revelation 1:1-3 (NLT) Three 3 items to know from
the start: 1.     Revelation not Revelations, no “S” 2.     God gave us this book to fight fear 3.     Blessed are those read aloud The challenge in reading the book of Revelation is to not superimpose an opinion or theory on the truth that is presented.  Revelation does have specific truths revealed. Revealing this is the purpo...

Pastor Dale Benson Revelation 4:1-11 (NLT) This is crazier than any sci-fi thriller you have seen: ~ 6 winged creatures with eyes on the outside and inside of their wings. ~ Eyes all around them. Ox, Lion, Man, Eagle. The vision John sees is very similar to Ezekiel’s vision: ~ Is this the same vision, but they can’t put into words the glory of heaven? ~ Instead of being afraid, John is excited for...

Pastor Bailey Medley We have a responsibility & opportunity to be a part of building God’s Kingdom. 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 - Don’t deviate from the foundation - Materials matter - Focus on framework, not features

Pastor David Morrison   Today, we'll look at the ways moms tend to be like Jesus….and how their love often looks like His love. 
Mary treasured beautiful moments, just as Jesus treasures beautiful moments with us.

Jesus isn’t just sitting there in judgement. I think it is possible that as we learn and grow, Jesus treasures these moments, because a life with Jesus is a real relationship.
 Jesus li...

Pastor Dale Benson  
It is God’s desire for all of us to be called to be a part of His Kingdom. Matthew 16:13-19 (NLT) 
The Vision of The Naz is to begin to make an impact in our community for the Kingdom of God. Where those who are not yet a part of this kingdom can know that they have been called to the feet of Jesus.   Today we are going to participate like the ecclesia. We are going to vote on...

Pastor Gustavo Crocker   The order of the “B’s” since the 1st Century: Believe
Behave 
Become
Belong 
“The narrative of the Gospel does allow a generous space to those who first need to BELONG, before they are ready to fully BELIEVE.”    Belonging before Believing: One “B” at a time.

Pastor John Keating

A Spiritual Continuum Emerged from the Research: Exploring Christianity, Growing in Christ, Close to Christ, Christ-Centered   How do we make a place for everyone at the table and continue to help them take their next steps toward Jesus Christ?   We need to start creating environments for all people on all spectrums of the belief system to have a place at the table.

Pastor Dale Benson
 - Have - Behave - Long - Belong - Lieve - Believe - Come - Become Become. Believe. Belong. Behave.   When a child is born, which do you expect to happen first? When a person wants to get to know God or come to church, which do we expect to happen first? Today I want to talk to you about barriers. Barriers and ways in which we keep people out. Matthew 10:2-4 (NLT) Matthew 13: 24...

Pastor Dale Benson   God is good on His promise.  He is still writing HIS STORY, and YOU are a part of it. 
Mary Magdalene – The unworthy – He ensures she is valued. Thomas – The doubter – He provides proof. Joanna – The vilified – He gives acceptance. Peter – The denier – He provides restoration. Saul – The enemy – He brings love. What is your name? What role have you been playing in the story? B...

Pastor David Morrison   Part of the story comes to life in scripture, today as we look at the path from the triumphal entry to Jesus crucifixion on the cross.   We will focus on two powerful symbols today…the cross and the palm branch.  
These things may be more similar than you realize but also unique in their role in our faith. The palm branch is a symbol for worship. The cross a symbol of death...

Pastor Dale Benson In Lewis Carroll’s epic, “Alice in Wonderland,” there is a scene where, lost and alone, Alice runs across the Cheshire Cat.  She is disoriented, afraid, and looking for hope. . . Looking for direction.  Like many of us, she asks the person (or cat in this case) that is standing closest to her for directions. “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That d...

Pastor David Morrison How many know that God works in His timing, and we cannot control God? 
God does some of His best work in moments of interruption.

What does it mean to be unclean?   If Jesus is in the house, desperate people will be there and they will run into you…to get to Jesus! May this church be a place where all sorts of sinners and broken people, when they run into someone that was h...

Pastor Dale Benson “Would you like to get well?” - Are you willing to submit to the potter’s hand. - The healing may come quickly like it did for the man at the pool. - The molding and shaping and sculpting may take some time. 
You may want to come for emotional healing.  
You may need to come for freedom from addiction. You may simply need to come as a sign of submitting to God and allowing Him t...

Pastor John Keating You know you can get away from who you are, you can step away from the right place God has placed you. You can even reject the truth of your upbringing, but it doesn’t mean what you’ve found is worth it…   What gets in the way of us seeing Jesus?

We are to be in the world but not OF the world. We must have first allegiance to the Kingdom of Heaven before allegiance or identity...

Pastor Dale Benson 
How do we discern when God is speaking to us? - How can we place ourselves in a space where we can hear what God is saying to us? - Acknowledge of hearing and listening - Hearing vs Listening - Listening evokes action (connection/emotion) - Internal vs external noises Are there things we can learn from how God has worked in the past? 
Spend moments every day seeking God’s voice...

Pastor David Morrison Mark 4:21-25 (NLT)   Normally when we hear this passage, we think about hidden sin, your sins hidden in darkness will be brought to light – and I believe they will be one way or another. 
But what if this passage was talking about the light being the good news – that it should be shining in dark places?   Interestingly enough, it says: The closer you listen, the more understa...

Pastor Dale Benson, Pastor Caleb Aleshire & Shauna Suman   We must make space + time when listening to our families. * Our kids go to teachers and pastors to talk to them about things they are uncomfortable talking to their parents about. * When we remove distractions and make space for honesty, our children know they are being listened to.   By removing distractions, eliminating confusion, and dr...