The Saturate Podcast

    Christmas is one of those strange times you sing a lot. It’s also a time when you oddly sing words in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and all sorts of languages. A favorite, I think, is the song “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” I’ve noticed most people really love the refrain, “Rejoice, rejoice.” But what is that word really about? What does it have to do with joy? In Matthew’s Gospel, Joseph receives a dream...

We tell the stories that matter most to us and our world. The stories you tell at parties, over dinner, and even in small talk have two overlapping qualities: you like them and you think the people around you will like them as well. The stories we tell reveal what matters most to us. Families have stories that are so important they get told over and over again. The way into the family is to know t...

      I’ll never forget where I was when I first heard the news: LeBron James was coming to Los Angeles to play for our Lakers. King James was going to come! After years of trying to read between the lines, listening to rumors, and honestly suffering through some really terrible teams, the hopes were being fulfilled. As the season approached, the fanfare increased. The skyscrapers of downtown LA b...

This Advent season has been a delight for me as we’ve walked through hope and peace. Now we turn our gaze toward joy. Our modern dictionaries define joy as a feeling of great happiness. It’s essentially pleasure plus, or extra good vibes. That’s not what’s meant by joy in Scripture. It’s not an exaggerated happiness. It’s completely other. Beyond a feeling, it’s a possession, a posture, and respon...

This past week, each reflection has focused on the theme of Peace and the Kingdom Jesus’ birth brings. It all seems so wonderful. The birth of the saving king, so glorious. The highest glory has come to us! When I imagine the birth of Jesus and His closeness to the arms of Mary, I struggle to get over the significant worth He’s placed on our world, on His Church, on you and I—that He would come. T...

My favorite Christmas movie is Joyeux Noel. It tells the true story of a Christmas Day Truce in the trenches of World War I between the Germans, French, and British. The cost of World War I was a lost generation. A horrible war that many hoped would have ended war. But, in the midst of this war came a moment of worship and joy across the nations. On Christmas Eve, 1914, the two sides bent on destr...

We all have a complicated relationship with the Church. It’s a ruckus communion of saints. It’s for many a place of quarreling, a place of scheming, a place of power, and even for those same people, a place of essential family. Our histories are that kind of mixed bag. Church, who we're called to be—all of us. The first Christian church service was on Christmas Eve beneath a chorus of angels and s...

Growing up, my family spent each night of the holidays sitting beneath the glow of the Christmas tree and watching Christmas movies. We watched the original Miracle on 34th Street and the “new” Miracle on 34th Street (which I now realize is 20 years old). We watched the trilogy of The Santa Claus. We watched multiple versions of the Christmas Carol and romantic comedies that vaguely take place dur...

How does the king come? We know He comes to change the world. We know He was born into our world. But how does Jesus come? What is the manner, the posture, the practice of Jesus’ incarnation? Returning to Mark’s description of Jesus’ arrival in Mark 1, right after the description that “Jesus came into Galilee”, we hear He came “proclaiming the gospel of God.” To the collective of humanity, He come...

  Wherever he reigns, His thriving and flourishing will be there, too! His law is peace. On May 19, 2018, Prince Harry of England married Meghan Markle in Windsor, England. The event was marked by the usual fanfare of such weddings: notable people, extravagant clothing, international media, commentary, vows, a sermon, a bridal veil, and love. There were a few notable or unique things that happened...

At the center of the angel’s announcement on the first Christmas night is this phrase found in Luke 2:14; it’s what Linus quotes at the end of A Charlie Brown Christmas: “Glory to God in the Highest, and peace on earth towards men.” “Peace on earth” sounds so trite that most of us would rather ignore it. What kind of peace? Who’s peace? And for those that experience the pain of this world in real-...

Christmas can be a time of lights, trees, parties, and decadent food, but it can also be a season of grief and sadness. For some, it’s the grief of a lost childhood; the holidays remind us of all the brokenness our young lives were immersed in. For many, Christmas is a strong reminder of the death of a spouse, parent, or child. Christmas was the last time my wife spoke with her mother. Throughout...

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,     though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me     one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old,     from ancient times.” Therefore Israel will be abandoned     until the time when she who is in labor bears a son, and the rest of his brothers return     to join the Israelites. He will stand and shepherd his flock   ...

Go on up to a high mountain,     O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength,     O Jerusalem, herald of good news;     lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah,     “Behold your God!”  Behold, the Lord God comes with might,     and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him,     and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd;     he will...

As I mentioned previously, our family always cuts down a Christmas tree. Each year, we leave a stump in the ground—something that was once growing is now dead. Stumps in Oregon are a part of life. In fact Portland was built on the foundation of stumps. Bare hillsides in Oregon, where the forestry department utilizes a strategic plan for deforestation, make for haunting drives as you imagine the de...

“Jesus came into Galilee” is offered as hope, the first hope. After centuries of silence, of struggle, and continued sin, the resignation of the people was, “No one is coming.” And yet, Jesus came into Galilee. “No-one-is-coming” is over, replaced forever with, “Jesus came.” These words cannot be ignored. In fact, the whole of the Christian faith is bound by these words. Rescue has come. Jesus cam...

On a December morning in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012, children and teachers were likely gearing up for a day filled with gluing cotton balls onto Santa beards when a 20-year-old man came into the school shooting and killing 20 children between the ages of six and seven. Six adults were also killed. There should be a bigger and weightier word than “tragedy,” but I can’t find one. In the days and e...

Christmas is a magical time for kids as they see the glow of lights, trees in the home, and packages accumulate. It’s also the season when we get to regularly articulate the meaning and nature of God coming to us to save us. This, to my four-year-old, is the most astonishing of questions: “Why did God have to come, anyway?” Why did God have to come? To deal with sin for the sake of resurrecting ou...

Christmas Tree Hunting In the early days of Advent, we drive out to the Beck family farm to cut down a Christmas tree. Our only rule is it must be shorter than “Mom” so it will fit in our house. This rule is always disappointing, especially as you walk around towering and beautiful trees. Instead of those giants, we pick a tree that only slightly dwarfs Charlie Brown’s. And yet, once we bring the...

We have a new resource for kids, families, communities, and churches, and I'm very excited about it.  Gospel Basics for Kids is a robust, gospel-centered and missional curriculum that could be used in churches, community groups, small groups, or families. We designed it to be relational, story-based, and equipping because we believe the good news about Jesus is good news for everyone and every age...

In this episode of the Saturate Podcast, Brad Watson and Jeff Vanderstelt talk about the tension many believers face: they want to see the way they're being discipled and discipling others transformed into what they see in the Bible (or read in Saturate). They're convicted. They're bought in. But, it's hard to know what to do. The reality is, being convicted and repentant, they're on a journey of...

In this episode of the Saturate Podcast, Brad Watson and Jared Pickney talk about the importance of developing an intentional plan for developing people throughout every area of church life. They give examples, share important things to consider, and encourage leaders in practicing a long obedience in the same direction. Here's the file Jared talks about throughout the episode.

In this episode of the Saturate Podcast, Brad Watson talks with poet and apparel designer, Preston Perry, about loving people of different faiths and speaking the truth with boldness and grace. Check his work out on his YouTube channel: BoldTV.

In this episode of the Saturate Podcast, Brad Watson talks with Saturate Managing Director, Amy Lathrop about being an introvert in a missional community. They discuss the power, potential, and necessity of having all perspectives and personalities in a missional community.

In this episode of the Saturate Podcast, Brad Watson talks with Jonathan Dodson about the person of the Holy Spirit, who He is, and what it means to live a life transformed by him. What if the Church was awakened to know the presence of the Spirit in us? Get Jonathan's new book, Here in Spirit.