The Valley Church Podcast

At the heart of Jesus' invitation into his Kingdom is a call to discipleship.

For true followers of Jesus, Discipleship must end in Apostleship--a going forth to proclaim and demonstrate the good news of the Kingdom of God.

Discipleship is not an optional "add on" to the Christian life; rather, it is at the heart of what Jesus meant by "losing our life in order to save it."

Jesus went about proclaiming and demonstrating the "good news of the Kingdom of God"--that there is freedom from the power of sin and release from spiritual captivity right now in Jesus' name!

Repentance is the Biblical language of revival--it is a weapon that breaks the chains of spiritual bondage and oppression and sets us free!

Jesus has the ability to set the oppressed free because he has supreme power and authority over all other powers, thrones, and dominions in heaven and on earth.

Jesus has come to bring freedom, not for the worthy, but for the hungry!

The Biblical understanding of "salvation" includes not just the hope of eternal life, but also a freedom from spiritual slavery right now!

Christ has won a victory over the Enemy; therefore, in Christ, we can stand firm against the Enemy's attacks and live in spiritual freedom!

Behind the sin and brokenness in our world is a spiritual Adversary who is seeking to steal, kill, and destroy.

Becoming a Christian is defined not by a "religious system" to follow but by entering a relationship with the Living God that will transform our lives!

Repentance (metanoia) is an intentional decision to "change" my thinking and behavior as the Holy Spirit empowers me to do so.

Becoming a follower of Jesus begins with repentance of sin (a change of mind about my sin) and faith (a trust in Christ's finished work on the Cross).

Jesus did not simply claim to be a "good moral teacher," he claimed to be the Christ, the Son of the living God. What are you going to do with that?!?

When we offer God the little we have, he multiplies it for his glory!

Praise God the effectiveness of the Gospel message rests not on our "wise and persuasive words" but on the power of the Holy Spirit!

God fills us with the oil of his Spirit so our cup can run over and impact the lives of others.

The greatest act of love and devotion to God is to love others with the love of Christ--we love because Christ first loved us!

The heart of John's letter pushes us past "not hating" to "loving others"--they are not the same thing!

As John moves into the core of his teaching on loving others well, he commands the Church to destroy hate and practice self-denial instead.

The full Gospel of salvation is about both a credited and LIVED righteousness.

Another foundation stone that John lays concerning loving others is our love of God's truth--we can't love others well until we love the truth more!

Only when we choose to come into God's light can our darkness be dealt with and our spirits set free to love.

The fulfillment of the "Gospel of Freedom" is that once we've been set free, we use our freedom to love others as Christ has loved us.

Love is the overflow of our freedom in Christ; lust is the overflow of our slavery to the flesh.