Transforming Lives Together Podcast

LIAR, LUNATIC, or LORD? C. S. Lewis posed this question in his book “Mere Christianity” and it fuels the debate we find in our Twenty-fourth Episode as we continue with “Life’s Meaning & Purpose: an in-depth study of the Gospel of John.” In part 2 of Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis’ writes, “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He...

THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD These words from Psalm 23 find their meaning in Jesus as we continue in our TWENTY-THIRD EPISODE with “Life’s Meaning & Purpose: an in-depth study of the Gospel of John.” The purpose of anything that is considered counterfeit is to deceive us into thinking it is what it appears to be; the real thing. This is ultimately done to take advantage of us and to steal that whic...

SEEING AND BELIEVING  In our TWENTY SECOND EPISODE Jesus heals a man born blind and confronts the spiritual blindness of the religious leaders as we continue with “Life’s Meaning & Purpose: an in-depth study of the Gospel of John." During his early years, John Newton had a reputation for being a profane and debaucherous young man, who would spend much of his time working on merchant vesse...

THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE! These are the words of Jesus in our TWENTY FIRST EPISODE as we finish up chapter EIGHT of John’s Gospel.  In our struggle with sin, denial can be a very dangerous position because it blinds us from seeing our bondage. As the Apostle John writes in his first Epistle, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (‭‭1 John‬ ‭1:8‬ ‭NIV‬‬...

ENTRAPPING LIGHT  In our TWENTIETH EPISODE the scribes and the Pharisees try to ensnare Jesus as we continue with “Life’s Meaning and Purpose: an in-depth study of the Gospel of John.” Hello and welcome to the Transforming Lives Together Podcast. The Apostle John writes at the beginning of his Gospel that in Jesus “was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkn...

IS JESUS THE MESSIAH? In our NINETEENTH EPISODE tensions rise over this question as we continue with “Life’s Meaning and Purpose: an in-depth study of the Gospel of John” Jesus says in Matthew’s Gospel that He did not come to bring peace but a sword (Matt. 10:34), and that this sword would spur conflict amongst individuals, even members of the same household. So the tension that fills chapter 7 of...

WHO IS THE GOOD SAMARITAN? In our Eighteenth episode, we press pause on our study series to hear from Fr. Andrew Thebeau, Curate of St. Bartholomew’s, as he takes us deeper into one Jesus’ most well-known and beloved parables. Throughout His ministry, Jesus liked to utilize parables as a means to teach people about the Kingdom of God and how we are to live for the Kingdom of God. These were storie...

MINISTRY UNDER FIRE! Jesus faces religious opposition in our Seventeenth Episode as we continue with “Life’s Meaning & Purpose: an in-depth study of the Gospel of John.” Religious institutions can help provide structure and organization for faith communities. Religious leadership can act as a benevolent hand to help guide, encourage and provide accountability. When walking in obedience to the...

Fr. Ward has served as Rector of St. Bartholomew’s for over twenty years, and throughout his ministry he has been an engaging and effective Bible teacher and communicator of the Gospel. You don’t need to look any further than the study we are currently running on the podcast to see this. For our episode this week, we decided to take a break from the study in favor of a Q & A session with Fr. W...

IS THERE SOMETHING HOLDING YOU BACK FROM FOLLOWING JESUS?  The sixth chapter in John’s gospel contains one of the toughest teachings Jesus gave about Himself. It was so difficult that it caused many of His disciples to walk away. It’s easy for us to believe, to enjoy the high times of our spiritual walk when everything is going right. A deeper study of Christ’s ministry, however, reveals that the...

WHAT IS YOUR MOTIVATION? WHY ARE YOU SEEKING JESUS?  While much has changed in our world from the time of Jesus up to now, the desires and motivations of our hearts have not, and that sometimes leads us to pursue that which will satisfy our physical and temporal needs rather than seek the one who can give us eternal and abundant life. We find this same dilemma in our lesson this week in chapter 6...

This is EPISODE THIRTEEN of the podcast and we continue with “Life’s Meaning & Purpose: An in-depth study of the Gospel of John” taught by the rector of St. Bartholomew’s Fr. Arthur Ward. In this episode Fr. Ward finishes Chapter 5 and answers questions from those in attendance. We would also like to mention that these studies are recorded live and will sometimes have coughs, the fan for the h...

This is EPISODE TWELVE of the podcast and we continue with “Life’s Meaning & Purpose: An in-depth study of the Gospel of John” taught by the rector of St. Bartholomew’s Fr. Arthur Ward. In this episode Fr. Ward finishes Chapter 4 and begins to unpack Chapter 5 focusing on verses 1-23.

This is EPISODE ELEVEN of the podcast and we continue with “Life’s Meaning & Purpose: An in-depth study of the Gospel of John” taught by the rector of St. Bartholomew’s Fr. Arthur Ward. In this episode Fr. Ward unpacks Chapter 4, focusing on verses 1-42.

This is EPISODE TEN of the podcast and we continue with “Life’s Meaning & Purpose: An in-depth study of the Gospel of John” taught by the rector of St. Bartholomew’s Fr. Arthur Ward. In this episode Fr. Ward finishes up chapter 3, focusing on verses 22-36.

This is EPISODE NINE of the podcast and we continue with “Life’s Meaning & Purpose: An in-depth study of the Gospel of John” taught by the rector of St. Bartholomew’s Fr. Arthur Ward. In this episode Fr. Ward answers questions from those in attendance and unpacks verses 1-21 of Chapter 3.

This is EPISODE EIGHT of the podcast and we continue with “Life’s Meaning & Purpose: An in-depth study of the Gospel of John” taught by the rector of St. Bartholomew’s Fr. Arthur Ward. In this episode Fr. Ward finishes unpacking chapter 2, focusing on verses 13-25.

This is EPISODE SEVEN of the podcast and with Easter being this past Sunday we felt it appropriate to pause from our Bible study series and share with you the sermon Fr. Ward preached on the resurrection titled, “What If Christ Was Not Raised?”

In this episode, Fr. Ward begins to unpack Chapter TWO focusing on verses 1-12. If you’re just starting to listen to this podcast, we invite you to check out previous episodes to get caught up to speed with this study.

This is EPISODE FIVE of the podcast and we will continue with “Life's Meaning & Purpose: An in depth study of the Gospel of John", taught by the Rector Of St. Bartholomew’s Fr. Arthur Ward. In this episode, Fr. Ward will finish unpacking Chapter One, focusing on verses 35-51. If you’re just starting to listen to this podcast, we invite you to check out the first four episodes to get...

In this episode, Fr. Ward answers some questions from those in attendance and unpacks verses 19-34 of Chapter One. If you’re just starting to listen to this podcast, we invite you to check out the first three episodes to get caught up to speed with this study.

This is EPISODE THREE of the podcast and we will continue with “Life's Meaning & Purpose: An in depth study of the Gospel of John", taught by the Rector Of St. Bartholomew’s Fr. Arthur Ward. In this episode, Fr. Ward unpacks verses 6-18 of Chapter One. He will also recap verses 1-5, which he unpacked in more detail during episode two of this podcast. If you’re starting to listen to t...

This is EPISODE TWO of the podcast and we will continue with “Life's Meaning & Purpose: An in depth study of the Gospel of John", taught by the Rector Of St. Bartholomew’s Fr. Arthur Ward. In this episode, Fr. Ward concludes his overview of John’s gospel, answers some questions asked by those in attendance, and unpacks the first five verses of chapter one.

In this episode we begin a study titled "Life's Meaning & Purpose: An in depth study of the Gospel of John" taught by the Rector of St. Bartholomew's Fr. Arthur Ward. Here Fr. Ward gives us an introduction to John's Gospel as well as some background on the writer and why this book is important for us today.