Transforming Mission Podcast with Tim Bias & Sara Thomas

We're continuing the series, Words that Matter, with the most important word of all...love.  Throughout the Old and New Testaments, love is an action. It animates the actions of disciples and gives us a guiding purpose for our life and ministry.  Church leaders, pastors, and followers of Jesus... remember: they will know you are Christians by your love.  Read more at https://TransformingMission.or...

In this episode, explore the meaning and message of the word hope. Words that Matter is a mini-series about important words to Jesus followers. This episode focuses on hope in the context of the Old and New Testaments. Find scripture references and show notes at: https://transformingmission.org/251

Words that Matter is a series on words that are important to followers of Jesus. This week, the focus is on the word disciple. Before you listen, ask yourself, are you a disciple of Jesus, and what are the characteristics of disciples? The answer may surprise you. The words in this series are words that followers of Jesus sometimes miss, mess up, misunderstand, or are essential to the life of Jesu...

The good news of Jesus Christ is the topic of Episode 249. This second week our word that matters is evangelism - an often misunderstood and misused word. Meaning of Evangelism When used as a noun, evangelism means good message or good news. We call this good message or news the gospel or the good news of Jesus. When the word is used as a verb, to evangelize, it means spreading or announcing the g...

What do we mean when we say, "I believe..." As Christian leaders, someone has likely asked, "Is it simply an intellectual affirmation or a response with your whole life?" In this series, we're exploring words that matter. The series starts with the word belief. Look at the gospels and Christian tradition to understand and remember what is meant by the word believe. Find hope in Jesus and remember...

Listening to God is an intentional choice. In this episode, explore how Mary and Martha responded to Jesus differently. As we look to Luke 10:38-42, we read that Mary chose the better part. What does this mean for Christ-centered leaders? Listen to hear at least four choices Mary made in choosing the better part. Learn more at https://transformingmission.org/podcast You're looking for episode 247

What happens when we listen to God attentively? As we pray and search the scriptures, we listen for at least three things. Christ-centered leaders listen for who God is. Scripture is God's story. It's a story of God's love for us and for all creation. The narrative arc of scripture moves us from creation to the fall to redemption and finally restoration. At each juncture, we learn more about who G...

Listen. It's NOT about you. Listening to others is about what they need and want. In this episode, explore four different listening styles and their application. The people talking with you aren't cookie cutters. Your default listening style may not be the most helpful in some circumstances. But, imagine listening to someone vent their frustrations and all they really wanted from you was a listeni...

Are you listening to the people around you? Sometimes, the people we love the most and care for us the most can get ignored the most. As you listen to Episode 244, hear the story of a famous individual's journey. He missed more than one opportunity to listen to the people around him. He not only failed to take their advice, he failed to hear their guidance even as he claimed to be responding to Go...

Listening at the deepest level involves understanding and utilizing the three levels of listening. Explore the three levels of listening, and their application in a Christian context, and explore how leaders can offer hope to people by listening at the deepest level. Explore more on the podcast page at https://transformingmission.org/podcast. Click on Episode 243

The continual decline in people's ability, capacity, and desire to listen to one another prompted this mini-series. Listening is an essential skill for Christ-centered leaders. We hope this series will help you tend to the important leadership skill - listening. Learn more at https://transformingmission.org/podcast Look for Episode 242

Explore 7 reasons people are not listening to you. Consider how your relationships intersect with your listening skills. Finally, be reminded that when leaders don't listen, they're not just failing the people they're leading, they're failing God. Learn more at https://transformingmission.org/podcast  

Read Genesis 1: 10-13 Reflect Listen to the podcast episode above. Respond Oh, God do it again. Remind me of your love that will never let me go and of you grace that abounds in every situation and circumstance. Remind me again of your goodness found in the lives of the people I encounter today. Through each of them, make more the person you created me to be so that I can bring you joy and goodnes...

Hope in the Ordinary This series of devotions are meant to serve as a simple reminder of God's presence in the ordinary moment of everyday life. This is the sixth devotion in the series. Throughout the summer, we'll share a devotion each week to remind you of God's presence and the power of hope. Every week, you'll find the scripture, prayer, and reflection question on the website along with links...

Hope in the Ordinary This series of devotions are meant to serve as a simple reminder of God's presence in the ordinary moment of everyday life. This is the fifth devotion in the series. Throughout the summer, we'll share a devotion each week to remind you of God's presence and the power of hope. Every week, you'll find the scripture, prayer, and reflection question on the website along with links...

In the fourth week of this series, this devotion focuses on love and acceptance. Read We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3   Reflect Listen to the devotion above. Respond Gracious God, thank you for th...

Hope in the Ordinary This series of devotions are meant to serve as a simple reminder of God's presence in the ordinary moment of everyday life. Throughout the summer, we'll share a devotion each week to remind you of God's presence and the power of hope. Every week, you'll find the scripture, prayer, and reflection question on the website along with links to other devotions. Read Rejoice with tho...

Hope in the Ordinary This series of devotions are meant to serve as a simple reminder of God's presence in the ordinary moment of everyday life. Throughout the summer, we'll share a devotion each week to remind you of God's presence and the power of hope. Every week, you'll find the scripture, prayer, and reflection question on the website along with links to other devotions. Read 1 Corinthians 13...

Hope in the Ordinary This series of devotions are meant to serve as a simple reminder of God's presence in the ordinary moment of everyday life. Throughout the summer, we'll share a devotion each week to remind you of God's presence and the power of hope. Every week, you'll find the scripture, prayer, and reflection question on the website along with links to other devotions. Read "L ook at the bi...

Are Christian fellowship and Christian conferencing the same or different things? Explore why the words fellowship and conferencing, which have come to mean very different things, are actually pointing to one of the essential means of grace for United Methodists. Christian Conferencing as a Means of Grace But first, a question: Who has impacted your life and leadership the most? For most of us, it...

What's the most unfashionable spiritual practice today? If you said fasting, you'd be in good company. It's the means of grace that many people have difficulty practicing.  One of the many reasons we find fasting difficult is the consumeristic culture we live in. We live in a world with short attention spans, and normalized consumption of social media, news, and anything on our mobile devices. Add...

This week as we focus on the sacrament of Holy Communion as a means of grace. You already know that the sacrament of Holy Communion is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. It's a sign of God's love for us. It's a moment to be formed into the imago Dei.   Like the previous means of grace we've explored, Holy Communion is about a relationship with the living God we know in J...

"All that increases our awareness of God is prayer." -Rueben Job Prayer is an invitation simply to be with God and to be in God's presence. That's all the hope we need, isn't it? While you may think, "I know all I need to know about prayer," today Tim and Sara offer a few reminders in the form of stories about what it means to engage in prayer as a means of grace.  As you continue your journey to...

Today, we're exploring what it means to "search the scripture" as a means of grace.  When we search the scripture, we do so to encounter God. We can encounter God in prayer, in creation, in worship, in community, and yes, in the scripture. Encountering God in scripture is one of the primary means of grace.  Encountering God As you consider the means of grace and encountering God in scripture, ques...

The means of grace are wonderful ways to encounter God and grow in your relationship with Jesus. Sometimes, however, we confuse the means with the end. Join us this week to explore a few misunderstandings around the means of grace.    The means of grace are opportunities to grow in our understanding and experience of God's love. It's all too easy to think that reading the scriptures, prayer, or Ho...