Wawasee Bible Podcast

Pastor Craig Clapper preaches from Luke 10:25-37 on the Good Samaritan. The term "Good Samaritan" is used in many places today, but often different than in Scripture. The Samaritan didn't just show compassion and mercy to anyone, but to his enemy. The reactions of the priest and Levite were radically different than that of the Samaritan. Their religiosity became a roadblock to truly following God,...

Pastor Collin Seitz preaches from Luke 15:1-7 on the Parable of the Lost Sheep. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who diligently seeks us and then carries us back to God. We should be like him. Not isolating ourselves from the world, but being sent into it to love people and invite them to follow Jesus with us. Jesus himself is the narrow road that leads to true life, whereas the wide and easy road leads...

Jesus was at a banquet at the home of a ruler of the Pharisees when he told a parable about another great banquet. Everyone has been invited to God's party, but many will make excuses not to come. What's your excuse? But those who respond and simply come will be greatly rewarded on that day. In the mean time, they're sent out to invite others to join them.

In Luke 12 Jesus teaches the Parable of the Wealthy Man, often known as the Parable of the Rich Fool. He reminds his listeners (and us) to guard their heart from idols. Idols can be any good thing that becomes a “god thing” (and that’s a bad thing!). Anything can become an idol in our lives, from items, to duties, to others, to longings, even sufferings. The Rich Fool idolized his stuff and his co...

Have you ever felt like God was unfair? Sometimes it can certainly feel that way, and in some ways you might argue it's a good thing that he is. Jesus's parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard addresses this head on in Matthew 20:1-16. God may appear to be unfair, yet God is just and generous—so we are called to be just.

In the Parable of the Weeds of the Field, Jesus gives instruction on how to live life as his followers in a world that's broken with sin. We're sent to love people—all people—and invite them to follow Jesus with us. No matter who they are, what they believe, what they've done, their ethnicity, their age, their intellect—no matter who they are every human life bears the image of God and is full of...

Luke 15:11-32 is often referred to as the "Parable of the Prodigal Son", but when Jesus begins the parable he says it's a parable about two sons, not just one. The younger son demands his inheritance from his father, then takes off, wastes it all, and returns to a forgiving father. But it's a grave error to think that this story is only about one son. It's actually a tale of two sons, one younger...

In the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector in Luke 18:9-14, Jesus draws a stark contrast between those who trust in their own goodness and those who trust in Jesus's goodness. To the shock of those listening, Jesus proclaims that only those like the tax collector who put their trust in Jesus's goodness will get true and eternal life.

Parables are simply stories intended to illustrate and teach. Jesus often taught about the Kingdom with parables in order to help people remember his teaching. He used parables to conceal truth from some, and reveal truth to others. In the Parable of the Soils in Matthew 13:1-23 we see different types of reactions to the Gospel, and we're challenged to tend the soil of our own hearts.

Pastor Dave kicks off our new series, Parables, with the Parable of the Hidden Treasure in Matthew 13:44-46. Jesus is the greatest treasure which you must personally discover, making you sell to buy with joy!

God created everything and therefore is the one who assigns meaning to everything, including you. Your identity is received from God, not achieved by you. Satan, on the other hand, is always working in reverse, trying (ultimately in vain) to unravel all that God has woven together. In the end Jesus wins and Satan is crushed. God creates and Satan counterfeits—but not forever!

The first chapters of Genesis and the final chapters of Revelation form strikingly parallel bookends to God’s Story. In this series we’re comparing the two, seeing how God began everything and how he’ll ensure that his original intentions will come to fruition in the end. This week we see that God’s story is bookend by weddings! The very first wedding in history was a small, private, outdoor, gard...

The first chapters of Genesis and the final chapters of Revelation form strikingly parallel bookends to God’s Story. In this series we’re comparing the two, seeing how God began everything and how he’ll ensure that his original intentions will come to fruition in the end. This week we look at God planting the Garden in Eden with the intention of Adam & Eve growing it into a City where God would fo...

The first chapters of Genesis and the final chapters of Revelation form strikingly parallel bookends to God’s Story. In this series we’re comparing the two, seeing how God began everything and how he’ll ensure that his original intentions will come to fruition in the end. This week we look at creation, and God’s plan to go from Creation to New Creation. All of it begs the question, “How big is you...

We're in a short series looking at some of Jesus's final words before his death on the cross. This week we see his famous surrender when he said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit," just before he breathed his last. Pastor Dave leads us to see that like Jesus we can run to the Father and put our life in his hands, no matter the circumstances. And we should remember that just like Jesus,...

A person's last words matter, and are often some of their most remembered words. It's no different with Jesus. In this short series we're looking at some of his famous last words. In Scripture there are 7 phrases recorded that Jesus uttered from the cross. This week we look at 4 of them and will see that God’s forgiveness is costly, but given freely and completely to any who would turn to Jesus in...

A person's last words matter, and are often some of their most remembered words. It's no different with Jesus. In this short series we're looking at some of his famous last words. This week Tom Speicher leads us through Jesus's prayer the night before he was crucified in John 17. We see him pray for himself, pray for the apostles, and pray for us—his church.

We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal conscious punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in the new heaven and the new earth, to the praise of Hi...

We believe in the personal, bodily and glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission.

We believe that God's justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God’s Word, the Spirit’s power, and fervent prayer in Christ’s name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In...

We believe that the true church comprises all who have been justified by God's grace through faith alone in Christ alone. They are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, of which He is the Head. The true church is manifest in local churches, whose membership should be composed only of believers. The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which visibly and tang...

We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts the world of its guilt. He regenerates sinners, and in Him they are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs in the family of God. He also indwells, illuminates, guides, equips and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.

We believe that Jesus Christ, as our representative and substitute, shed His blood on the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins. His atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only ground for salvation. Pastor Josh teaches through the Day of Atonement from Leviticus 16.

We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures. Jesus—Israel's promised Messiah—was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.

We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, but they sinned when tempted by Satan. In union with Adam, human beings are sinners by nature and by choice, alienated from God, and under His wrath. Only through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled and renewed. Article 3: The Human Condition – We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, but they sinned w...