YALA Podcast

This sermon was preached by Justin Rogers on April 3, 2023 and is part 3 of the series through Colossians .  While this may not exactly be a "feel good" message, it is one that should bring life as it brings perspective. As a Christian, you should expect suffering. It's part of the world because we are part of this world. But that suffering has a greater purpose, and understanding t...

This sermon was preached by Jared Osborne on March 27, 2023 and is part 2 through our series  Colossians. Ricky Bobby's dad famously said "If you ain't first, you're last." We find out later that you can be second, third, fourth, heck (edit, obviously) you can even be fifth! But the fact of the matter is that if you aren't first, you aren't first. If something is...

This sermon was preached by Justin Rogers on March 20,2023 and is part one of the series  Colossians .  Within Christian circles, you will often hear words like  fruit, maturity, and growth. That's because the Bible uses those phrases, and the first part of Colossians 1 is a call upward to do those things. Produce evidence that you live for Jesus. Become mature in the practice of your faith....

Special Guest, Nate Hilgenkamp from Harris Creek Waco, TX, preached this sermon on March 6, 2023. The mind is a powerful thing. The way we think, what we think about, and the emotional drive of those thoughts have profound impact on the way we live our lives. That's why it is so important to think true thoughts. Listen in as Nate gives biblical perspective and practical guidance as to how we...

This sermon was preached by Jared Osborne on February 27th, 2023 and is the final sermon in the series  How to Ruin Your Life. Whether you are trying to lose weight or climb Mt. Everest, your odds of success go up dramatically if you have someone there with you who knows your goal. They encourage you to press on when you feel like giving up. They kick you into gear when you start to slack. They he...

This sermon was preached by Justin Rogers on February 20, 2023 and is part 6 of the series  How to Ruin Your Life . "Wait." That's a hard word to understand today. We hate waiting, because waiting feels like wasting . But what if the waiting was for something better? This is the dilemma of the modern age of life. Almost everything materially is available immediately, but the things...

This sermon was preached by Jared Osborne on February 13, 2023 and is part 5 of the series  How to Ruin Your Life .  Is there anything more pressured in your 20's and 30's than the love life of a single person? "If grandma says one more thing about being me still being single"... right?! But finding a spouse is hard, at least if you're looking the right way. Truthfully, yo...

This sermon was preached by Justin Rogers on February 6, 2023 and is part 4 of the series   How to Ruin Your Life.  Mr. T's most famous quote is undoubtedly "Pity the fool", and you should. We should look on someone who lives a life of complete foolishness with a pain in our own eyes at the hardship they are going to face. At the same time, you can't help but think "you di...

This sermon was preached by Justin Rogers on January 30, 2023 and is part 3 of the series  How to Ruin Your Life .  How do I know if what I have is a bad habit or an addiction? The line gets really blurry, but it's good for us to diagnose correctly, so that we treat it appropriately. Whichever it is, both of them have two things in common. First, they are both a lack of self-control. Secondly...

This sermon was preached by Jared Osborne on January 23, 2023 and is the second sermon in the series  How to Ruin Your Life. Money.  We all use it. We all need access to it. But it gets us into a lot of trouble. In western culture, we have a tendency to financially ruin our middle and senior adult years during our 20's and 30's. We dig a hole so deep that we struggle to ever get out. We...

This sermon was preached by Jared Osborne on January 16, 2023 and is part one of the series How to Ruin Your Life.  "Do whatever you want." Is there any message that embodies Western culture like this one? "Do what you want." "Be anything you want to be." "Your truth is valid." The list goes on.  But is it right? Is this the way we SHOULD proceed with our li...

This sermon was preached by Jared Osborne on December 5, 2022 and is part of the series  Coffee Cup Verses .  Jeremiah 29:11 is such a well-known verse. It carries a message of prosperity and success. And though that carries a popular and encouraging message, the context of the verse sits right after a promise of captivity and destruction as a nation. Does it really mean what it seems, or are we m...

This sermon was preached by Justin Rogers on November 14, 2022 and is the first sermon in the series Coffee Cup Verses.  Philippians 4:13. Most of us can quote it! You see it on coffee cups, shirts, sports movies... you name it! And it is certainly an incredible verse. But way too often, this verse is taken out of context and twisted to be self-seeking, when it is supposed to be incredibly Christ-...

This sermon was preached at YALA by The Porch's (Watermark) Josiah Jones on November 7, 2022.  Every person who is a Christian was met with the Gospel because of the faithfulness of someone sharing it with them. Whether that was faithfulness from a church service pulpit or faithfulness from a neighbor, the Gospel was preached. And from the moment of salvation, the purpose of our life is set b...

This sermon was preached by Justin Rogers on October 31, 2022 and is the final part of YALA's series The Deep End. One of the pillars of Christian faith is the belief in the return of Christ. And the questions people have been consumed by revolve around Revelation 20. What is the timeline? Where are we at on the timeline? Or, maybe even more confusing, is this even a literal timeline?! There...

This sermon was preached by Justin Rogers on October 24, 2022 and is part of YALA's series The Deep End.  Most of us have read about Jesus on the cross, but right after he dies, something strange happens. Within eyesight of Golgotha, the Holy of Holies stood at the top of the temple in the temple mount, and as Jesus dies, the veil that separated the Holy of Holies is torn from top to bottom....

This sermon was preached by Justin Rogers on 10/10/22 and is part 5 of the series The Deep End. Who is Jesus? How did he exist before coming as the baby in a manger? Why did he come as a human? Why now?  There are a lot more questions that arise when thinking about the incarnation than we usually acknowledge. Join in as we explore some of the deeper aspects of Jesus, his eternal nature, his divini...

This sermon was preached by YALA Director, Justin Rogers, on October 2, 2022 and is the 4th part of the series: The Deep End.  In the Old Testament, God selected his chosen people, Israel. He gave them a land and made covenants with them, but then he exiled them to a wicked nation that God called his servant. That brings up two big questions: Does God ordain evil? And does God break his promises? ...

This sermon was preached by Jared Osborne on 9/26/22 and is the third message YALA's series The Deep End. What are we supposed to do with the Old Testament Law? Jesus says he didn't come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. Other passages say that we are set free from the curse of the law. How do we reconcile these ideas? To do that, we have to understand the purpose of the Mosaic Law....

This sermon was preached by Justin Rogers on September 19, 2022 and is the second part of the series  The Deep End. " Adam and Eve eat the fruit, and sin enters the world." A kindergartener leaves Sunday School knowing that. Would we saying that the deepest the Bible goes on how sin got here is easily understood by a 5 year-old? That is hardly the case. Within Adam and Eve and the onset...

This sermon was preached by Justin Rogers on September 12, 2022 and is the first sermon in YALA's series:  The Deep End .  We've all played Jenga, and so you understand that once you get into the game, there are certain blocks you can't pull and come out the winner. Within Christianity, there are certain pieces you can't remove and still have Christianity. One of those is the b...

This sermon was preached by Justin Rogers on August 22, 2022 and is the final part of YALA's series The Church Jesus Started.  Jesus told his followers that they must lose their life to find it. What does that even mean?! Listen to hear how the church Jesus started understood this call to die. 

This sermon was preached by Justin Rogers on August 15, 2022 and is part of the series The Church Jesus Started.  Leverage is a great tool. Essentially, it allows us to do a greater work than what we could accomplish left to just our natural abilities. So our question is: how do I leverage my life for the spread of the Gospel? 

This sermon was preached by Jared Osborne on August 8, 2022 and is part 5 of the series The Church Jesus Started.  The book of Acts is the historical account of the spread of the early church from Jesus's ascension to Paul's final imprisonment in Rome.  This Church went from being just over a hundred people to being multi-continental in the span of a few decades. Needless to say, the chu...

This sermon was preached by Jared Osborne on August 1, 2022 and is part of the series The Church Jesus Started.  American Church today is characterized by pews, pulpits, and buildings. Our messages oftentimes stay within the walls. In a way, we hoard the Gospel to ourselves. But what about the early church?