Disciple Blueprint Podcast

What Is Church Supposed to Do for Me? Episode SummaryIf God designed the church to be part of the Christian life, what exactly should the church accomplish in us? Jesus told His followers to make disciples. That means the church should do more than provide a Sunday service. It should help Christians understand God's Word, know God better, renew the way they think, become more like Christ, and lear...

You can stream a sermon, listen to worship music, and study Scripture online, but there are some things technology simply cannot reproduce. In this episode, we look at the difference between content and community. Some of the most meaningful ministry in a church happens in ordinary conversations: checking on someone who is hurting, encouraging a child, listening to someone going through a difficul...

Can I Follow Jesus Without Going to Church? Episode Summary Today, Christians have access to more biblical teaching than perhaps any generation before us. Bible apps, online sermons, worship music, podcasts, devotionals, and Christian videos can all help us learn and grow without ever leaving home. So do we really need the local church? In this episode, we look at the difference between receiving...

If you stopped going to church for a month, who would notice? And there's another side to that question: if someone else disappeared for a month, would you notice? It's possible to attend the same church for years, recognize dozens of faces and still remain mostly unknown. But the New Testament describes something much deeper than simply sitting together during a worship service. In this e...

Sunday morning has a lot more competition than it used to. Sports leagues schedule games. The weather is perfect for outdoor activities. We've had an exhausting week and would rather sleep in. And with church services available online, it's easy to tell ourselves we'll just watch later. In this episode, Raymond starts with a real-life Sunday Pony Football game and asks a larger questio...

Have you ever had someone in your family you desperately wanted to change? When we love someone, it's difficult to watch them make decisions we believe are hurting them. We may speak truth, offer advice, send Scripture and keep having the same conversations, but eventually we have to recognize the difference between what God has given us responsibility for and what we simply cannot control. In...

Joseph's family was a mess. Favoritism, jealousy, resentment, deception and betrayal were already part of the family long before Joseph became a ruler in Egypt. Yet when Scripture tells Joseph's story, we discover that human brokenness never prevented God from working. In this episode, Raymond looks closely at Joseph's family and what their story can teach us about our own. We may inhe...

Twenty years from now, what will your children or grandchildren remember about your faith? It may not be the formal lessons you taught them. Often, the things that stay with us are the ordinary moments: watching someone pray when life gets difficult, seeing a parent apologize when they're wrong or recognizing through everyday choices what truly matters to them. In this episode, Raymond shares...

What do you do when you want to lead your family spiritually, but nobody ever showed you how? If you didn't grow up in a home where your parents prayed with you, read Scripture with you or modeled spiritual leadership, it can feel like you're trying to figure everything out on your own. In this episode, Raymond looks at how we can learn from faithful people God places around us. Using Paul...

You took them to church. You taught them about Jesus. You prayed for them. You tried to live your faith in front of them. Then they grew up—and they walked away. For a Christian parent or grandparent, few questions hurt more than: “What did I do wrong?” This is a deeply personal episode for Raymond. Neither of his adult children regularly attends church today, and he openly discusses the questions...

Your family probably learns more about your faith by watching you than by listening to you talk about it. They see how you respond when you're angry. They notice whether you pray. They see whether Scripture actually affects your decisions. They watch how you treat people, whether you forgive, whether you apologize when you're wrong, and whether Jesus makes any practical difference in your...

Surrender sounds good until God allows something you never planned. It's easy to say, “God, Your will be done,” when His will seems to line up with ours. But what happens when the job disappears? The opportunity doesn't happen? The door closes? The future suddenly looks nothing like the one you had planned? That's when surrender stops being theoretical. In this episode, Raymond shares...

Christians talk a lot about surrender. We sing about it. We pray about it. We tell God, “I surrender everything.”But what does surrender actually mean when God wants something different than we do? In this episode, Raymond looks at surrender as more than an emotional moment. Biblical surrender means voluntarily yielding to God's authority. If Jesus is Lord, then He isn't merely someone we ask to b...

Episode 37 — What Do You Say to God When You Have Nothing to Say? Sometimes the hardest part of prayer is simply figuring out what to say. You sit down to pray. You know you should talk to God. You may even want to talk to Him. And then...nothing. In this episode, Raymond gets practical about those moments. Prayer doesn't require a speech, a formula, or thirty minutes of carefully organized re...

Episode 36 — Why Does God Want Us to Pray? If God already knows what you need before you ask Him, why pray? That question gets to the heart of what prayer actually is. Prayer isn't about giving God information He doesn't have or finding the perfect words that will somehow get His attention. It's about relationship. In this episode, Raymond looks at Jesus' teaching on prayer and ask...

You've decided you're going to read the Bible every day. You find a reading plan, start strong, miss a couple of days—and before long you're so far behind that opening the Bible makes you feel guilty. Sound familiar? In this episode of the Disciple Blueprint Podcast, we're making daily Bible reading considerably simpler. A sustainable habit doesn't require an hour every morning...

Have you ever finished reading a chapter of the Bible only to realize a few minutes later that you can't remember what you read? If so, it's reasonable to ask how Bible reading is supposed to transform us. In this episode of the Disciple Blueprint Podcast, we move beyond “Christians should read their Bibles” and examine why Scripture matters in the first place. According to 2 Timothy 3:16–...

Most Christians would say God is directing their lives. But there's another question worth asking: Do we actually seek God's direction, or do we make our own plans and then ask Him to bless them? There's a significant difference between wanting God's help and surrendering to God's leadership. In this episode of the Disciple Blueprint Podcast, we explore what it means to trust G...

You've probably heard Christians describe their priorities this way: God first, family second, church third, work fourth. But does God really belong at the top of a list—or should He be at the center of everything on it? In this episode of the Disciple Blueprint Podcast, we examine what it really means to put God first. Following Christ isn't about giving God a few minutes in the morning b...

When we think about making a difference for God, it's easy to imagine doing something big—a larger ministry, a bigger audience, an important position, or an opportunity to influence thousands of people. But what if the most important ministry God has given you is already sitting across the dinner table? In this episode of the Disciple Blueprint Podcast, we examine what biblical faithfulness lo...

We spend enormous amounts of time arguing about elections, politicians, laws, and what Washington should do to fix the problems facing our country. Government matters, and Scripture gives it a legitimate role—but there are some things government simply cannot do. In this episode of the Disciple Blueprint Podcast, we look at the difference between changing behavior from the outside and the transfor...

Can one faithful Christian really make a difference? As we conclude this section of the Start at Home series, Raymond Smith reminds us that God has never been looking for famous people—He's been looking for faithful people. Throughout Scripture, God has repeatedly used ordinary men and women who simply chose to trust Him and obey His Word. Rather than becoming discouraged by everything we cannot c...

Can one person really make a difference? When we look at the challenges facing our families, churches, and nation, it's easy to become discouraged. We often think the solutions must come from Washington, new laws, or the next election. But throughout Scripture, God has consistently worked in a different way. In this episode, Raymond Smith explains why lasting cultural change begins with transforme...

What happens when government begins taking on responsibilities God assigned to the family and the church? In this episode, Raymond Smith examines several historical examples that illustrate how institutions can gradually move beyond their original purpose. Looking at the school prayer decisions of the 1960s and the expansion of Great Society programs, you'll discover why understanding God's bluepr...

What role did God actually give government? Christians have strong opinions about government, but many have never stopped to ask what the Bible actually says about its purpose. In this episode, Raymond Smith opens Romans 13 to examine God's design for civil government and explains why understanding its God-given responsibilities changes the way we view politics, public policy, and society. Rather...