GARDEN CHURCH Podcast

"Here as in Heaven." For more information visit : garden.church

The American dream may define most of our every day lives. However, our guest Bonnie Lewis was able to prophetically attack the American dream and reveal to us, that it is not a big enough dream for God. Our God gives us a new identity and a new purpose every day. As we live in God's reality, we are able to truly understand that our work is for his glory, and not for our titles. We will truly find purpose when our work doesn't define us, but our place in God's kingdom.

"Here as in Heaven." For more information visit : garden.church

The Church is called to live as a redemptive presence in the world; partnering with God in the reconciliation and renewal of all things. But how does this actually happen? The Apostle Paul insists it's through the power of the Holy Spirit filling individual followers of Jesus and empowering local communities of faith. He insists we as followers are to "be continually filled" with the presence of God in our everyday ordinary life. Pastor Darren continues our series through Ephesians showing how the connection between being Spirit-Filled and the renewal of all things.

In a world marked by the oppression of others, within the God design structure of marriage we find the Gospel. Pastor Bill helps walk us through the dynamic of marriage and how followers of Jesus can fully glorify God, empower each other, and witness to the world.

As a triune God, Yahweh reveals himself as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He yearns for us to have a deep and true relationship with him, but a crucial part of any relationship is truly knowing one another. John Peters helped us truly know and begin to understand God as 'Father'. In order to do that, we have to be willing to let go of lies about God and accept the truths about him. This is how we are able to have a loving and lasting with God as our 'Father'.

Our Pastor and Friend, John Peters, continued with us in our series through Ephesians - Artisan Faith. The truest, most authentic, rawest form of church is 'supernatural'. Each local church is filled with humans from all sorts of ethnic, financial, and even educational background. With all of these opposing opinions and life experiences, only God can get them to be on the same page. This is why Paul calls the church to "be filled with the Holy Spirit." It is only though God's Spirit that we may unite and reflect the church as it was intended.

Followers of Jesus often fall into common traps that have plagued the church from its foundation. These include the traps of complacency to the traps of legalism, but where are we called to live? Paul writes to the letter of the Ephesians about living lives defined by wisdom. Pastor Jon helps us navigate what a life marked by wisdom looks like and how that impacts every aspect of our lives.

How do we remain faithful followers of Jesus in the midst of a culture that has blinded us? Guest speaker, Chris Weinand, took us through Ephesians 4:1-16 to answer that questions. We can go against the culture around us and into the culture that Jesus lays out by Celebrating our Captivity and Embracing our Togetherness. First, we are captive to God and his will for the church. Second, we are to be fully immersed in the community known as the body of Christ.

Paul had his finger on the pulse of his culture, and he knew how drastically different the lives of Christ's followers were to be compared to culture. Three issues that Paul addresses specifically in the letter to the Ephesians are sex, greed, and idolatry. As we continue our study through Ephesians, we take a step back and try to find the pulse of our current culture, so that we can choose to go against it in order to pursue a more vibrant relationship with Jesus.