Kingdom Roots

Racial tension is at a high point. The embodiment of the Kingdom found in the New Testament and lived out through the Church was to be a vision of unity and diversity. The Church in America, unfortunately, has remained one of the most segregated organizations instead of being a vision for unity and diversity. Pastor Derwin Gray and Transformation Church is a shining light of how the Church can be the type of diverse community it was intended to be. Hear about Pastor Derwin’s journey of planting Transformation Church, the challenges they faced from being a multiethnic church, and the steps any church can take to become a richer expression of the diverse Kingdom of God. Suggested Resources: Building a Multiethnic Church | Previously released as - The High Definition Leader by Derwin L. Gray (https://amzn.to/3J1Sezv) The Fellowship of Differents by Scot McKnight (amzn.to/2XvuIGa) Follow Pastor Derwin on his website (www.derwinlgray.com), Facebook (www.facebook.com/pages/Derwin-L-G…/117534411600257) Twitter (twitter.com/derwinlgray) Instagram (www.instagram.com/derwinlgray/)

John Barclay, an expert on grace in the Roman world, discusses the multifaceted nature of grace, reciprocal relationships through gift-giving, the six perfections of grace, and the concepts of worth and grace as seen through the lens of Paul's teachings.

Scot McKnight talks with his co-host Laura Tarro about the steps on her journey in church planting with the Evangelical Covenant Church. There are so many steps to this process and Laura boils down the major components she is walking through right now. God has given Laura and her launch team a vision for the church He has invited them to be. Church planting is always on the cutting edge of the Kingdom taking root.

There is a juvenilization taking place in many places in the church and it is threatening the ability of the church to have a wisdom culture. The church needs to move past the temptation to be relevant at all costs and focus on the value of wisdom. Paul calls his communities to value wisdom at all costs. This creates a culture that has a faithful tradition as its foundation and enables the church to move forward in its mission.

The way of Jesus and His Kingdom is radically foreign to the way of the world. There is a quiet revolution present with every community that possesses a culture of Christoformity. Pastors are called to be the first ones to invite and show their community what it looks like to follow Jesus. The only way to experience all of life as it was designed to be experienced is to join the quiet revolution of the church to subvert worldliness.

The first and foremost responsibility of any pastor is to be a witness. Paul’s example of being a witness is using his story to make the story of Christ, the gospel, important. When churches foster a community of witnessing they become living libraries of God’s Word. The world is in desperate need to hear and see the witness of transformation that Jesus does in the church. Investigate conversion to Jesus and how that impacts witness in Scot's Book turning to Jesus >> amzn.to/30tLHIJ

Our nation is fractured into factions. Politics cuts us in half and religion cuts out some and makes others a cut above. Wearing masks turns some into beastly behaviors. Which is one of the problems. We gravitate toward extremes. Facebook knows it; Twitter knows it; that’s why the bots under Silicon Valley are shaping our culture. Kirstin Powers suggests Grace offers humans a different way to enter the public dialogue. Scot McKnight talks with Kirstin Powers about her new book Saving Grace. In this book, she writes with wit and insight about our country's poisonous political discourse, chronicling the efforts she's made to stay grounded and preserve her sanity in a post-truth era that has driven many of us to the edge. She draws on lessons offered by faith leaders, therapists, theologians, social scientists, and activists working for change today. She dismantles the widespread misconception that grace means being nice, letting people get away with harmful behavior, or choosing neutrality in the name of peace. Grace, she argues, is anything but an act of surrender; instead, it is a kinetic and transformative force. Purchase* your copy of Saving Grace Today - https://amzn.to/3wcJqS6 *Affiliate Link - Support the work of the Kingdom Roots Podcast with your purchase.

In this episode, Scot McKnight unpacks with Laura Tarro about her journey of being ordained. God has given Laura a vision for fostering a culture of witness through church planting. They explore the unique challenges many women face on this journey and what the future looks like for women in ministry.

📝 Register Today for Tov for Women: https://bit.ly/TovForWomen  🎧 Subscribe to The Alabaster Jar Podcast on Apple Podcast (https://apple.co/3DpcUyP) or Spotify (https://spoti.fi/3iCJbdt) It can be challenging to step up to the audacious work God calls believers. Laura Tarro chats with Lynn and Sareen about her calling to ministry and the unique challenges women often face to follow the ministry dreams God has given.  Laura is working toward planting a church and shares how furthering her theological and Biblical education at Northern Seminary has helped prepare her for this work.

✨Take the first step to investigate 🔦 if Northern Seminary is the right fit for you to advance your ability to lead the church and engage the world - https://www.seminary.edu/krapply    Telling stories is fundamental to being human. There are so many stories that dominate the way humans live their lives. Join Scot and Laura as they explore what it looks likes to have a culture telling the most important story in history. If a church doesn’t nurture a culture where the gospel story is allowed to form the community, then living out God’s will is near impossible. Central to the kingdom taking root now is telling the story of how the Kingdom took root then. Purchase* Pastor Paul by Scot McKnight >> amzn.to/35Y4G0F *Amazon Affiliate Link