Word Of Life Church Podcast

Unconditional (Lookout Kid)Unconditional (Lookout Kid)Arcade FireLookout kid, trust your heartYou don't have to play the part They wrote for youJust be trueThere are things that you could doThat no one else on earth could ever doBut I can't teach you, I can't teach it to youLookout kid, trust your mindBut you can't trust it everytimeYou know it plays tricks on youAnd it don't give a damn if you are happy or you're sadBut if you've lost it, don't feel bad'Cause it's alright to be sadLookout kid, trust your bodyYou can dance, and you can shakeThings will break, you make mistakesYou lose your friends, again and again'Cause nothing is ever perfectNo one's perfectLet me say it again, no one's perfectRightA lifetime of skinned kneesAnd heartbreak comes so easyBut a life without pain would be boringAnd if you feel it, it's fineI give you everything that's mineI give you my heart and my precious timeLookout kid, trust your soulIt ain't hard to rock n' rollYou know how to move your hipsAnd you know God is cool with it

Waiting On A WarFoo FightersI've been waiting on a war since I was youngSince I was a little boy with a toy gunNever really wanted to be number oneJust wanted to love everyoneIs there more to this than that?Is there more to this than that?Is there more to this than that?Is there more to thisMore to this, more to this thanJust waiting on a war?Just waiting on a war?Every day waiting for the sky to fallBig crash on a world that's so smallJust a boy with nowhere left to goFell in love with a voice on the radioIs there more to this than that?Is there more to this than that?Is there more to this than that?Is there more to thisMore to this, more to this thanJust waiting on a war?Just waiting on a war?Just waiting on a war for this and thatThere's got to be more to this than thatJust waiting on a war for this and thatThere's got to be more to this than thatI've been waiting on a war since I was youngSince I was a little boy with a toy gunIs there more to thisMore to this, more to this thanJust waiting on a war?Just

Sunday, July 31, 2022Life ain’t always empty…Don’t get stuck in the pastSay your favorite things at massTell your mother that you love herAnd go out of your way for othersSit beneath a light that suits youAnd look forward to a brighter futureLife ain’t always empty…Sink as far down as you can be pulled upHappiness really ain’t all about luckLet your demeanor be your deep down selfAnd don’t sacrifice your life for your healthWhen you speak, speak sincereAnd believe me friend, everyone will hearLife ain’t always empty…Bring your own two centsNever borrow them from someone elseBuy yourself a flower every hundredth hourThrow your hair down from your lonely towerAnd if, and ifYou find yourself in the family wayGive the kid more than what you got in your dayLife ain’t always empty…Never let a clock tell you what you got time forIt only goes around, goes around, goes aroundTake your family name for your own great sins'Cause each day is where it all beginsAnd don’t give up too quickYou only get one line, you better m

Mary and Martha do not represent two kinds of people—the contemplative person and the practical person. Mary and Martha represent two choices—two choices we all have to make. Jesus said that Mary made the better choice. Mary chose to be an everyday mystic.

The life of the age to come for those who are seeking first the kingdom of God is a “go and do” kind of life. Near the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "Not everyone who calls out to me, 'Lord! Lord!' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter" (Matthew 7:21). This may be one of the most sobering things Jesus has to say. Calling Jesus Lord is not the same thing as doing what the Lord Jesus says.Our life in pursuit of Jesus is not primarily about theology (what we believe), liturgy (the shape of our worship), or piety (our heart’s devotion), but a way of living shaped by the Holy Spirit around the death and resurrection of Jesus. Yes, what we believe about God is important. Yes, worship and prayer are important. Yes, devotion and passion for God are important. But each of these find their significance when they prompt us to go and do.

Wherever people hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and begin to love God with all their hearts, love their neighbor as themselves, embrace the way of peace and reject war, refuse to be an agent of accusation, choosing advocacy instead, there Satan falls like lightning.

The "Sons of Thunder," James and John, wanted to call fire down from heaven on a Samaritan village who refused to welcome Jesus. In their petition they were able to cite Scripture because Elijah had done this. But Jesus rebuked them, saying, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of." The question isn't can we find it in the Bible, but can we find it in Jesus. If we weaponize the Bible to hurt other people, we do not have the Spirit of the Lord.

Don't surrender your faith in Jesus to an ideological ism. Nationalism, Socialism, Capitalism, Marxism, Conservatism, Progressivism, Fundamentalism, Liberalism, etc. Isms can easily become possessed, turn into a herd, and rush off a cliff. Sit with Jesus instead. Jesus will put you in your right mind. Following Jesus may sometimes look conservative or sometimes look progressive. But it’s Jesus we are following, not an ideological ism.

This sermon is about the long, gradual, Spirit-guided journey into the dazzling light of all truth.Tell all the truth but tell it slant —Success in Circuit liesToo bright for our infirm DelightThe Truth’s superb surpriseAs Lightning to the Children easedWith explanation kindThe Truth must dazzle graduallyOr every man be blind —–Emily Dickinson

The Holy Spirit is the experience of God. Thinking about God is theology. And theology matters. Theology is the Queen of the Sciences. It’s important that we think as accurately as possible about the God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—just like it’s important that we think as accurately as possible about physics, chemistry, and mathematics. But relatively few people are called to do the actual hard work of creating and writing theology. Not everyone is called to be a theologian. But the message of Pentecost is that everyone can experience God!

On the seventh Sunday of Eastertide we look at the culmination of great story of redemption. At the end of the Bible we discover that the gospel story does not end with the lucky elect whisked off to heaven—it ends with heaven coming to earth. And the story does not end with the demise of the nations—it ends with the healing of the nations.

"I do not know what is happening. The reason of my waking mind tells me that great evil has befallen and we stand at the end of days. But my heart says nay; and all my limbs are light, and a hope and joy are come to me that no reason can deny. In this hour I do not believe that any darkness will endure!”–The Return of the King, The Steward and the King

Sermon by Jonathan Martin.In this sermon, Jonathan Martin reimagines Luke's story of twodisillusioned disciples walking the Emmas road away from the holy city, where they had watched their hope die a gruesome death right before their eyes. With compassion born from his own experience, Martin reveals that the resurrected Christ is profoundly present with us-even as we walk away. This is a sermon to help you feel seen in your spiritual journey and all its complexities ... and to find home where you least expect it.

With the resurrection of Jesus Christ the darkness is fading and the true light is already shining. But how do we know if we are shining in the light or drifting into the darkness?

The greatest revelations of divine love come from showings of the risen Christ. But these showings are not just for first century disciples or medieval mystics; Jesus wants to show himself to all of us, and in ways that are unique to our experience.

"What inclines even me to believe in Christ’s resurrection? It is though I play with the thought of it – If he did not rise from the dead, then he decomposed in the grave like any other man. He Is Dead and Decomposed. In that case he is a teacher like any other and can no longer HELP; and once more we are orphaned and alone. So we have to content ourselves with wisdom and speculation. But if I am to be REALLY saved – what I need is…faith. And faith is faith in what is really needed by my heart, my soul, and not my speculative intelligence. For it is my soul with its passions, as it were with its flesh and blood, that has to be saved, and not my abstract mind. Perhaps we can say: Only LOVE can believe the Resurrection." -Ludwig Wittgenstein

Jesus preaches his own Easter sermon, when in the book of Revelation he says, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty (Pantocrator). Fear not! I am the First and the Last. I am he that lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Death and Hades." Because it is Jesus Christ, the Almighty Pantocrator, who has the keys of Death and Hades, we can fear not!

The cross is the true center of history—everything leads up to it and everything flows from it. The death of God upon a tree is not just some event within history, it is the event that defines and explains, reveals and redeems all of history. However we understand the origin of sin within the human story, its trajectory moves inevitably toward Good Friday. This is the moment when the Spirit of Love that flows between the Father and Son erupted to engulf and forgive the sin of the world.

During his final days in Jerusalem, Jesus prophesied the end of the old temple and the emergence of a new temple -- a new temple known as the Body of Christ. This new temple is not made of limestone, but of living stones. One of the chief characteristics of this new temple is its radical inclusivity -- it is to be a temple for all people.

The thing that was initially the most obvious about Jesus was that he was a healer. Everyone knew that Jesus was a healer, even his enemies, who sought to use this against him. In the story of Jesus healing the man with a withered hand in the synagogue on the sabbath, we look at Jesus—who is the perfect revelation of God—and ask this theological question: Is the character of God revealed in the power to harm or heal?