Connection Podcast

"Yo I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want. So tell me what you want, what you really really want." So what do you really want? What do you REALLY REALLY want? Chances are, you don't really really need it.  There's a big difference between wants and needs. We can easily confuse the two - we want to be married but the time isn't quite right; we want a new car but our budget just doesn't allow for it right now; we want to be famous but don't want the process that comes with it. But there is one absolute want and one absolute need that we should be focusing on in our journey of faith - Jesus Christ. When we seek Him first, it starts as a want; as we continue moving in that direction, it becomes a need. Jesus is the only want you'll ever need, and is at the same time all you need. 

What do you do when you don't feel God's presence, when you don't feel like praying, when you don't feel like going outside today, interacting with people, going to church, or anything else? Have you ever been in a funk before and you're not really sure how or why you got there and you're not really sure what to do about it? Luckily, we're not the first ones to go through this - some of the greatest people in the Bible went through a season or two of being in a funk. And this is good news for us! If people like David, Moses, and Abraham and Sarah all went through this type of season in their life, we can be sure that not only will we go through it, but we will come out on the other side. 

VERY SPECIAL EPISODE ALERT! We had none other than Kasey and Sheena West with us on this amazing, in-depth, and inspirational episode on stewardship. We were so honored to have them join us and discuss what it means to be a faithful steward - both in church settings and in our own personal lives.  Being a faithful steward is sometimes hard, exhausting, and frustrating, especially in church, but it is one of the most crucial skills that leaders must develop. Kasey and Sheena have been faithfully serving in the church for over 20 years combined, so be sure to listen to this wisdom-filled and inspirational message on stewardship!

What do you do when you don't know what you should do next? Do the last thing God told you. Sometimes when we get called by God to become something great - a leader, pastor, CEO, influencer, etc. - we don't immediately see the results of what God has said over us. This is hard, especially as Christians when we know that God is working behind the scenes and preparing us for what He has prepared for us (say that 5 times fast). But in moments where we feel called by God, marked for His purposes, usually we have to go back out into the fields like David, and continue serving where we started. 

Let's face it - at some point we've all doubted something in our lives: will I ever get that promotion, do they really like me, what if I don't...what if they don't...is God really there? Part of the journey of the Christian faith is experiencing doubt - a vast majority of characters in the Bible, if not all of them (with the exception of Jesus Christ), faced a time of doubt in their lives before God did the biggest miracle through them. But where does doubt begin?  As we discuss what doubt is, dive into Scripture to see where it all began, and understand how to overcome doubt, we hope that everyone listening knows that it's ok to doubt - just don't stay there. 

So, you just got out of a relationship and now you're single...again. What do you do now? Do you automatically go back to the same person of comfort you had before? Do you go back to the same app that allows you to hook up with someone just for a night? Do you sulk and become bitter and say, "I'll never get married. I'll be forever alone,"? Do you cringe every time you fill out some application that asks you about your marital status?  Everyone has been single at some point in their life - the question is, what does the Bible say about being single and married and having relationships? Join the conversation as we discuss where we have been, both in relationships and in being single. Truth is, being single is one of the most important times in your life. What are you going to do with it?

Many people claim to hear God's voice, but what does the Bible say about it? Have you ever wondered if you've heard God's voice? Does God still speak to us today? How do we know it's His voice? Maybe you're thinking you don't even know where to begin in all of this. You're in good company, and you'll definitely want to listen and tune in to this episode! As we discuss multiple stories in this fluid and open discussion with our good friend Matt Ocheita, we dive into the Word to really think about how we can hear God's voice today, and then taking that next step and trusting what He said. And if Jesus said, "Knock and the door will be opened," how do we know which door to knock on versus which ones God has shut? We encourage you to really think and become part of this episode with us as we dive deeper into hearing God's voice.

If you grew up watching WWE or WWF wrestling, you might have learned by now that - SPOILER ALERT - it's fake. Yes, you read that right, it is indeed fake. But in the Bible there was one wrestling match that was not fake, and that changed the course of Jacob's life forever, leading him to greater things and blessings.  You might be in a season right now of wrestling with God: unsure if He's listening to you, unsure if what He said will actually happen, you might be struggling with a relationship with Him, or even unsure if He's there at all. We're here to tell you, good! It's good to wrestle with God. If this surprises you, be sure to take a listen to this episode, in which we discuss this wrestling event and Ezekiel shares an incredibly moving and powerful testimony. 

The fruit of the Spirit is love when I feel like it, joy when I have everything I need, peace when everything is going right, patience when my kids are acting right, kindness when people do something for me, goodness when I agree with something, faithfulness when God has been doing everything I asked Him to, gentleness unless someone makes me angry, and self-control unless it's cheat day. Survey says?  If you thought something was wrong with that, you would be correct. This is often how we want to see the fruit of the Spirit produced in us and we want to do the producing ourselves. But as we find out in this episode, that's completely upside-down. So how do we inherit these qualities and live like Jesus Christ, who perfected these qualities in His time here on earth? What does it really mean to bear fruit in every season? Shoutout to Greg Scalia for the title of this episode! We hope you guys enjoy this one! Leave us a like, comment and subscribe!

We all have gifts - many different kinds of gifts and sometimes multiple gifts. But gifts aren't always just speaking in tongues, prophesying, or laying hands on people: sometimes being a leader is a gift, being a great parent is a gift, leading youth is a gift. So what are we to do with the gifts God gave us?  We were joined by another special guest in this episode of the Connection Podcast - a longtime friend and sister of ours in Christ - and it happened last minute! We had no notes planned for this, no specific scriptures, but as the Holy Spirit always does, He led us to some great conversations and Bible stories for us to discuss. From tithing to the Parable of the Loaned Money, we hope you enjoy this special episode of the Connection Podcast. 

Have you ever felt like you had everything going for you - the right job, the car, the family, the money, the opportunities - but still felt like something was missing? Have you ever been going through a trial in life or a difficult season but thought, "I'm still good,"? And what's the difference between "joy" and "happiness" anyways?  In this episode of the Connection Podcast, we were joined by 2 very special guests who brought some incredibly powerful and moving testimonies with them, as well as some real good preaching! Perhaps one of our favorite episodes we've recorded yet, we hope you enjoy this episode as we discuss joy and where we find pure joy in our lives.

Mary and Martha are two prominent and very well known women in the Bible - so who do you identify with more? Are you a Martha or a Mary? How do we know which one we are, and is one better than the other? These are just a few of the questions we ask during this episode, so join us as we dive into these stories of Martha and Mary and discuss why we really need to have both the Martha's and the Mary's in every situation.

Have you ever felt like you've lost your peace? Ever felt like everything just continues to pile on to your life and you can't seem to find peace anywhere in it all? Did you grow up in church singing, "I've got peace like a river in my soul?" Chances are, at some point in your life, you've felt like you didn't know where to find peace or how to get it, especially in the middle of difficult situations.  Join us in this installment of the Connection Podcast as we discuss where (who) we can truly go to find peace, why Eze had the worst week of his life and why Noah doesn't want peace like a river. 

This episode is coming in HOT! In the words of Paul, "I don't understand what I do." If you have ever said this about yourself, you NEED to listen to this episode where we discuss acceptance - something that a lot of us don't feel like we either have or can give. We felt some fire and the Holy Spirit working through us recording this episode, and we hope you all experience the same and receive something from it! This was such an important topic for us to speak about, so join us as we discuss how we can learn to accept who we are, where we are, and where God fits in to all of this.

Imagine yourself down in the middle of the ocean, water all around you, filling your ears, nose, eyes, mouth; imagine if you could see the air all around you, covering everything you see. That's grace. Grace is one of the most prominent themes in the Bible, but many times we often take it for granted and don't even realize it's there. So what is it exactly? Do we just have it? How do we know we have it? And what do we do with it once we have it? Join us this week as we discuss personal stories of grace, its meaning, and why God gave it to us. 

If you've ever felt like God has been keeping you in a season of waiting, you definitely don't want to miss this episode! This week we discuss one of the hardest challenges that we think a lot of Christians struggle with today - waiting. So often God will make us wait for something, but the question is not only why He makes us wait, but HOW are we supposed to wait? All over the Bible - Abraham and Sarah, Noah, Joshua, Paul - God makes people wait. There's simply no getting around it, and we all have to go through it.  But waiting doesn't mean the absence of God while He's busy with other people. It often means the exact opposite. Join us this week as we find out why God will make us wait and what we should do during that time!

The hardest part about faith isn't necessarily stepping out when you can't see the next step, but it's when you don't want to step out at all. In this episode, we discuss perhaps one of the most famous Bible stories of all time - Jesus walking on the water. As we dive into this story in scripture, we discover some key elements that we have to keep in mind when it comes to the storms in our lives and where Jesus is in them all. In fact, where is Jesus when the storms in our lives are raging and never ending? Has He just left us out in the middle to fend for ourselves? How do we overcome these obstacles and storms? Who is this story really about after all - Jesus or Peter? This episode was a lot of fun to make, so join with us as we dive into this amazing story of faith, difficult situations, and focus!

Welcome to the 2nd episode of the Connection Podcast! What's the point of telling people about Jesus Christ if they don't receive it? Why should we talk about our faith with others when we don't have influence or we have the perception that we're not good enough? As we discuss the Parable of the Seed and the Parable of the Mustard Seed, we find that our job is not the growth of the seed, but obedience in planting it. As we receive the Word of God in our hearts, we have to retain it for ourselves first to have it be rooted in us, then we can release it to others for their growth as well. 

Welcome to the 1st episode of the Connection Podcast! We dive right into scripture and begin talking about the Parable of the Four Soils, discussing how our hearts can have many different postures in different seasons. When we begin to change our lives and move towards a Christ-centered life, sometimes we have to do a lot of digging and changing in order for the Word of God to take root in our hearts.