Listens for Insight - Listening as an Act of Love: Lifting Others Up
Release Date: 09/24/2025
Kings & Longing W2: He Is Risen!
the Church Podcast
Focus: Aren’t you glad that God’s grand story does not end at the cross? On the third day, the grave is empty! Death itself is defeated! The risen Christ fulfills the ancient promise that God will swallow up death forever and wipe away every tear. Easter declares that Jesus is not only the crucified Savior but the living King who holds the keys of death and life. Because He lives, hope is no longer a wish. Hope is a certainty grounded in the victory of God. Isaiah 25:6–9; Matthew 28:1–10; Revelation 1:17–18
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Kings & Longing: Wounded for Our Healing
the Church Podcast
Focus: The cross reveals the depth of humanity’s brokenness and the greater depth of God’s love. The promised Servant King bears the weight of sin, suffering, and injustice, fulfilling Isaiah’s ancient prophecy that “by His wounds we are healed.” What looks like defeat becomes the turning point of humanity’s redemption. Good Friday reminds us that God does not stand distant from human pain. He enters it, carries it, and redeems it through the sacrifice of Christ. Isaiah 53; John 19
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Kings & Longing: Love That Serves and Saves
the Church Podcast
Focus: On the night before the cross, Jesus reveals the heart of His kingdom. The King kneels to wash His disciples’ feet and gives them bread and wine as a new covenant. Echoing the Passover story of rescue and deliverance, Jesus shows that His mission is not only to rule but to serve and save. Maundy Thursday invites us to receive the love of the Servant King and to reflect that same sacrificial love toward others. Exodus 12:1–14; Luke 22:7–20; John 13:1–17
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Kings & Longing: The Humble King Arrives
the Church Podcast
Focus: The King God promised finally arrives, but not as the kind of king the crowd expected. Riding on a donkey instead of a war horse, Jesus reveals a kingdom built on humility, peace, and surrender rather than force and power. Palm Sunday invites us to recognize that the King we truly need may not be the one we imagined. As the crowd cries “Hosanna,” we are confronted with a question that echoes through every generation: Will we welcome the humble King on His terms? Zechariah 9:9–10; Luke 19:28–40
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Presence in the Wilderness: Woven into Memory
the Church Podcast
Focus: God calls the Israelites to obey everything He has commanded, to teach their children to obey, and to regularly remember how God delivered them from Egypt and how He gave them the cities and land they live in. Remembering and repeating what God has done is necessary. People are so quick to focus on circumstances and ourselves that God’s people need to have these things woven into their memories. Deuteronomy 6
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Presence in the Wilderness: Threads of Fear, Threads of Faith
the Church Podcast
Focus: God is with His people and leads them to the lands He promised to give to them. But the scouting party returns divided. 10 are afraid of going against the inhabitants of the land, while 2 believe that God will be fighting for them and will deliver on His promise, so they have nothing to fear. How commonly do we switch our perspective from what God is doing, to what I can’t do? Numbers 13–14
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Presence in the Wilderness: God Moves In
the Church Podcast
Focus: After delivering His people, God agrees to go with them to the promised land. Even though He knows that the people will sin, and will kindle His anger, He is with them. Exodus 25–40
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Covenant Threads: Marked by Grace
the Church Podcast
Focus: The covenant promise expands as God delivers His people from slavery and claims them as His own. From the burning bush to the Passover to Sinai, we see that God rescues before He instructs, saves before He shapes, and marks His people with grace before calling them to obedience. This week anchors us in the truth that covenant identity flows from deliverance, not performance. We are not saved by keeping the law; we are given the law because we have been saved. Exodus 3, 12, 20
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Covenant Threads: Tested and Tied
the Church Podcast
Focus: Covenant faith is not only received, it is tested. In Genesis 22, Abraham is confronted with a moment that threatens to unravel the very promise he was given. Yet God proves Himself faithful, providing what Abraham could not. This story reminds us that God never tests in order to destroy, but to deepen trust and reveal His provision. This week invites us to wrestle honestly with faith under pressure and to discover that God remains faithful even when obedience is costly and understanding is incomplete. Genesis 22
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Covenant Threads: Return and Be Renewed
the Church Podcast
Focus: Ash Wednesday calls us to return, not out of fear, but out of hope. The God who binds Himself to His people also invites them back when they stray. Through confession, repentance, and humility, we are reminded that covenant life includes honest reckoning with sin and confident trust in God’s mercy. This service grounds us in the truth that renewal is possible because God’s steadfast love never loosens its grip. Even marked with ashes, we are held by grace. Joel 2:12–13; Psalm 51
info_outlineFocus: As Christians, our security and comfort come from God’s love for us and the future God promises which is fulfilled in Jesus. God has already thought of us first, so we are free to humbly think of others first. In humility we don’t drag ourselves down, we think more of others and lift them up.
Philippians 2:1-4