The Sacramental Way
The Practice Church Podcast
We live in a world that prioritizes the tangible and practical, but what if there were practices that opened us to another way of seeing the world? What if God is inviting us to kingdom lives, encountering and walking in God’s loving and active presence in all things? The sacraments are an invitation to do just that. In these holy practices, the kingdom of heaven breaks into our world in a tangible way. God is profoundly present in the most ordinary elements of water, bread, and juice. Baptism and communion are more than mere symbols. They are a visible sign of God’s active presence in all...
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Incarnate: Love
The Practice Church Podcast
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) Since the very beginning, God’s dream has been to dwell with His creation— to walk with us, to speak with us, to share life with humanity. During Advent, we remember the God of the universe who broke into the human story with a tangible, in-the-flesh presence—entering our world to rescue and restore us to this original vision of Immanuel, God with us. In this series, we’ll explore how Jesus brings hope,...
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Incarnate: Joy
The Practice Church Podcast
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) Since the very beginning, God’s dream has been to dwell with His creation— to walk with us, to speak with us, to share life with humanity. During Advent, we remember the God of the universe who broke into the human story with a tangible, in-the-flesh presence—entering our world to rescue and restore us to this original vision of Immanuel, God with us. In this series, we’ll explore how Jesus brings hope,...
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Incarnate: Peace
The Practice Church Podcast
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) Since the very beginning, God’s dream has been to dwell with His creation— to walk with us, to speak with us, to share life with humanity. During Advent, we remember the God of the universe who broke into the human story with a tangible, in-the-flesh presence—entering our world to rescue and restore us to this original vision of Immanuel, God with us. In this series, we’ll explore how Jesus brings hope,...
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Incarnate: Hope
The Practice Church Podcast
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) Since the very beginning, God’s dream has been to dwell with His creation— to walk with us, to speak with us, to share life with humanity. During Advent, we remember the God of the universe who broke into the human story with a tangible, in-the-flesh presence—entering our world to rescue and restore us to this original vision of Immanuel, God with us. In this series, we’ll explore how Jesus brings hope,...
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The Words of Life: The Narrow Gate
The Practice Church Podcast
During his ministry, Jesus repeatedly referred to himself as the Bread of Life. His words would have stirred echoes of the Torah: “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” Just as bread sustains the body, the words of the LORD nourish the soul. Yet, Jesus’s teachings were not always easy to digest. His words could be unsettling and paradigm-shifting, turning long-held beliefs on their heads. Some who heard him turned away. But Simon Peter recognized the truth. When others left, he confessed, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the...
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The Words of Life: Ask, Seek, Knock
The Practice Church Podcast
During his ministry, Jesus repeatedly referred to himself as the Bread of Life. His words would have stirred echoes of the Torah: “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” Just as bread sustains the body, the words of the LORD nourish the soul. Yet, Jesus’s teachings were not always easy to digest. His words could be unsettling and paradigm-shifting, turning long-held beliefs on their heads. Some who heard him turned away. But Simon Peter recognized the truth. When others left, he confessed, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the...
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The Words of Life: Do Not Judge
The Practice Church Podcast
During his ministry, Jesus repeatedly referred to himself as the Bread of Life. His words would have stirred echoes of the Torah: “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” Just as bread sustains the body, the words of the LORD nourish the soul. Yet, Jesus’s teachings were not always easy to digest. His words could be unsettling and paradigm-shifting, turning long-held beliefs on their heads. Some who heard him turned away. But Simon Peter recognized the truth. When others left, he confessed, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the...
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The Words of Life: Treasure and Worry
The Practice Church Podcast
During his ministry, Jesus repeatedly referred to himself as the Bread of Life. His words would have stirred echoes of the Torah: “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” Just as bread sustains the body, the words of the LORD nourish the soul. Yet, Jesus’s teachings were not always easy to digest. His words could be unsettling and paradigm-shifting, turning long-held beliefs on their heads. Some who heard him turned away. But Simon Peter recognized the truth. When others left, he confessed, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the...
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The Words of Life: Training in Love
The Practice Church Podcast
During his ministry, Jesus repeatedly referred to himself as the Bread of Life. His words would have stirred echoes of the Torah: “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” Just as bread sustains the body, the words of the LORD nourish the soul. Yet, Jesus’s teachings were not always easy to digest. His words could be unsettling and paradigm-shifting, turning long-held beliefs on their heads. Some who heard him turned away. But Simon Peter recognized the truth. When others left, he confessed, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the...
info_outlineWe have a tricky relationship with control. It is true God gives us agency, and we are responsible to steward that well. However, our agency is limited. We cannot control nearly as much as we would like. So we strive and cling to control, and when the illusion of our control is broken we either cling grasp all the more for power or we resort to deflated inactivity. This year in the season of Lent, we will experiment with surrendering control. If you were not with us last week, we invite you to make some time this week to listen to the teaching of Mandy Smith and craft an experiment.
This week, we looked at our tendency to grasp for control with ourselves. We asked what it might look like for us to surrender ourselves as living sacrifices, to lay down our lives for our friends, to love God and neighbor. How might we, as Jesus promised, lose our lives in order to find them?
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