Mcc Podcast

We kick off a new series this week called Journey and week 1 is all about being a follower of Jesus.

This Sunday, in our Holiday Field Guide series where we are looking at how to survive the holidays, we will be looking at how to survive disillusionment. This is a significant issue for many of us at MCC and in our culture, especially around the holidays. Sometimes we get so caught up in the lights, gifts, and even the pace of Christmas that we don’t notice that there are others who, quite frankly, are a little disillusioned about faith because of those things. This week Mike will take us back into the passage we looked at last Sunday to guide us through why Joseph dealt with being disillusioned and what he did about it. And what we can do about it ourselves, as well as help others, today.

It may be fair to say that most of us have never been lost in the woods….but picture it: you’re lost, you have no supplies - no food, no water, no shelter. What would you do first? Where do you begin? How do you figure out what is safe? Sounds like you need a field guide! A field guide is basically a manual for identifying natural objects, flora, or fauna in nature. It can provide survival tips and tactics, and show you what is safe to eat, what you can use for shelter, navigation, etc. This series will be a field guide for us - to show us how to navigate the holidays. We’ll look at how to navigate relationships, our emotions, our thoughts, our choices, and our faith so that we stay on course and don’t end up “lost” in the busyness of this time of year. This kind of field guide will help us keep Jesus at the center of this Christmas season. This week Josh will be talking about family. Navigating the terrain of family relationships during the holidays can be treacherous - we’ll be looking at 3 charact

I think when most people think of generosity, they think of a specific act. Somebody had an unexpected expense. They can’t afford to get it fixed. Somebody hears the news and swoops in to save the day. The bill is paid and life is back to normal because someone wrote a check! Is that generosity? I’d like to think that, yes, that was generous. But does that one act paint the picture of what God says generosity is through His Word? I would submit that a single act of generosity can be displayed without a real heart change. You see, that is what God is up to. As He shapes our hearts to reflect His character, He is trading us a “heart of stone” for “a heart of flesh” Ez 36:26. This week Rich will walk us through a look at the things we should see in the life of a disciple that is being changed by Jesus. Paul talks plainly about them as he concludes the first letter to the Corinthians.

The church in Corinth was like other churches in the first century in that they met at night and had a tradition of gathering for a church fellowship supper prior to their worship service. Apparently their pitch-in dinners provided not only an occasion for fellowship but gave the wealthy a chance to share their abundance with the poor. That might have been the best meal some of the slaves and unemployed members would have all week. Then, after the meal, they had a worship service and served communion. But over the course of time, as often happens, what was intended for good deteriorated into irreverence. The rich got tired of waiting for the late-arriving slaves who worked until sunset, so they just ate early leaving only the scraps for the poor. Others got to bickering among themselves over who really ran the church and they split up into separate cliques that always ate together. Some drank so much wine at the fellowship meal that they got drunk. When the worship time came they were so inebriated

As we prepare for this weekend, I want to remind you that Paul is writing to the church in Corinth, which he started, about problems that they are experiencing that are causing divisions in the church. One of the divisive issues concerned spiritual gifts. This Sunday, I am going to completely encircle what Eric was talking about last week. He gave the central message when it comes to spiritual gifts, the heart of the message if you will. When it comes to gifts and/or worship, the heart of the message is the heart of the believer. Love must sit at the center of ALL we do. I want to pause for a moment to reflect on applying what Eric said this past Sunday. As I write this, Issue 1 has passed in Ohio. That breaks my heart and I believe breaks God’s heart as well. As we respond to this with people in conversation, or on social media, we must do so in a way that does not sound like a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal (1 Corinthians 13:1). Our goal is to help people see Jesus in us so they will be drawn to Hi

Have you ever noticed that there are just some people who give you their opinion and have no concern about how others feel about it? Or maybe you know someone who is spot on with their beliefs, but how they communicate it isn’t the most kind? Perhaps you know someone who is faithful in volunteering, but they are doing so for the wrong reasons. This week Eric will remind us that our primary motivator as disciples of Jesus should be love that comes from the outpouring of us receiving the generous love of God. And as love motivates us we become reflections of Jesus to a world in desperate need of him.

The roles of men and women are possibly as misunderstood today then any point in history. Instead of searching for what is socially acceptable or agreed upon by the majority, let’s take a look at what God was doing by design. Genesis 1:27 says, “In the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.” This week Rich will remind us that as Image Bearers, it’s clear that we are to reflect something, or better said, Someone. God knows us too well to leave our roles undefined. He is clear in scripture. The problem is our execution. We will take a look at the ways God calls us to live this out in our divinely unique roles.

I’ve made a big deal out of the fact that Corinth was the home of the temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. And that had a HUGE influence on the morals of the city. But I’ve also mentioned that it was a port city, so they had access to trade and tourism and became a place where different lines of thought and philosophy flowed through; all kinds of ideas from around the world about different gods to worship and how to live your life. As you can imagine their culture was filled with temptation. Just like ours. This week we will be reminded of some “hard to hear” truths about temptation and some promises that God makes to His children about when temptation comes your way.

If someone is looking for a church, what should they be looking for? If you have ever moved into a new city and you’re looking for a church, maybe you’ve asked that question. What is that set of criteria? I’m wondering how many of us have even pulled out a piece of paper and written down a set of criteria that you’re looking for. That allows you to not be driven by feelings, but by a well thought out answer. For others, perhaps you’ve gone with how you’ve felt. Maybe you were encouraged, challenged, or were yelled at. Some of us have never asked this question. We’re going to have Paul help us answer that question this weekend. And in all fairness to the text, it’s not the question he’s answering, but it’s in his answer to the Corinthians question that we’ll find the answer to ours.

When you hear the word freedom what do you think about? Soldiers? America? The right to do whatever you please? Freedom is one of those words we love because it largely benefits us. But what happens when our freedom becomes a stumbling block for others? How can we set aside our freedom so that others might grow? This week Eric will help us uncover what it means to set aside our freedom so we can experience what true freedom in Christ brings.

Last week Paul addressed how sex in the Corinthian culture was influencing the church (rather than the church influencing the culture). This week Paul addresses sex inside marriage. What he is talking about in chapter 7 answers one of the questions they have written to him. And it may surprise you, but God actually has a lot to say about the subject of sex. Now it shouldn’t surprise us because God thought it up, and He thought it was a good idea. This is an area where most of us agree with God. The problem is, God’s voice on this subject is often distorted if it’s listened to at all. We are inundated with images and messages about sex all the time in our culture. And we’re not sure we want to hear about it at church, but again, God has a great deal of wisdom to give us. We’ll see that this weekend.

I hope you have been enjoying our walk through the letter that Paul wrote to the church in Corinth. One of the advantages of sitting in a book like 1 Corinthians is that you get more of a feel for the background of the people and why they are doing what they are doing. We also get to be reminded that what was true for/about them is true for/about us. I had a guy come up to me in Kroger one time and say - “Hey, you’re that preacher at the church aren’t you? You are darn funny!” Except he didn’t say darn. I didn’t quite know what to do. So I said, “Thanks.” Is it ok for me to admit that I love that? I don’t want to be a part of a church that is full of sanitized, mature believers; nor the opposite, a lot of immaturity. There needs to be some growth and maturity going on, and Paul recognized this. I think at times you and I need to be reminded of it as well, that growth is a process. Sometimes we need to grow up. And sometimes we need to grow young. We’re all in process, regardless of where we

This week Paul will talk about judging others. So let me ask 3 questions: Do you like to be judged? Have you ever judged someone? Is it ever appropriate to judge another person? Jesus says, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” That’s from Matthew 7 in case you want to look that up because there is more to that teaching. Our culture is constantly saying we shouldn’t judge. But did you know that Jesus also said - “Be sure to do what the Pharisees teach, but don’t follow their example because they don’t do what they teach.” That sounds kind of judgmental. If you are wondering about this, this weekend I get to share what Paul writes as he lays out for us the principle in chapter 5 that Jesus demonstrated for us in His life for us about judging others.

This Sunday Eric will continue our conversation around unity as we dive into 1st Corinthians chapter 3.  As Paul addresses the “who do you follow argument?” happening in Corinth, he reminds the church that he, Apollos, and Cephas all belong to the church.  And that the church belongs to Jesus,  and Jesus belongs to God.  So exo facto all things are God’s.  The leaders of the church, the ministry volunteers, the church goer who sits in the back and leaves first thing, all belong to God.  I hope you’ll join us this week as we learn what it means to have a right view of others, ourselves, and everyone in the Church belonging to God.

We have seen in the last 2 weeks that this very young church is in an urban setting and there are a bunch of new disciples of Jesus. The whole Christianity thing had just been invented. With a bunch of new people come a bunch of new opinions and new ideas and perhaps some soapboxes. People could show up and they had their ideas and their opinions and there is some division in the church. What the church needs now is some mature leaders to hear both sides of the stories, make a decision, and keep going. Stay on mission. Stay focused. Instead they are arguing about their leaders. And because division can destroy a church, Paul addresses unity for 1/4 of this letter. This week I get to help us see how Paul shows them, and us, what leaders should look like, how we should view ourselves, and how the church should see leadership.

Last week we looked back 100 years to see what life was like here in the U.S. This week we’ll see a few predictions that people made in 1923 that they thought would be true about life today. While some of them are not accurate (at least at the moment), some are hauntingly similar to everything happening in the world right now. What’s true in the world, is true in the church. The more some things change, the more others do not.  This weekend we’ll see an issue they had in the church in Corinth in the first century which could tear the church apart, is still an issue in the church in the 21st century, and still has the ability to tear the church apart. It can tear MCC apart. This week we’ll see what Paul has to say about unity in the church. And in the process we’ll see what unity is, and what it is not.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. This week we will begin to walk through the letter Paul wrote to the church in the city of Corinth to find out that it’s not just true of the US one hundred years ago, but the church 2000 years ago. We will also see what we can learn from them about how to respond to people and issues in our culture today.

This Sunday I get to conclude our Ekklesia series by jumping straight to the last verse in the book. For the last few weeks we’ve been following how God used Paul. Paul, who helped start at least 10 new churches in his life. Paul, who wrote 13 of the of 27 books in the New Testament. Paul, who influenced people whose names appear on books in the New Testament, people like Mark, Luke, Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and others whose names you may recognize: Barnabas, Silas, Apollos, and Aquila and Priscilla. In the big picture, in the grand scheme of things, when we consider the eternality of God's Kingdom and the work that is done in His Name, in terms of lives that are affected not merely for a lifetime but for all time, it seems fair to say that Paul “lived on mission.” Why was that? And is it possible that what made Paul's ministry so successful and to leave a legacy of so many touched and changed lives for the sake of Jesus, is it possible that those things can be true of you and me and even what G

By now, you should be seeing some obvious characteristics of the early Church. Acts doesn’t paint a rosy picture of first century Christians. We see personality clashes and differences of opinion regarding strategy. The missteps of God’s people trying to be a part of Kingdom building. This week Rich will guide us through chapter 18 where we see the fruit of Christian’s loving God, loving people and living on mission. Did you think we came up with that on our own?!? Take a few minutes to read through chapter 18. Familiarize yourself with the people in the story. Dig around in the background and even look at what they go on to do. Your investment in the lives of your neighbors is a wonderful part of God’s redemptive plan. That’s what it means to Live On Mission!