Parker Ford Church's Podcast

Have you been waiting for the day when someone finally told you that you didn't have to evangelize anymore?  No more street preaching?  No more awkward conversations with relatives?  No more memorizing what to draw on a napkin just in case someone randomly asks you your thoughts on salvation?  Since pastors *technically* aren't allowed to say any of these things, PFC is bringing me in to say it to you....and if you're intrigued and/or offended by this teaser, listen in! - Dolph Laraio

This Sunday at PFC, we’ll discover that Jesus wants us dead & alive! It will make more sense as we look at our Biblical text – Romans 6:1-14. There are some things that we need to declare death to – R.I.P! These things no longer hold power over us because of Jesus’ death and resurrection! We’ll also see what (or Who) we need to be fully alive to. You are “wanted” this Sunday at PFC - dead & alive! 

At Christmas, we celebrated the gift of the incarnation - God becoming flesh, the birth of our Savior, Jesus! However, that’s just the beginning. There’s more! Oh yes, the gifts keep on coming! As we tear open these incredible gifts in Romans 5:1-11, we’ll see that these have been purchased by Jesus’ sacrificial, unconditional, and incomparable love to the most undeserving … us! Join us this Sunday at PFC for worship, prayer, teaching, and testimony! 

A generation or two ago it would be common to hear people ask something along the lines of, "If you were to die today and met Jesus at the heavenly gates, if He asked you, 'Why should I let you into my heaven?' What would you say?" While that's definitely not my favorite question, I do understand the intention. The motivation of that or similarly shaped questions is to help a person determine if they know the gospel, the good news of Jesus. Romans 4 is rooted in this exact same motivation. Paul wants both the Jewish and Gentile background believers to know how to be made right with God.

The Christian businessman and author Max De Pree wrote, "The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality." Jesus, the ultimate leader, is the author and perfecter of our faith. This means that Jesus is the leader who defines the fulness of reality. As we bid farewell  to 2023 and look forward to 2024, the key word as a church family is hope. Because Jesus is King, our reality is one of hope. Luke 7 captures an amazing interaction between Jesus and people who were once hopeless. Let this story bring hope into the dark places of your life.

Today we wrap up our Advent series with the last of our four theories of atonement: the Moral Influence Atonement Theory. This theory emphasizes the atoning work of Christ by demonstrating Trinitarian humility and love towards each other (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and also towards humanity. This God-posture within the Trinity is an example of how we should posture ourselves towards God and towards one another.

As we've been studying the atonement we've seen that Christ died to make atonement for our sins. The death of Jesus made a way for fallen and broken humans to be made right with our holy God. But the cross is not only about our personal redemption. The cross is also the symbol of God's victory over Satan. This week we are examining Christ's victory over Sin, Satan, and Death through His atoning work on the cross.

This Sunday, we’ll look at another facet of what Jesus accomplished by coming to earth that first Christmas and sacrificing His life on the cross. In Romans 5:12-21, we’ll see that one man (Adam) messed everything up for humanity but one Man (Jesus) came and made everything right. We’ll see that in Jesus, grace overflows and we have renewed hope. 

In Romans 3:25 the Apostle Paul writes, "God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood - to be received by faith." During the Advent season PFC will be exploring the meaning and mystery of the atonement. This Sunday we're kicking off this series by focusing on the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. He died "instead of us" and "in our place." It should have been you and I. Instead, Jesus took our place on the Cross (substituting in for us). Although this is not the only way to think about the atonement, Christ's substitutionary sacrifice is the beating heart and central idea of atonement.

 Remember when the U.S. monetary system was based on the “gold standard?” Until 1933 the worth of each dollar was backed by actual gold held by the U.S. Treasury. Now each dollar’s worth is based on…faith. As followers of Christ our faith is backed by an even better standard than gold. The standard of our faith is Jesus. Paul has a lot to say about the nature of faith in his letter to the church of Rome and what it means to follow Christ as our one true standard. 

As we continue to walk though Romans 3, this week we will be looking at the word Goodness. What is goodness, and if God is the only one who is good, where does that leave me in my faith journey?

As we continue our study in Romans, we’ll explore what the righteousness of God and justification by faith is all about. Yes, they are BIG words that are rich in meaning. We’ll unpack them and see that God always does what is just and right and He is faithful to His promises. The story of Jesus shows how God has done both of these things. 

This week we take a one week pause from our Romans series to talk about some of the things going on in the life of our church family. We’ll hear updates regarding various ministries at PFC and talk about the mission, vision, and direction of PFC. 

As we’ll discover this week, you can be born into the right family, read the Bible, disciple others, be marked for God but not be truly marked by God. The outside of your life may look fantastic, but the inside (your heart) tells another story. It doesn't matter what other people think—what matters is what God thinks of you because He knows the condition of your heart. It’s heart-check time this Sunday at PFC!

Romans 1:21-32: This week we are continuing in our study of Romans 1. We were created to live as heart-soul-mind-strength beings. When our head and our heart are not connected, we fail to be who the Father has made us to be. Therefore, if we desire to be more like Jesus, we must understand and grow in the head-heart connection. 

Today, we’ll continue to unpack the lie from Romans 1:25 (idolatry). One of the areas where we’ve exchanged God’s truth for lies and turned our worship away from God is with our physical bodies. In this text, Paul specifically addresses our sexual impurity and humanity’s broken sexuality. We’ll take a solemn look at this reality but then turn our gaze to Jesus who offers us redemptive wholeness.