Northplace Church Podcast

When we read this description of Jesus' lineage, and see it the way God intends us to, it becomes a literal summation of the story of grace that has unfolded throughout the Old Testament. It’s like Matthew is kicking off the New Testament with this genealogy saying to us: Here is a summation of the story so far.The Gospel isn’t a story about how to live your life better. It’s not some “once upon a time” sweet little fairy tale about how to live a more moral life. It’s not advice. The Gospel is the announcement of what Jesus has already done. All we have to do to be saved is respond to that announcement. We must bow our knees to the king who fought the battle to save us.

If there is one thing God cannot do, is change. Changing his character, His ways, His nature, is not even a possibility. God’s promise to us is that He will never do that. And the promise of God’s immutability, His unchanging nature, is where we can anchor our lives in an ever-changing world of chaos, uncertainty, and ambiguity.

Join us with Dr. Oss, as we take a deep dive into the book of Psalms. 

There are going to be moments in your life when the lights go out. Where you’re having to follow God in the dark. When the promises of God you read in his word (or that He’s whispered into your heart) that at one time were so clear and certain. There will come a time when they will seem like an allusion. It will all seem like an impossibility.We spend so much of our lives living in that space. Where our God seems silent and our problems are very loud. Where God seems distant and obscure and our suffering is not.And if you’re in that space today, this is one more nudge of the HolySpirit calling you to stiffen your spine, stand firm in your faith, and trust in the faithfulness of your God.

Abraham is considered “Father Abraham”...the “Father of Our Faith” because of the radicle obedience referenced here in Hebrews 11:8. Every follower of Jesus can trace their spiritual ancestry back to this single step of faith. We’re sitting here today as followers of Jesus because Abraham made that courageous decision to honor God with irrational obedience.The defining moments of your life will usually come down to a decision between your personal comfort or your irrational obedience to God.

If, like many American Christians, you see God as a divine bellhop that can be ordered around at your whim, or a genie that’s simply supposed to grant your wishes or some type of Santa Claus that’s just there to fulfill your requests, you’re going to have a hard time processing the God revealed in the scriptures today.But, if you can learn to trust the character, the goodness, the sovereignty, and the timing of (this often-misunderstood God), that we see in the scriptures, your life will have far more peace and your spirit will be far more at rest, than the average churchgoer or person who claims to be a Christian.

Our culture is absolutely obsessed with appearance. There are even companiesyou can hire to help you manage your image. But God is not impressed by our image management. He couldn’t care less. He doesn’t judge a person by appearance, achievements, accomplishments, acquisitions, education, or wealth. He’s more concerned about the authentic internal you--the purity and integrity of your heart.If you have integrity, there’s not a church version of you and a different work version of you. If you have integrity, the Friday night (or vacation you) is the same as the “Sunday morning in church” you.Integrity means you don't pretend to be something you're not and you’re not always changing based on who you’re with at the moment.

Far too many people come to church on the weekends, raise their hands in worship, give, pray, even get emotional when they sense the presence of God, and yet walk out of here and be someone totally different at work, or at home, or with the girls on that night out, or with boys out on the town because they’ve compartmentalized their life to rationalize two sets of behaviors, and people who do that don’t have integrity. They're living duplicitous, double-standard lives. It’s almost as if this scenario is more normal than a Christian who is righteous, consistent, and lives a blameless life. It may be normal in American Christianity but it’s not the expectations set out in God’s word for his people.

He is the God who sees our tears, but do we see His tears for us?This week we are looking at one of God’s most forgotten aspects found in the book of Ezekiel … God as a lover.God comes and says I want to be the husband and lover of the church. God is a Smitten Lover, a Wounded Lover, and a Faithful Lover. This is why we need to understand that our sin is more than just breaking God’s law; our sin is what breaks God’s heart. You become a slave to what you love and seek.

The writer of Hebrews makes a unique statement about the shed blood of Christ. He says the blood of Christ “speaks” better things than the blood of Abel. The blood of Jesus has a voice and it speaks mercy, grace, pardon, and forgiveness over our lives. In the same way, your tears have a voice. Your tears speak. They are a language all their own. And it’s a language God intimately understands. They need no interpretation or translation. It’s heart-to-heart communication.In some mysterious way, our complex inner communication systemknows when it reaches its verbal limitations and that’s when the tears flow.

Pastor Scotty Gibbons, one of Northplace's teaching pastors, joins us this week to discuss the importance of the next generation and our responsibility to pass on our 'God Stories' and commit to praying for them.

For so many people in the world and unfortunately for so many followers of Jesus, the phrases "I still haven’t found what I’m looking for," or "I still haven’t seen or experienced what I thought I should by now," or "I’ve looked everywhere and there still seems to be something missing in my work, in my family in my relationships in my emotional and inner life," seem to be mindsets that we constantly struggle with, and we tend to think that if I could just have this one thing, I'd be really happy.The problem is, if that philosophy worked, we would all be the happiest, most fulfilled versions of ourselves by now, and yet so many of us aren’t. But at the same time, something inside of us screams that we were made for more. So we keep searching and looking, and the majority of us ultimately end up in one of three places:1. We blame things2. We blame ourselves3. We give up on what we're looking forBut what if the fact that you haven’t found what you’re looking for isactually

Words create worlds. Your words create the culture in your home. Your words create the perception people have of you. Your words either strengthen or destroy your relationships. So yes...your words create the world you live in.If you want to change your life, you have to change your words.

Proverbs has a lot to say about our speech patterns. And if you survey the entire book and examine everything it has to say about our words, it can be boiled down to this thesis or premise: If you want your words to reflect God’s heart, you need to know the “why”, “what” and “how” of words:1. Why Words Have Power2. What Differentiates Life-giving Words from Destructive Words3. How to Align Your Words with God’s HeartAccording to Proverbs, words can kill physically, psychologically, spiritually, butwords also have the power to destroy relationship and community. Because once a damaging word is spoken, there is nothing you can do to make it as if it had never been uttered.

In week one, we saw how our relationships impact our destiny. In week two, we learned how to biblically respond to criticism and critical people. In week 3, we learned the importance of staying excited and hopeful about our future.Here’s the focus for week 4: Your attitude more than your aptitude will determine your altitude.

In week one, we saw how the bible teaches us that our relationships determine our destinies. (For the good or the bad). The company you keep is the best indicator of your future. Last week, we learned from the lives of Moses, Hezekiah, Nehemiah, and ultimately from Jesus...on how to respond to criticism (and criticalpeople) in an emotionally and spiritually mature way.This week, we look at the words of Jesus in Matthew 18:3 “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”God has planted in side of every one of us an awareness that there is something more to life than this transient, temporary world. And that awareness is meant to feed our hope and expectation of the future.

Last week we talked about relationships. And how the bible revealsthat our relationships determine our destinies. (For the good or for the bad)We saw that over and over again in Scripture, from the Proverbs to Paul.Today, we’re going to look at: Dealing with Criticism in an EmotionallyMature, Christ-like Way. When we say criticism, we're not talking about the healthy kind of constructive criticism where people who love you are exposing your blind spots and speaking the hard truth because they care. That’s the goodkind of criticism...that you’re supposed to welcome.Today we're talking about your critics...those who try to tear you down, undermine your reputation, and attack your character. How do you respond to THAT in an emotionally mature, Christ-like way?

The Bible has a lot to say about how to respond to critics and criticism in a Christ-like way, how our responses to things we can't control will determine the direction of our lives more than what actually happens to us, or about how staying excited about the future is a prerequisite to living a life of fulfillment, and how the people you associate yourself with will determine your success or failure.As we celebrate the Class of 2023, the quote "Show me your friends and I'll show you your future" is a great start to a conversation about relationships and the influences we allow in our lives. Because your relationships will determine your destiny.

Happy Mother's DayAs we read through our bible reading plans together this year, something has stood out like never before. Over and over again, scripture uses the imagery of a Mother’s love to capture how tender, compassionate, and absolute God’s love is for us.

The only way to turn beliefs into character is through practices. Practices that we often call spiritual disciplines. Practices like prayer, worship, and the study of His word. There are many more Christian “practices” that produce character, but this week let's look to Psalm 119 to help us better understand the “practice” of engaging God’s word and how doing so is supposed to impact our everyday life.