The Good News From The Gardens Podcast

Catching Grace

Catching Grace | Luke 5:1-11
Jesus’ teaching of God’s word has begun to draw great crowds. For Simon, James, and John, Jesus’ teaching inspires hospitality, then obedience, and then risk. After Jesus’ creative power is revealed, fear and amazement leads these three fishermen to leave everything behind to become apostles. Listen to this message about God’s faith motivating grace through Jesus.
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02/02/25 | Being Bias: A Message on Seeking Partiality for Jesus

Being Bias: A Message on Seeking Partiality for Jesus
Luke 4:21-30
Last week’s text ended with Luke 4:21, “Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’” This week’s reading begins with it. The world of God is the beginning and the end of our readings, and the beginning and the professed beginning and end of a Christian’s life. The thing is, there are competing starting points, and biblical points of reference from which to start, and live. When it comes to the words of Jesus, what do you hear? What do you want to hear? What should we be hearing? Listen to this message as we unpack what it is to hear and fulfill scripture in a way that first and foremost glorifies God’s agenda, and not ours. 
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01/26/25 | What's In Me For This?

What’s In Me For This?
Luke 4:14-21
You have heard it said, “What’s in this for me?” Someone wants to know what their gain will be in giving of themselves to something. What if instead we said, “What’s In Me For This?” What if our first inclination was to prayerfully assess our ability to be an asset to the person, the cause, the issue? Instead of questioning what we might be losing, consider what the kingdom is gaining. In this Luke text Jesus makes a big first impression. He claims his Father-given authority to be the mission statement borrowed from the book of Isaiah. Jesus is God’s mission to the world, and the church exists because of that mission. What is in you for the mission of God’s church? Listen to this message to consider our individual and collective charge to be God’s mission statement to God’s world, in the name of Jesus Christ.
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01/19/25 | Unexpected and Urgent Grace

Unexpected and Urgent Grace
John 2:1-11
Jesus and his disciples show up to a wedding late. They wine has run out. The celebration is in jeopardy of ending early and possibly in shame. Jesus takes charge and turns water into wine. Not just average wine, but great wine! Shame is not just averted, but the caliber of wine has people wondering why it is so good, and so why now? What about your life is God looking to bestow abundant grace upon grace, or already has? Listen to this message to hear about the grace-centered character and power of God.  
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01/12/25 | Saved to Serve the Whole World

Saved to Serve the Whole World
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
In this scripture and message we hear Luke’s account of John’s baptism of Jesus. Jesus' baptism was God’s affirmation/anointing/kick off of God’s mission to the world through Jesus. Jesus was baptized because the people were getting baptized. He may have been without sin, but he was not too good to enter the turbulent and muddy waters of human life. He came to serve, so that others may learn to serve. In this message we celebrate and correlate Jesus’ baptism to ours, and what that means to us and God's creation. 
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01/05/25 | Lighting The Way

Lighting The Way
John 1:1-9 | Matthew 2:1-12
This Sunday we celebrate the Epiphany of Our Lord. Epiphany means “manifestation”. In the John text, we hear how God manifested God’s self through the Word that was the light of the world. In the Matthew text we hear how curiosity in the Word manifested itself with the magi/wisemen. God is actively lighting a will for your way through the Word that is Jesus in 2025. Listen to this message to hear how God best illuminates your future. 
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12/24/24 | God's Mission to the World Began and Continues at the Margins

God's Mission to the World Began and Continues at the Margins
Luke 2:1-20
From the margins of the universe, a peasant girl in 1st century Judea, reviled shepherds in the fields, on up to this very moment in time, the Creator of all that is, makes its way to YOU. Listen to this message for a message of hope and renewal. 
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12/22/24 | What Do You See? (Guest Preacher Rev. Dr. Chuck Miller)

What Do You See?
Luke 1:39-55
There is so much that we see without realizing it is an illusion. If God created this world, what then is God’s vision?
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12/15/24 | What Then Should We Do?

What Then Should We Do?
Luke 3:7-18
In the gospel for this  week, John has made it clear that Abrahamic lineage is not a prerequisite to salvation, for God can raise up holy ancestry from stones! John says, “Bear fruits, worthy of repentance.” Meaning, if you repent of your sins, if you confess your sin, say you will turn to God, then there must be something to show for it. And the crowd ask, “What then should we do? Great question, right? This is a question we are all familiar with. At some point in time of our lives, we have asked that question. When the path forward is unclear we ask this question. We may ask it of ourselves, or someone else. When the assignment or expectations are unclear we ask “What then should we do?”. Listen to this message to ponder what bearing good fruits for a God who bared himself in human flesh for us looks like.
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12/08/24 | Peace is Present Where Preparation, and Proclamation Intersect

Peace is Present Where Preparation, and Proclamation Intersect 
Malachi 3:1-4 | Luke 1:68-79| Luke 3:1-6
Zechariah believed his son John was born for a distinct purpose. John would come to be known as John the Baptist. In the midst of religious and political turmoil, John declared through a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins people could begin aligning their lives with the Word of God about to become flesh. To repent means to essentially say, “I am unable”. We are unable to navigate our earthly lives without sin. Our thoughts, words and deeds affirm this. Through Christ, God makes us able. What is God making you able to do, to the benefit of yourself? Others? All of creation? For what purpose is God preparing and enabling you? Listen to this message, and ponder your holy purpose.
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