Port City Community Church - Audio Podcast

If something is broke, you fix it - that's what we've always been told. We can all agree that we live in a broken and hurting world. Yet, when it comes to how we heal and solve these issues, disagreement and disillusionment creep in. Many of us reason that if we fix all the problems, we will finally experience peace. Problems drive a solution mindset; purpose fuels a redemption mindset. Our sense of frustration and anxiety serves as an indicator of our deep need for Jesus. Brokenness is met with hope because of the promise of Christ's redemption. The way of Jesus is not a strategy for solving the world's problems or fixing our issues, but rather a way of life under His rule as Our King. God-like love is a force that breathes worth and value into the soul of another. As Christ-followers, when we encounter brokenness, we enter into it, empathize with those who are hurting, serve, and bring hope.

We love loopholes that keep us from obeying Jesus. We distract and entertain ourselves with lesser things to avoid being moved by the brokenness around us. We look for ways to exclude while Jesus invites and encourages us to include. We ponder who we can keep out while we should be asking, “who can we invite in?” The power to make someone our neighbor gets sustained by His love for us. The way of Jesus redeems and heals our poverty, brokenness, bondage, and blindness. The love Jesus uses to pursue us is aggressive and tenacious. God-like love is a force that breathes worth and value into the soul of another person. God entered into our mess so we could wade into the problems in our world. We bring dignity to another soul by making them our neighbor.

In episode 59 Domonique and Pam Dixon share about their family, which is blended in more ways than one. They talk about how they are attempting to live a life of love as they navigate so many layers. Their focus on sharing the love of Christ through their actions is inspiring. Definitely share this one with a friend!

Change doesn't start with a strategy; it begins with surrender. We will not get God's vision on our terms. Jesus calls us out to surrender then sends us back into the world to serve. Every act that contributes to healing brings the force of the Gospel on our culture and bends it towards God's Kingdom. The unfinished business is to bring a Gospel presence that affects the culture. Everything we do has the opportunity to add to the chaos or to contribute to the healing. God hasn't called us to do everything, but He's called us to do something. The influence we leverage is both an individual responsibility as well as a corporate opportunity. Faith only requires the next right thing. God is redeeming His creation through the lives of His redeemed people.

In episode 58 we address the issue a lot of parents are facing right now and we talk about how to navigate home based learning. We hosted a conversation with parents and recorded a panel sharing some great tips from some homeschool parents. We fielded some questions and had a great discussion. This episode has parenting nuggets for all of us and is a great resource to share with friends.

Jesus didn't come to fix our bad behavior. He came to free us from a governing rule that causes us to get stuck in destructive patterns by extending to us an opportunity to live under the direction of His love. Before we can impact our world, Christ's love must first impact our hearts. The way of Jesus is complete, full, and sufficient, but it's also ongoing and unfolding. It's not what we know that matters, but rather the things we trust enough to live by. A pattern of preparation allows Jesus to do His purifying work within us. We're redeemed through a new allegiance and purified through a fresh surrender. To surrender is to trust.

In episode 57 of the Parent Network Podcast we spend some time with Jason and Kayla Black. They have a 16 month old son and they have both worked with teenagers and families in variety of ways over the years. They have some great insight on trusting God through parenting, navigating a pandemic, and living in a multi-ethnic family.

The way we live speaks louder than our words. We bear the integrity of God's image and leverage the influence of His love. The voice of our church is what WE say to the world around us—how we trust and handle being trusted matters. Sound doctrine goes deeper than sound thinking. It doesn't serve as a checklist for our behavior, but rather provides a framework to foster God's work deep within our hearts. The influence we leverage comes from the influence we receive. An encounter with God's truth must shape the way we live our lives. His grace is the source of our counter-cultural force. What we do now matter to the generations to come. We have an individual responsibility as well as a corporate opportunity to make an impact.

Even though Paul penned his letter to Titus thousands of years ago, his words speak to issues facing our modern world - individualism, consumerism, and disorder. We fight for control and look out for number one. We reason that if everyone believed, thought, and see the world the same way we do, all the problems would disappear. But, it's simply not the case. As Christians, we have a choice: we can add to the chaos of our world or contribute to the healing of our culture. The unfinished business before Titus, and us as well, is serving as an attractive reflection of the Gospel presence in the world at large. Living this way requires us to be dependent on grace and pay attention to our lives and the impact we have on others. We should be helpful, hopeful, and bring value to the places around us

Episode 56 is super fun as Chris and Karin Sasser welcome Jordan and Alex Sasser to a fun and rich conversation. Jordan (Sass' nephew) and Alex have two kids, five and two. We talk about everything from parenting together to staying consistent. You'll get a ton out of this episode, especially if you have younger kids (but listen if you have olders too!). Also, if you stay until the end you'll hear an extra treat.

There are seasons of life that feel like you are walking through a desert, times where you see more negative in your life than positive, and you might feel distant from God. Chances are, right now, you might feel like you are in the desert! While this season might not be pleasant, we do believe that it is purposeful! So how do we navigate life in these difficult times? How do we find God's provision in the desert? We discuss all of this and more on this week's podcast! This episode also is the debut of our newest Overflow Staff member, Maddie Goslee!

Nobody likes being told what to do. We often resist obedience because we know WHAT we’re supposed to do, but not WHY we’re supposed to do it. Many of us possess a segmented view of Jesus. We love the concept of Jesus being our Savior but hesitate to make Him Lord of our lives. Jesus isn’t restricting us from something; He is leading us somewhere. Following Jesus begins with trust, but it always ends with obedience. It’s not about obtaining knowledge; it’s about the application. Seasons of adversity come and go, but there is a way to stand firm among them. Building our lives upon Him enables us to navigate the storms that we face.

In seasons of adversity, we often ask the question: “Why?” We wrestle with why we are in the situation we are in. Why hasn’t God stepped in yet? Why did it have to be us? "Why?” may not be the right question to ask under challenging circumstances. There are three better questions we can ask ourselves when adversity comes our way. These questions will help you walk through seasons of depression, heartache, anxiety, anger, pain, and loss. They will help you gain perspective, experience peace, and even find joy amid uncertainty. Lemons can be turned to lemonade and used to refresh others.

We have made an idol of certainty. Doing so is like worshipping a ghost. It doesn't exist, but we continue to place our hope in the things of this world to provide us with security. In turbulent uncertainty, we look for a foundation that can hold up the weight of our whole being - mind, soul, and body. Only Jesus Christ can support the weight of our hope.

Episode 55 is a GREAT conversation with our friends Stuart and Kellee Hall where we dig into so many parenting and family issues. If you don't know their recent story, listen to Port City's July 5th Sunday service to hear about their difficult and incredible journey. In this conversation, we talk about how to lead your kids through crisis and so much more. This is going to be an episode you'll want to share with your friends!

We think our job as humans is to avoid pain, our role as parents is to protect our children from pain, and our task as friends is to fix each other’s pain. Maybe that’s why we all feel like failures so often. For many of us, we have made an idol of certainty. We pursue it and chase it at all costs, not knowing our pursuit is a futile endeavor. The only certainty in life is its uncertainty. Life is not the way it is supposed to be. Life is the way it is. Darkness does us a favor by exposing certainty as an illusion. Our faith doesn’t crumble because of our doubt, but because we place our trust in the wrong things. Believing is not a WHAT word. Believing is a WHO word.

In episode 54 we hear from Don and Buffy Brown on how they parent kids in several phases. The Browns have been intentionally parenting their kids in so many ways and they have some great insight for us all. You also hear about how the podcast got it's new co-host.

In episode 8, Goff and Sass talk with high school student Cory Canter about school, sports, quarantine, camp, leaders, faith, and more. It's a great journey through Cory's time at PC3 and how he has grown in his walk with God.

We have a built-in sense of justice that’s more karma than shalom. We rally for our rights and attempt to level the playing field and balance the scales. If we get everyone to act, think, and behave like us, justice will be served. We attempt to achieve God’s dream for unity on our terms. The way of Jesus is radically different than what we’re prone to think. In every moment, we have the choice to live under the ways of this world or be guided by the rule of Christ’s love. The Gospel calls us into a way of life that doesn’t serve our rights but instead calls us to serve others. Love requires personal and social responsibility. Living under the rule of Christ’s love compels us to care. Justice flows from the love we’ve received. Jesus brings us into a right relationship with Him, and therein is our hope to live rightly related to everyone else. The heart of God is the unity of His people. Unity is not merely the absence of disagreement; unity is a miracle.