Broad River Podcast

Open Hands — Week 1: Open Your Hands | Luke 19:1–10
Texts: Luke 19:1–10

What if your money isn’t mainly a math issue—but a heart issue?

In Week 1 of Open Hands, Pastor Kevin Mullins begins a two-message series by teaching from the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19. Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus, but by the end of the story, it becomes clear that Jesus saw much more than a short man in a tree. He saw a heart ready to be transformed.

This message reminds us that Jesus does not only want access to our worship, our words, or our Sunday attendance. He wants access to every part of us—including the places where our trust, fear, security, and desires get wrapped up in money.

When grace enters the house, generosity begins to follow. Zacchaeus does not give in order to earn salvation. He gives because salvation has come near. Open hands are not the way we get Jesus to love us. Open hands are one of the signs that His love is changing us.

This message is an invitation to let Jesus do a financial audit of the heart, to loosen our grip, and to trust Him with what we tend to hold most tightly.

Broad River Church | Norwalk, CT
 Join us Sundays: 9:00 AM & 11:00 AM (English) | 1:00 PM (Español)
 Learn more or take your next step: https://broadriver.church/nextsteps

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Your Story Isn't Over — Week 3: The Love That Brings You Home | Ruth 3–4

Texts: Ruth 2:12; 3:9–13; 4:5–6, 9–10, 13–17; Matthew 1:5–6, 16; Galatians 4:4–7

Sometimes the encouragement we receive doesn't go far enough.

People tell us, "You've got this." But what happens when the most honest thing we can say is, "Actually, I haven't got this"?

In the conclusion of Your Story Isn't Over, Pastor Kevin Mullins explores Ruth chapters 3–4 and introduces us to one of the Bible's most significant pictures of redemption.

Ruth has worked hard, cared faithfully for Naomi, and taken courageous steps toward an uncertain future. But there is something she cannot secure through her own effort. She needs a redeemer.

When Ruth asks Boaz to spread his wings over her, she is asking for more than temporary assistance. She's asking someone with the ability to help to take responsibility for a future she cannot secure herself.

And Boaz steps forward.

Through this beautiful story, we discover three powerful truths: You don't have to be your own redeemer. Redemption always costs the redeemer. And God's redemption is personal, but it is never just personal.

Ultimately, Ruth's story points us toward Jesus—the Redeemer who did for us what we could never do for ourselves.

Through His death and resurrection, Jesus offers forgiveness, reconciliation with God, and a place in His family.

The story concludes with something far greater than Ruth and Naomi could have imagined. Their family becomes part of the lineage leading to Jesus.

Your story isn't over. And the hope of the gospel is that the Redeemer has come.

Broad River Church | Norwalk, CT
 Join us Sundays: 9:00 AM & 11:00 AM (English) | 1:00 PM (Español)
 Learn more or take your next step: https://broadriver.church/nextsteps

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Ruth – Week 2: The Barley Field
Texts: Ruth 2:4–13

What if God is already making a way for you, even when you can't see it?

In Week 2 of Ruth: Your Story Isn't Over, Pastor Jacinta takes us into the barley fields of Bethlehem, where Ruth—a grieving widow and an outsider—encounters unexpected kindness through a man named Boaz.

Ruth is simply trying to survive. But in an ordinary field, she discovers something extraordinary: grace that notices her, kindness that protects her, and love that sees beyond her circumstances.

Through Ruth's story, we're reminded that God's faithfulness often unfolds in the ordinary moments of life, through people who choose to extend His kindness to others.

If you've ever felt overlooked, uncertain about your future, or wondered whether your story could still hold something beautiful, this message offers a reminder: God sees you, His grace is at work, and your story isn't over.

Broad River Church | Norwalk, CT
 Join us Sundays: 9:00 AM & 11:00 AM (English) | 1:00 PM (Español)
 Learn more or take your next step: https://broadriver.church/nextsteps

Follow us on Instagram: @iambroadriverchurch

Ruth — Week 1: When Life Falls Apart | Ruth 1:1–22

Texts: Ruth 1:1–5, 14–22; 1 Corinthians 15:3–4; Ephesians 2:13

What do you do when the life you're living looks nothing like the life you thought you'd have?

We all carry expectations about how our lives should unfold. But sometimes a relationship ends, a loss changes everything, or the future we imagined seems to disappear.

In the opening message of Ruth: Your Story Isn't Over, Pastor Kevin Mullins takes us into Ruth chapter 1, where Naomi returns home grieving the loss of her husband and sons. Her disappointment runs so deep that she no longer wants to be called by her own name.

But Naomi's understanding of her story isn't the whole story.

While she struggles to recognize God's kindness, Ruth refuses to abandon her. And while both women face an uncertain future, they arrive in Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

Something is beginning that neither woman can fully see.

This message explores three important truths:

• You don't have to edit your story before you bring it to God.
• God's kindness may be working before you have the strength to recognize it.
• The chapter you're in is not the whole story.

And ultimately, Ruth points us toward Jesus—the Redeemer who enters our broken world, gives His life for our sins, and rises again to offer forgiveness and a future that even death cannot take away.

Your story isn't over. And you don't have to walk the next part alone.

Broad River Church | Norwalk, CT
 Join us Sundays: 9:00 AM & 11:00 AM (English) | 1:00 PM (Español)
 Learn more or take your next step: https://broadriver.church/nextsteps

Follow us on Instagram: @iambroadriverchurch

Baptism Sunday — Identified with Christ | Matthew 3:13–17
Texts: Matthew 3:13–17; Romans 6:3–4; Acts 2:41

Some convictions are too important to remain invisible.

On Baptism Sunday, Pastor Kevin teaches from the baptism of Jesus in Matthew 3 and explores what it means to be identified with Christ.

Jesus had no sin to confess and nothing to repent of. Yet the sinless Son of God stepped into the same water where sinners were standing. He did not save humanity from a safe distance. He came among us, entered our condition, carried our sin, went to the cross, entered the grave, and rose again.

Jesus stepped into our story so we could step into His.

That is the picture baptism makes visible.

In Matthew 3, Jesus identifies Himself with us. In baptism, we publicly identify ourselves with Him. Going beneath the water pictures death and burial. Coming back out pictures resurrection and new life.

The water does not save us. Jesus saves us. Baptism does not earn grace; it is our response to grace. It is a declaration of allegiance:

Jesus is Lord.
I belong to Jesus.

And baptism is deeply personal, but it is never merely private. When we step into the story of Jesus, we also step into His people. We belong to Jesus, His story, and His church.

For those who have followed Jesus for years, Baptism Sunday raises another question: Are we still identifiable with Jesus?

Can people see the life we said we were stepping into—in the way we speak, forgive, love, serve, give, sacrifice, and remain connected to His people?

Baptism is not graduation from Christianity.

It is a beginning.

Broad River Church | Norwalk, CT
 Join us Sundays: 9:00 AM & 11:00 AM (English) | 1:00 PM (Español)
 Learn more or take your next step: https://broadriver.church/nextsteps

Follow us on Instagram: @iambroadriverchurch

I Love My Church — Week 4: Here We Make a Difference | Exodus 6:6–7
Texts: Exodus 6:6–7; 1 Peter 2:9–10; 1 Corinthians 12:4–7; Mark 10:42–45; John 13:12–17

God’s redemptive work in you was always intended to become redemptive work through you.

In the final week of I Love My Church: Why the Church Still Matters in the Plan of God, Pastor Kevin closes the series by returning to the fourth promise in Exodus 6: “I will take you to be My people, and I will be your God.”

God does not only bring us out. He does not only teach us to live free. He does not only restore identity, calling, gifts, and purpose. He forms us into a people through whom His redemptive work continues.

This message shows that the church is not simply a place where we receive ministry. The church is a redeemed people who become ministry to someone else. Our gifts are not only something God gives to us; they are something God wants to give through us.

Serving is not about filling a schedule. It is about making room for people to meet Jesus. Holding a door, caring for a child, running a camera, preparing a room, praying with someone, noticing the person standing alone—every role becomes spiritual when it helps make room for someone to encounter Jesus.

If you have been standing on the edge, wondering whether God could use you, this message is an invitation to take your place among the people of God. You do not have to know your forever assignment. You just need a place to start.

Don’t just come back to church this fall. Plant yourself among the people of God and see what God can do with one year.

Broad River Church | Norwalk, CT
 Join us Sundays: 9:00 AM & 11:00 AM (English) | 1:00 PM (Español)
 Learn more or take your next step: https://broadriver.church/nextsteps

Follow us on Instagram: @iambroadriverchurch

I Love My Church — Week 3: Here We Discover Purpose | Exodus 6:6–7

Texts: Exodus 6:6–7; Ephesians 2:10; 1 Corinthians 12:12–27; Romans 12:4–8; Psalm 139:13–16; 1 Peter 2:9

God didn’t only redeem you from something. He redeemed you for something.

In Week 3 of I Love My Church, John Higgins continues through the promises of Exodus 6 and explores what it means to Discover Purpose. Redemption is more than having our past forgiven. God’s grace begins restoring what sin, shame, pain, failure, and comparison have buried—our identity, gifts, calling, and purpose.

Ephesians 2:10 says that we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. You are not an accident. God intentionally made you, redeemed you, gifted you, and placed you among His people.

And biblical purpose is bigger than individual fulfillment. Our gifts make the most sense when they become gifts to someone else. As members of the Body of Christ, God moves us from anonymity toward belonging and from potential toward purpose.

The question isn’t only, “What was I redeemed from?”

It is also: “What has God redeemed me for?”

Broad River Church | Norwalk, CT
 Join us Sundays: 9:00 AM & 11:00 AM (English) | 1:00 PM (Español)
 Learn more or take your next step: https://broadriver.church/nextsteps

Follow us on Instagram: @iambroadriverchurch

I Love My Church — Week 2: Here We Find Freedom | Exodus 6:6–7
Texts: Exodus 6:6–7; James 5:16; 1 John 1:7; Galatians 6:2; Acts 2:46; Hebrews 10:25

God doesn’t only bring us out. He teaches us how to live free.

In Week 2 of I Love My Church, Pastor Kevin continues through Exodus 6 and shows that God’s redemptive work is bigger than rescue. God told Israel, “I will bring you out,” but He also said, “I will free you.” Sometimes God gets us out of something before He begins getting that thing out of us.

This message reminds us that you can genuinely know God and still carry wounds, patterns, shame, fear, secrets, and ways of thinking that were formed in a different season of your life. Salvation is real, but it is not the end of God’s redemptive work in us. It is the beginning.

And God’s design for freedom was never meant to be a solo project. Christianity is personal, but it was never meant to be private. God places us among people and uses those people in our freedom. Through confession, prayer, walking in the light, and bearing one another’s burdens, we become a people where nobody has to pretend to have everything together.

If you have been hiding in a crowd, carrying something alone, or trying to follow Jesus disconnected from the family of God, this message is an invitation to step out of rows and into circles—because here, we don’t only want people to know God. Here, we want people to find freedom.

Broad River Church | Norwalk, CT
 Join us Sundays: 9:00 AM & 11:00 AM (English) | 1:00 PM (Español)
 Learn more or take your next step: https://broadriver.church/nextsteps

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I Love My Church — Week 1: Here We Know God | Exodus 6:6–7
Texts: Exodus 6:6–7; Matthew 16:18; Acts 2:42–47; Hebrews 10:24–25

Why does the church still matter in the plan of God?

In Week 1 of I Love My Church, Pastor Kevin begins a new series by showing that the church is not a religious event we attend, but a redeemed people Jesus has gathered so that we can know God and help others know Him.

Starting in Exodus 6, this message shows that God’s redemptive plan has always been bigger than rescue. God does not only bring His people out of something—He brings them into something: freedom, purpose, belonging, and mission.

This message also reminds us that Jesus loves the church, gave Himself for the church, and is still building the church. Even though the church is imperfect, it remains precious to Jesus because it is made up of people He is redeeming, healing, forming, and sending.

If you have ever wondered whether you really need the church, or if you have been standing around the edges of church life, this message is an invitation to come to Jesus, gather with His people, and ask: what could God do in your life if you went all in for one year? 

Broad River Church | Norwalk, CT
 Join us Sundays: 9:00 AM & 11:00 AM (English) | 1:00 PM (Español)
 Learn more or take your next step: https://broadriver.church/nextsteps

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Summer on the Mount — Week 8: Build Your Life on the Rock | Matthew 7:13–27
Texts: Matthew 7:13–27; Jeremiah 17:7–8

What are you building your life on?

In the series finale of Summer on the Mount: A Better Way to Be Human, Miguel Plaza closes Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount by teaching from Matthew 7:13–27. Jesus ends His sermon with a series of choices: two gates, two roads, two trees, two kinds of fruit, two claims, two groups of people, two builders, two houses, and two foundations.

This message reminds us that hearing the words of Jesus is not the same as building on them. The wise builder is not wise because he heard more, but because he practiced what he heard. Obedience is how hearing becomes foundation.

On Back to School Sunday, this message also speaks to students, parents, school staff, and the whole church. We are all being sent back into something: classrooms, workplaces, homes, new seasons, and new decisions. The question is not simply whether we have heard Jesus, admired Jesus, or learned about Jesus. The question is whether our lives are being built on Him.

If you have built your identity on approval, success, relationships, control, comfort, or anything other than Jesus, this message is an invitation to build again—on the only foundation strong enough to hold.

Broad River Church | Norwalk, CT
 Join us Sundays: 9:00 AM & 11:00 AM (English) | 1:00 PM (Español)
 Learn more or take your next step: https://broadriver.church/nextsteps

Follow us on Instagram: @iambroadriverchurch