Charge On with Pastor Wayne Bray

This Episode from the Culture War series focuses on God's design for marriage as revealed in Matthew 19, where Jesus responds to the Pharisees' question about divorce by pointing back to Genesis. The pastors emphasize that marriage is not a contract but a covenant, designed by God from the beginning as a permanent union between one man and one woman. The message challenges both secular and selective biblical worldviews, calling believers to embrace the full biblical standard for marriage rather than seeking loopholes or cultural accommodations. The episode also addresses the beauty of covenant marriage, the reality that marriage involves two sinners learning to love each other, and the sanctifying nature of this relationship.

This episode addresses sexual immorality from 1 Corinthians 6, where Paul instructs believers to flee from sexual sin. The pastors emphasize that sexual sin is not just about external actions but about what happens within the temple of the Holy Spirit - our bodies. Paul was addressing the Greek philosophy that separated body and soul, arguing that only the soul mattered. However, Paul teaches that our bodies matter to God because we will have a bodily resurrection, and we were bought with a price.The core message is that sexual immorality is fundamentally about whether we will make ourselves or God the center of our lives. Paul's single instruction is to 'flee' - which means to make it a continuous habit of running from sexual temptation. The pastors emphasize the need for practical guardrails and boundaries, noting that sexual sin promises much but delivers little, often causing significant damage to marriages and relationships. The talk calls for radical transparency, accountability, and a commitment to honor God with our bodies.

In this Episode, Pastor Wayne & Dallas sit down with Upstate Church's Student Director, Brandon Shiley, to discuss how the students at Upstate Church are taking on the Great Commission to reach the Upstate. They also discuss how gender identity has had a pervasive influence in today's culture, including today's youth. Pastor Wayne emphasizes that while society struggles to define basic concepts like male and female, Christians must stand on God's clear design of two genders while showing love to those struggling with these issues. The episode highlights that all sin, including gender confusion, stems from rejecting God's definitions in favor of our own preferences. The pastor stresses the importance of speaking both truths: that God created male and female, and that Jesus is the only way to salvation, approaching these conversations with love rather than condemnation.

Pastor Josh Powell, candidate for Southern Baptist Convention president, shares his journey from a Southern Baptist pastor's son to leading churches through revitalization. He emphasizes his consistent commitment to the gospel and his thankfulness for being Southern Baptist. Powell discusses the need for unity of purpose around the Great Commission while addressing current denominational challenges. He advocates for transparency, trustee training, and bringing contentious issues to the messengers for resolution rather than allowing division to distract from the mission of reaching the nations.

This episode focuses on viewing work as worship to God, challenging the cultural mindset that sees work as merely a burden to endure until retirement. Drawing from Genesis 1-2, the pastors explain that work existed before sin entered the world, making it a blessing and calling from God rather than a curse. The discussion covers three key outcomes: working for God's mission (not as consumers but as kingdom workers), working as God's stewards (managing the responsibilities He's given us), and working for God's pleasure (which includes both excellence and proper rest through Sabbath). The pastors stress that our identity should come from Christ's work on the cross, not from our occupational achievements, while still maintaining that we should work with excellence as representatives of Christ in every sphere of life.

This week's episode focuses on the sanctity of human life, primarily examining Psalm 139, where David describes how God forms each person in the womb with intentional care. The pastor emphasized that this is fundamentally a biblical issue about the value God places on all human life, not merely a political stance. The message highlighted that human value is received from God as our Creator, not achieved through our actions or circumstances. The episode addresses abortion while maintaining that Christians should be 'pro-life' in the fullest sense - valuing all human life from conception to natural death, including the elderly, disabled, and those we disagree with politically.

This episode addresses spiritual apathy and slothfulness as foundational issues Christians must overcome before engaging culture. Drawing from Romans 12, the pastors explain that slothfulness means 'shrinking backwards' due to unpreparedness, leading Christians to either isolate from cultural conversations or escalate into aggressive fighting. The episode emphasizes that apathy isn't just laziness, but caring about things God cares little about while neglecting what matters most to Him. This episode challenges believers to be fervent in spirit, prepared to engage culture with both grace and truth, and warns that spiritual apathy leads to wasted lives and missed blessings from God.

This episode is the start of a new season based on our new series called 'Culture Wars'. The series is about addressing the cultural chaos, confusion, and uncertainty of our times. The pastors emphasize that Christians are constantly being discipled by culture through technology and media, which shapes our worldview more than God's word. Rather than withdrawing from culture or warring against it, Christians are called to walk as witnesses in culture. The message focuses on Romans 12:1-2, calling believers to present themselves as living sacrifices and be transformed by the renewing of their minds. Before addressing cultural issues, Christians must first pursue personal holiness and surrender their rights at the altar of Christ. The series aims to help people understand the times we live in and engage culture from a biblical worldview rather than being conformed to worldly thinking.

This podcast episode features Pastor Wayne Bray, Dallas Wilson, and new Greenville campus pastor Hayden Crompton discussing the soft launch of Upstate Church's Greenville campus and their ministry philosophy. The conversation centers around 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, where Paul emphasizes preaching Christ crucified rather than impressive speech or wisdom. The pastors explain how this passage shapes their approach to ministry - prioritizing the message of Jesus over the messenger delivering it. They discuss the importance of decentralizing personality in ministry, rotating preachers across campuses, and building a team-based approach rather than focusing on individual pastors. The episode also covers the strategic importance of planting a church in downtown Greenville and how their ministry philosophy helps with both mission advancement and pastoral sanctification.

This episode focuses on the importance of obedience to God's calling, even when it leads to unexpected and uncomfortable places. Using the example of Will Bray's calling to plant a church in Arizona, the message emphasizes that following Jesus means being willing to leave security and comfort behind when God calls us to something different. The sermon highlights that God is always calling believers to something, and our job is to be close enough to Him through prayer and Scripture to hear His voice. True security is found in obedience to God, not in our circumstances, and delayed obedience is disobedience.