It's Keith Kautz turn this week to hit the ol' Fruit of the Spirit jukebox, and his pick this week happened to be the next on the list in Galatians 5: 22, and that's JOY! Keith sets up the whole reason Paul is talking bout fruit in the first place before hitting a topic that seems easy to talk about, but has a lot of big questions attached. Like, is God joyful? How do we have joy when things in life are truly hard? Join us for this week's sermon and find out what the judge thinks!

Another week of a little different format. This time Kieth Kautz visiting the studio with producer Kasey Orr to talk more about Galatians 5 and the fruit of the Spirit. Keith helps lay the groundwork for why Paul is even talking about fruit in the first place! And why is the simple conjunction "but" so important when we flip to Galatians 5:22 in our Bible?

This week Pastor Karsten and producer Kasey Orr dive deeper into the first sermon of the new series featuring the Fruit of the Spirit. In God's love for us, He took risks showing us grace through Christ, especially when we have a habit of accepting that gift... and then turning around and cheapening it by using that freedom "to satisfy our sinful nature." [Galatians 5:13 NLT]

Instead, how can we show the world how truly big God's grace is?

Relevant Scriptures:

Genesis 1: 28

Galatians 5: 13-26

1 Corinthians 13: 3-8

Luke 7:36-48

We kick off our Jukebox series featuring the fruit of the spirit with the first mentioned by Paul in the Galations 5:22-23 passage — love. Paul states in 1 Corinthians the importance and complexity of love, and Pastor Galen adds that one of the most important parts of love is RISK. God takes a risk in love by granting us free will; we take a risk in loving and worshipping God; and finally we take risks when entering in the bond of marriage here on earth as well.

One of the themes that connect resent sermon messages and the upcoming series is "fruitfulness." Between recounting an adventure of a trip to the east coast, Pastor Galen and producer Kasey Orr discuss the nature of the "works of the flesh" versus the "fruit of the Spirit" as described in Galatians chapter 5. They talk about the connections between the freedom Pastor Karsten talked about last week, and this continuing battle between the flesh and Spirit.

We hope everyone had a great 4th of July, where we got to celebrate the freedoms we enjoy in this country here on Earth, but Pastor Karsten's message this past weekend was on the more important kind of freedom, that to which we have been called in Christ Jesus.

Our challenge this week: try to cultivate the three habits from this week's message into your lives, so we don't get this awesome gift of freedom, but stay sitting in our cage and not moving forward in our walk with God.

Relevant Scripture:

Galatians 5: 13

John 3: 3-20

A bonus bit of scripture 1 Kings 19: 11-12

"And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper."

Pastor Karsten Sween leads us in a special Fourth of July weekend message. As we celebrate our nation's founding, we remember the worldly freedoms we enjoy today were bought by love, blood and sacrifice. So much the more do we enjoy a freedom that is greater by far thanks to the love, blood and sacrifice of our savior Jesus Christ! But what do we do with that freedom? How are we good stewards of this amazing gift given to us by God?

Note: Companion podcast for this episode will air Wednesday afternoon due to the holiday. Happy 4th of July!

Pastor Galen finishes out this series on eschatology (end times) by reminding us again why we should care: because we don't know what time we have left. Not to be alarmed, not to be afraid, but in order that we might diligently be fruitful. All through the gospels Jesus made it very clear he was looking for fruitfulness, and not knowing when the master will return, we are called to be better than the bridesmaids in the parable and not be found napping with lanterns empty of oil when he returns.

Note: Companion Podcast experienced technical difficulties with the recording, and therefor won't air this week. But we'll see you next week for Pastor Karsten's 4th of July message!

Nathan and Pastor Galen continue the second of three pieces on the Biblical roots of foundational American values, and the onus of each generation to forge their link in the chain of history so that these values are not lost forever.

This week we dive deep into a subject Galen brought up in his sermon in the third part of The Great Reset series, and that is the danger of nominal Christians who weaponize scripture. It forces us to ask ourselves, am I living my life as a true Christian led by the Holy Spirit in a journey to be more like Christ, or do I just use scripture to get my way and religion to feel good about myself? It's a scary question! Men who use Ephesians 5:22 to abuse and dominate women, leaders who us Fundamentalism or Legalism to hold authority over others instead of living a life of service, these are just a few examples of what can come from God's Word weilded by the wrong hands.

Relevant Scripture:

Ephesians 5: 22

Matthew 202: 20-28

Galatians 5: 13