FCCHB Teaching Podcast

In this episode, we kick off our Christmas series Everyone, Everywhere by looking at the "mission of Christmas." The origins of this mission are found in the OT--which we do an overview of--but it brings us to God sending Jesus and the truth of the incarnation. Jesus shows us the fullness of life lived in grace and truth. Christmas reminds us of the mission of the church to partner with God and embody this way of life. 

We all know the holiday season is an amazing time of the year. And it's also a season of busyness and stress. In this stand alone message, Stephen looks at a teaching Paul shares in Philippians 4 on living in the present with joy and combatting worry and anxiety with prayer. As we walk through this passage in Philippians, we ask the question "What has my attention?" Because peace and joy and life are found as we live in connection with God.

Our message today is the conclusion of our series on Revelation. And we decided to change things up, and host a Q&A. Over the past few weeks, we've received a number of questions about interpreting different parts of Revelation. So, we answer those and also take a few new questions. As you'll hear in the episode, we weren't able to answer all the questions that came in, but will release another episode to answer the ones we missed.

This is the final message in our series on Revelation where we look at the last two chapters dealing with New Creation. We examine the visions John has about this future and the rich symbolism in these final chapters. But the main point we discuss is the reality that Christian faith is rooted in hope. John gives us a vision of the future to inform how we live in the present. And the big takeaway is that the church is a community that brings the future into the present as we live like God is in charge.

This is our 9th week in our series on Revelation and the topic today is the final judgement found in chapters 19 and 20. Again, lots of imagery and OT ideas are seen in these chapters and we spend time unpacking them. But one of the big points from the message is the importance of focusing on the story of Revelation, and not getting caught up in all the ideas or doctrines that tend to dominate our interpretation. Revelation is a letter telling a story and the main concluding idea that John is sharing is this: victory is found through suffering.

This is our 8th week in our series on Revelation and the topic today is Babylon. John will introduce us to Babylon which was the great enemy of God's people in the past. But what Revelation says is that Babylon is timeless; there's always a Babylon in every age, and it is a way of being that is in opposition to God. So the application we wrestle with is how are we influenced by Babylon? And how do we discern this influence in on another as we pursue faithfulness to Jesus?

We are in the seventh week of our study of the book of Revelation. Today, we look at chapters 12 and 13 and focus on two big ideas: the dragon and its beasts. There's a lot of symbolism and imagery here (as has been the case with Revelation) but we focus on the meaning of these symbols and look again at John's message for the church to be people who focus on the slain lamb of Jesus and operate with a different type of power.

In this episode, we look at a section in Revelation known as "the interludes" which happen between chapters 6 and 16. This section is full of Old Testament references and we break down what these images mean and spend time unpacking them. But the focus is as God is working to overcome evil and chaos and set the world right, what is the response of the church? We answer this by talking about what it means to embrace witness and worship.

In this episode we look at Revelation chapter 6 and begin to get into some of the more powerful images associated with the book. We look at the 7s in this message--7 seals, plagues, and bowls as well as the OT imagery throughout these passages. We learn that John encourages us to know that as Christians we will overcome those forces. But we're also encouraged to consider what it means to live with love.

In this episode we look at the beginning of Revelation chapter 5. The message hones in on the central image of the entire book of Revelation: the Slain Lamb. We examine John's plea that Jesus has triumphed and that is why He is the one who is worthy. But we also look to the church and our own lives and ask the question: are we being formed into the image of the slain lamb...or something else?