GBC Podcast

Courtney asks Shane the question that so many of us have asked over the last year, “Have you ever felt like you’re in the middle of the desert and experiencing a drought?” She ponders if she needs to pray more or if seasons of drought are because God wants you to experience hardships. These are big questions that we may all ask but not know where to turn to find the answers.

In this episode, Shane dives deeper into Courtney’s questions and guides us through scripture and how God works in our lives in different ways. Listen to today’s episode and be encouraged to learn about purpose and God’s plan in our lives while being careful to not harden our hearts through the process.

Shane and Courtney dive into scripture today talking about some tough topics, such as judging others and our motivators for giving. It’s important to remember what Jesus had to say about all of this when he gave the Sermon on the Mount. He talks about giving, forgiving and judging. What you give, you will receive.

Many people say “If you do something, you will be blessed.” But we wonder if that thought should be driving our giving, are we only giving so that we receive? Shane answers that question and more in this episode as we look at our motivation and emphasis on why we do what we do.

In a political climate such as the one we’ve all been living in over the last year and specifically a few months, it’s important to look at the scripture to see what sort of insight we can find there. As Shane points out, we’ve been in the “last days” since the resurrection and we can see signs of the “last days”, such as people being lovers of themselves, money, boastful, and the list goes on. Rather than focusing on looking for a candidate to “be Jesus” and save us during this time, let’s focus on ourselves and ask ourselves “Are we loving our neighbors?”

Let’s remember that no matter who is in charge politically, we can see in the Bible that God appoints leaders. List off all the presidents the US has had and God has appointed all of them as he allowed them to get elected. We may not always see the purpose in who gets elected, but God is still sovereign and still understands. And no matter who leads any country, we can still make sure that we are helping our neighbors, loving those around us and living as Jesus did and would and live a full, abundant life in Him.

This is a question we all ask ourselves, “How do we know?” which decision is the right one when we have several options in front of us, whether we’re looking at a career, relationship, decision, or anything that requires us to choose. There are times we may be asking ourselves the wrong question and we lose focus of what we want and what we need. If we look at Matthew 6, Jesus reminds us to seek first His kingdom.

Another passage that gets quoted often is that “God will give us the desires of our heart.” And yes, God does often give us the desires of our heart but it’s not necessarily that He gives us everything we want. The more that we are in relationship with Him, the more aligned our desires are to His will in our lives. If we flip the question we ask ourselves, we will feel more at peace. Listen to today’s episode and be encouraged to remind yourself that you’re a child of God.

In this episode Shane and Courtney focus on words. Not that words don’t matter, but rather that words are not matter. As in they are not physical matter. Yet words are important and we’ve all been given the gift of putting words together to influence others, even vent from time to time on Social Media or encourage or hurt others depending on how we string them together.

It’s so important for believers to remember that the more time we spend in God’s word, the more we will live out His word and speak His word in our lives. If we can start out our days with God, we will be more equipped throughout the day to speak like Him. In such a year as the one we’ve been experiencing with a pandemic and a tense election in the US, it’s easy to get heated or opinionated and use our words strongly towards other people. Shane reminds us wrapping up this episode that in James, we read clearly about wisdom and being peace-loving, gentle and yielding to others. Focusing on that will change our narrative as we use our words with others.

Humility is a posture, it’s described physically as literally laying down on the ground or lowering your head. But humility is also a posture we can live out in our daily lives as we think of others as more important than ourselves. If you look in the New Testament, Jesus says that the greatest commandment is loving others.

And when we think about humility, we often think about self-sacrifice instead of self-serving. It’s really about being open and willing for God to use you as you grow and love others.

What is servant leadership and how can a leader be a servant? In this episode Shane and Courtney dig deep into this idea of servanthood and how it pertains to leadership.

It sounds like a trendy concept to be a servant leader and may be more mainstream these days thanks to social media or other platforms, however servant leadership is something that is deeply rooted in the Bible and throughout the stories we read. Shane and Courtney also touch on the idea of seasons in our lives and how things don’t necessarily happen overnight. Take a listen and be encouraged learning about the biblical roots of being a servant in modern times.

There’s times in life when you simply feel an urge or a push to do something or talk about something. Shane shares more about this in today’s episode as he looks at Jeremiah 9, a part of scripture that he felt was really speaking to him. Yet, as a preacher it’s often easier to focus on “pure encouragement” while preaching. There’s times when you feel an urge to talk about something or write something or share something, yet it’s not always comfortable.

As Shane reminds us at the end of the day, we can’t know exactly where we are going. We don’t determine our path, but we can keep taking steps day by day in getting to know God. And that’s what both Jeremiah and Philippines talk about, the relationship and knowing God is more important than knowing exactly where you’re going.

In these tough days we are all living, some days we may be tempted to say “Jesus, you’ve said you’ll only give me what I can handle.” And what we’ve seen in scripture shows us that there are times that Jesus does allow us to go through hard times and difficult moments in which we need to turn towards Him. Look at the story of the disciples in the stormy sea needing Jesus to rescue them as He walked on water towards their boat.

Saying “Jesus, take the wheel” is appropriate and necessary for these stormy days we are experiencing and also how social media has affected our relationships with others we love as we see so many opinions on Facebook and elsewhere. Remember that when God gives us more than we can handle, it often reveals something about Him or about us. Keep that in mind as you navigate these days.

In Episode 12, Shane and Courtney talk about Shane’s sermon when he said “Don't allow fear to derail what God wants to do in your life, every great purpose of God will be met with the power of hell.” They unwrap this idea and talk about personal experiences and what we can learn from the Bible when it comes to following God’s purpose in our lives and the fear that often accompanies the journey.

There are so many areas of our lives in which fear may keep us from doing something and how God can still work out His purpose in spite of us and the mistakes we may make from day to day.