In this episode of the Jesus Everyday Podcast, Pastor Ken Nienke and Andrew McPheron unpack one of Jesus’ most famous claims:
“I am the light of the world” (John 8:12).

Recorded the week of Thanksgiving (with Ethan out hunting), this conversation dives into the rich historical, theological, and biblical context behind Jesus’ words — spoken in one of the most symbolic locations in the entire Temple.

Jesus made this declaration inside the Treasury, also known as the Court of Women, the most public court in the Temple — and standing in front of four 75-foot candelabras that lit the sky like massive torches during the Feast of Booths.
This was not accidental. Jesus was declaring Himself to be:

• the true pillar of fire in the wilderness

• the presence of God dwelling among His people

• the fulfillment of the Exodus story

When Jesus said “I am…”, the Pharisees would have immediately thought of Exodus 3:14 — God’s name revealed to Moses.
This was not metaphoric only.
It was a direct claim to deity.

Despite miracles, teaching, and fulfilled prophecy, the Pharisees responded with willful unbelief.
The conversation explores:

• the difference between being uneducated and being willfully ignorant

• how spiritual blindness works

• why proximity to Jesus isn’t the same as salvation

• why evidence alone cannot overcome a hardened heart

Even though leaders wanted to arrest Jesus, they couldn’t.
God’s timetable—not human plans—controlled every moment of Christ’s life.

The episode highlights massive Old Testament connections:

• pillar of fire (Exodus 13)

• God as light (Psalm 27:1)

• prophecy of a coming light to the nations (Isaiah 9, 49)

• Jesus as the true Light in John 1

• believers now shining His light (Matthew 5)

Light in Scripture doesn’t just expose darkness — it invites healing, redemption, and direction.

Jesus isn’t offering advice. He’s offering Himself — the Light who guides, reveals, illuminates, and transforms.
To follow Him is to walk out of darkness and into life.

🌅 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

🔥 1. Why Jesus Said This Here📜

2. The Divine Claim Hidden in Plain Sight

👁️‍🗨️ 3. Why the Religious Leaders Still Refused to Believe

⏳ 4. “His Hour Had Not Yet Come” — God’s Sovereignty on Display

✨ 5. How This Passage Fits the Whole Bible

❤️ The Big Theme: Jesus isn’t offering advice. He’s offering Himself — the Light who guides, reveals, illuminates, and transforms.
To follow Him is to walk out of darkness and into life.

In this episode of the Jesus Everyday Podcast, Ethan Callison, Andrew McPheron, Josh Horne, and FCC Elder Jake Preston tackle one of the most talked-about — and most misunderstood —passages in the New Testament: the woman caught in adultery (John 7:53–8:11).

Most modern Bibles place this section in brackets, with a note that it does not appear in the earliest manuscripts of John. So the team begins by asking:

Why is this story bracketed? Is it Scripture? Did Jesus really do this?
And if it’s not original to John… why does the church still read it?

This becomes a rich conversation on textual criticism,the manuscript tradition, oral history, the trustworthiness of Scripture, the witness of the early church, and how Jesus’ character shines through the story whether or not John originally penned it.

💬 In this episode, theteam discusses:

📜 1. Why this passage isbracketed in your Bible

📚 2. What textual criticism actually is (and isn’t)

🧾 3. Why the early churchbelieved this story really happened

🪨 4. The Trap, the Shame,and the Wisdom of Jesus

❤️ 5. What this passage revealsabout Jesus

🙏 6. How this confronts our self-righteousness

Resource:

Apologetics Canada: Can I Trust the Bible https://tinyurl.com/4d4ms58p

🌊 Theme:

Jesus meets the sinner in compassion, confronts the self-righteous with truth, and invites all of us to stand in the grace He purchased at the cross.

In this episode of the Jesus Everyday Podcast, Ethan Callison, Andrew McPheron, and Ken Nienke unpack John 7:37–52, where Jesus stands up on the climactic final day of the Feast of Booths and cries out:

“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.”

This is one of the most powerful scenes in John’s Gospel — rich with Old Testament symbolism, dramatic tension, and the promise of the Holy Spirit.

🎙️ In this conversation, the team explores:

Why Jesus’ invitation to “come and drink” would have hit the crowd with stunning force — and how it connects to Exodus 17, the rock Moses struck, and the promise of living water.

Why John notes that the Spirit had not yet been given — and how the Holy Spirit empowers transformation, obedience, and spiritual life today.

Some believe He is the Prophet. Some say He is the Christ. Others reject Him because of assumptions about His origin. The officers are stunned. Nicodemus speaks up. The religious leaders lash out.

Jesus unifies His enemies — even the Pharisees and Sadducees — in their shared desire to eliminate Him, while the crowds are deeply divided. The truth always exposes the heart.

The religious leaders make confident claims about Scripture… that are factually wrong. (Spoiler: Jonah and Hosea were from Galilee.) The team discusses how dangerous it is to build our view of Jesus on tradition, hearsay, or emotion instead of Scripture.

Is the “river of living water” flowing from Jesus or from believers? The team discusses the Greek structure, the imagery of the Dead Sea, and how God fills us so that we become conduits of blessing — not collectors who stagnate.

🎙️ Hosts: Ethan Callison, Andrew McPheron & Ken Nienke
📖 Text: John 7:37–52
💡 Theme: Jesus alone satisfies the deepest thirst of the human soul — and His truth exposes every heart.

—

✅ Subscribe to stay with us in the Gospel of John.
🌐 Resources & sermons at fcclife.org

In this episode of the Jesus Everyday Podcast, Ethan Callison, Andrew McPheron, and Ken Nienke unpack John 7:37–52, where Jesus stands up on the climactic final day of the Feast of Booths and cries out:

“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.”

This is one of the most powerful scenes in John’s Gospel — rich with Old Testament symbolism, dramatic tension, and the promise of the Holy Spirit.

🎙️ In this conversation, the team explores:

Why Jesus’ invitation to “come and drink” would have hit the crowd with stunning force — and how it connects to Exodus 17, the rock Moses struck, and the promise of living water.

Why John notes that the Spirit had not yet been given — and how the Holy Spirit empowers transformation, obedience, and spiritual life today.

Some believe He is the Prophet. Some say He is the Christ. Others reject Him because of assumptions about His origin. The officers are stunned. Nicodemus speaks up. The religious leaders lash out.

Jesus unifies His enemies — even the Pharisees and Sadducees — in their shared desire to eliminate Him, while the crowds are deeply divided. The truth always exposes the heart.

The religious leaders make confident claims about Scripture… that are factually wrong. (Spoiler: Jonah and Hosea were from Galilee.) The team discusses how dangerous it is to build our view of Jesus on tradition, hearsay, or emotion instead of Scripture.

Is the “river of living water” flowing from Jesus or from believers? The team discusses the Greek structure, the imagery of the Dead Sea, and how God fills us so that we become conduits of blessing — not collectors who stagnate.

🎙️ Hosts: Ethan Callison, Andrew McPheron & Ken Nienke📖 Text: John 7:37–52💡 Theme: Jesus alone satisfies the deepest thirst of the human soul — and His truth exposes every heart.

—

✅ Subscribe to stay with us in the Gospel of John.🌐 Resources & sermons at fcclife.org

In this episode of the Jesus Everyday Podcast, Ethan Callison, Josh Horne, and Andrew McPheron dive into John 7:25–36, a passage filled with tension, misunderstanding, and urgency.

As Jesus teaches in the temple during the Feast of Booths, confusion swirls among the people and the religious leaders. Some think He’s the Messiah. Others think He can’t be. And Jesus’ words cut through their speculation:

“You will seek Me, and you will not find Me. Where I am, you cannot come.”

🎙️ In this conversation:

• Why John 7 is more descriptive than prescriptive—and how that shapes faithful interpretation

• The importance of understanding who’s speaking in the text (the Jews, the crowd, the people, the temple officials)

• What Jesus means when He says “My hour has not yet come” — and how this points to His sovereign timing

• How misunderstanding and misplaced expectations about the Messiah reveal the danger of prideful interpretation

• The tension between urgency and patience in sharing the Gospel

• Why delaying obedience to Christ is spiritually dangerous

• What it means to have freedom in Christ vs. freedom to live as we please

• How the Feast of Booths, the Mount of Transfiguration, and Old Testament prophecies all point to Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s plan

💬 The hosts also share stories from student ministry and personal discipleship about how control, comfort, and delayed surrender can keep people from truly following Jesus.

Recommended Resources:

- Connecting Scripture: New Testament - https://a.co/d/5nvc2LE

- The Humor of Christ - https://tinyurl.com/47mhmczd

- Covenant - https://tinyurl.com/4jnayx46

📖 Text: John 7:25–36🎙️ Hosts: Ethan Callison, Josh Horne, and Andrew McPheron💡 Theme: Jesus’ words remind us that there’s a window of grace — and it won’t stay open forever. Don’t miss your moment to believe.

✅ Subscribe to the Jesus Everyday Podcast for weekly conversations through the Gospel of John.
🌐 Learn more or stream sermons at fcclife.org

💬 Share this episode with someone wrestling with faith, control, or God’s timing.

In this episode of the Jesus Everyday Podcast, Ethan Callison and Andrew McPheron open John 7:14–24, where Jesus steps into the temple during the Feast of Booths and teaches with divine authority — without any formal credentials. The religious leaders are shocked: “How does this man have learning, when he has never studied?”

Jesus responds not with defensiveness, but with truth: “My teaching is not mine, but His who sent me.”

📖 In this conversation:

• Why Jesus intentionally appeals to divine authority instead of earthly credentials

• The difference between teaching with borrowed authority and teaching from God Himself

• How Jesus exposes hypocrisy in the religious leaders’ obsession with appearances

• The connection between obedience and understanding — knowing God’s will begins with doing God’s will

• Why Jesus brings up Moses, circumcision, and the Sabbath — and what it means for our understanding of mercy and the Law

• The danger of judging by appearances instead of making “right judgment” (v.24)

• Why proximity to religion doesn’t equal obedience to God

• What this passage reveals about Jesus’ character, compassion, and boldness

💬 The hosts also dive into background context — the Feast of Booths, rabbinic teaching culture, and why Jesus’ healing on the Sabbath in John 5 still fuels conflict in John 7.

📖 Text: John 7:14–24🎙️ Hosts: Ethan Callison & Andrew McPheron💡 Theme: Jesus didn’t come to show off credentials — He came to show the Father’s heart. Don’t judge by appearance; judge with right judgment.

✅ Subscribe for weekly deep-dive Bible conversations through the Gospel of John.
🌐 Learn more at fcclife.org

In this episode of TheJesus Every Day Podcast, Pastors Andrew McPhheron,  Matt Thieman, and Josh Horne continue our journey through the Gospel of John, exploring John 7:1–13 — where Jesus’ identity and mission meet family tension, public skepticism, and divine timing.

Join the conversation as the pastors unpack:

• The surprising reality of Jesus’ unbelieving brothers and what it teaches us about faith.
• The rich background of the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles) — one of Israel’s most joyful celebrations — and how Jesus fulfills its deepest meaning.
• Why Jesus said, “My time has not yet come,” and what that reveals about living on God’s timeline, not our own.
• The challenge of following a Savior who lovingly confronts sin and exposes the darkness of the world.
• How this passage stirs a deeper craving to know Jesus — the true source of living water — through Scripture, prayer, and obedience.

From historical insight to practical reflection, this episode will help you see how every word and action of Jesus points to God’s redemptive plan.

👉 Listen in, open your Bible to John 7, and discover what it means to follow Jesus every day — even when His truth challenges us most.

In this week’s episode of the Jesus Everyday Podcast, Ethan Callison, Andrew McPheron, and Josh Horne unpack John 6:60–71 — a powerful and sobering moment where many of Jesus’ own disciples walk away.

After hearing Jesus’ hard teaching about eating His flesh and drinking His blood, the crowd says, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” What follows is one of the most defining moments in the Gospel of John — and in discipleship itself.

📖 In this episode, the team explores:

• Why so many followers left Jesus after this teaching

• The difference between being confused by Jesus and being offended by Jesus

• How this moment reveals the birth of deconstruction — and what healthy vs. unhealthy questioning looks like

• The tension between God’s sovereignty and human responsibility (“No one comes unless the Father draws him… and yet you must believe”)

• Why Judas’ story is both tragic and deeply theological

• What Peter’s words — “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” — mean for us today

• Why true discipleship is more than proximity to Jesus — it’s daily belief, surrender, and perseverance

💬 The conversation also dives into:

• Ancient vs. modern mindsets about truth and tension

• The balance between intellect, body, and spirit in following Jesus

• The beauty of God’s grace even when His teaching feels hard

📖 Text: John 6:60–71🎙️ Hosts: Ethan Callison, Andrew McPheron, and Josh Horne💡 Theme: True disciples don’t walk away when it gets hard — they cling to Jesus, because there’s nowhere else to go.

What do Genesis, manna in the wilderness, and Jesus’ miracles all have in common?
In this episode on the Jesus Everyday Podcast , Ethan Callison, Ken Nienke, and Andrew McPheron look back over John chapters 1–6 — connecting the dots between creation, covenant, and Christ’s call to believe.

📖 In this conversation:

• The meta-narrative of John 1–6 and its connection to Genesis 1

• Why John begins “In the beginning was the Word” and what that says about Jesus’ divinity

• Key themes: Light, Life, and Belief — and how they shape the Gospel’s structure

• The crowd’s repeated misunderstanding of Jesus’ miracles

• How “believe” in John means surrender and obedience, not just intellectual agreement

• Living faith versus “microwave discipleship”

• Why repentance isn’t a one-time event

• How Jesus frees us in our circumstances, not always from them

💬 The team also shares personal moments—Ethan’s daughter Genevieve’s new faith in Christ, favorite passages like Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman, and what they’re most excited to study next: the Good Shepherd, Lazarus, and the final week of Jesus’ life.

Resource Links:

Connecting Scripture: New Testament https://a.co/d/9NMZAzj    Bible Project John Pt. 1 https://youtu.be/G-2e9mMf7E8?si=nk6mpI_WOWJvoGhz

🪔 Text: John 1–6
🎙️ Hosts: Ethan Callison, Ken Nienke, and Andrew McPheron
💡 Theme: “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” — John 20:31

✅ Subscribe for weekly Bible discussions through the Gospel of John.
🌐 Learn more at fcclife.org

In this episode of the Jesus Everyday Podcast, Ethan Callison, Ken Nienke, and Andrew McPheron walk through one of Jesus’ most difficult teachings: “Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53).

This passage caused the Jews to grumble, dispute, and even walk away from Jesus. But what does it really mean? Is Jesus speaking literally, symbolically, or pointing to something deeper?

🎙️ In this episode you’ll discover:

• Why the crowd struggled with Jesus’ claim to be the Bread of Life

• The connections between John 6 and Israel’s wilderness story (grumbling, manna, Moses)

• Why “truly, truly” is a divine claim and not just emphasis

• The tension of God drawing people and our responsibility to respond

• How to understand “eat my flesh, drink my blood” in light of communion

• The difference between faith as head knowledge and belief as surrendered obedience

• Why Jesus doesn’t always answer objections—He keeps pointing back to Himself

Along the way, the team dives into church history (transubstantiation, symbolism, communion), theological tensions (Calvinism vs. Arminianism), and practical applications (discipline, unity, Gnosticism, and living out faith daily).

📖 Text: John 6:41–59🎙️ Hosts: Ethan Callison, Ken Nienke, Andrew McPheron💡 Theme: Jesus doesn’t invite us to snack on religion—He calls us to feast on Him as the true Bread of Life.

✅ Subscribe for more deep dives through the Gospel of John.📲 For resources and sermons, visit fcclife.org

💬 Share this episode with a friend who struggles with the “hard sayings” of Jesus.