Welcome to episode 4 of the JFJ Pod where we believe that a 35min sermon once a week just isn’t enough to do Justice to the richness of Scripture and its implications for faithful living in this present age.

This week we welcome Nic Gilmour to the podcast for the first time! Beloved by our community, he has served as our Pastor of Mission and Community Impact for over 8 years. He and his wife, Verity live in Oceanside and have three incredible adopted children: Mo, Tino, and Evy.

Before he joined the leadership of our Jesus Community he served in multiple roles including National Manager for Christian Surfers Australia, planted a Bible College in Coffs Harbor, New South Wales Australia.

He has BA in English & History as well as a Bachelors of Law from the University of Western Australia. He also has a Masters of Global Christian Leadership from Fuller TS and a Doctorate of Ministry in Church Planting from Gordon Conwell Seminary.

Both he and his wife are ordained in the Australian Christian Churches.

Perhaps most importantly: Nic would be my number one pick if I were assembling a trivia team.

This week’s conversation builds on Ryan’s sermon centering Mark 2:18-28 and investigates a number of themes: the implications of Jesus’ radical inclusivity and how that challenges us to live faithfully amidst a fractured and pluralistic society, the value of non-controlling relationships and the awakening power of fasting in a culture of consumption

On this week’s episode we explore a host of rich topics grounded in this weeks Scripture. Among them we delve deeper into the four primary spiritual postures we see in the Gospel of Mark, the impact of curiosity in spiritual growth and what Ryan thinks is the most crucial characteristic to cultivate if we are to avoid becoming a modern day Pharisee. We end our conversation today unpacking the nuanced, but important distinction between “believer” and “follower”, naming what we believe Scripture elevates as central to the life of active faith.

If you have more questions about our conversation today, something you heard in a sermon or would like to share a story of how God is transforming you through this series or podcast we’d love to hear from you and so invite you to email us at [email protected]

We begin the Just Follow Jesus podcast exploring why Ryan chose the Gospel of Mark as his first series as Lead Pastor, some deeper reflections on Chapter 1 and why Just Follow Jesus is a powerful invitation for our times.

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Friends, welcome to the Just Follow Jesus Podcast, a resource of North Coast Calvary Chapel in beautiful Carlsbad California! Whether you call our community home or have just stumbled upon this podcast, we are delighted to have you.

My name is Joseph Carlson and for the last 7 years I have served as the Director of Production and Communication here and have just transitioned to a new role, serving as the Editor-in-Chief of Nations Media. I am thrilled to be your host as we spend the next several months together reflecting and exploring together the in-depth study of the Gospel of Mark our new Lead Pastor, Ryan Pfeiffer, and the talented teaching team will invite us into.

This podcast is for those of you who are hungry and curious. If a 35min sermon isn’t enough, you’re in luck. Each week, this series of conversations will explore three basic questions: 1) what do we sense God actively doing in our community. 2) are there themes, applications or areas of a weekend sermon that need more development or unpacking? And 3) in the hours of study and preparation what didn’t make it into the sermon? What ended up on the cutting room floor that is still with talking about!?

For this first episode we cover an intro to Mark as well as sermons #1 & 2. Normally, each weekly episode is recorded Monday and released by Wednesday or Thursday.

Our teacher and conversation partner this week is Ryan Pfeiffer, our new Lead Pastor. He’s been a part of our teaching team for close to 15 years and Over the past several years he has served on staff first as our Next Gen pastor then as Associate Pastor. Prior to that he served for 20 years on staff with InterVarsity ministering to college students.

Here are the basics: UCSD BS in Biology 1997, 20 years on staff in San Diego with InterVarsity, Fromer San Diego Director for 10 years including 12 campuses 30+ staff, Itinerate Speaker for Intervaristy nationally, additional served for Intervarsity on National Evangelism Team and National Latino Fellowship Leadership Team, Longing for Revival author, recently completed 3 year Transforming Center course in Spiritual Formation with Ruth Haley Barton.

In todays episode we dive into why Ryan chose the Gospel of Mark for his first sermon series, whether or not it is foolish to spend so much time on one book in our sound-bite, gold-fish-attention-span culture, as well as a deeper dive into some undiscussed portions of chapter 1.

So, Without further ado, here is episode one!