Kingdom and Coffee

Grab a cup of coffee—or your favorite "morning go juice"—and pull up a chair. In this episode of Kingdom and Coffee, we are sitting with a powerful (and surprisingly challenging) message from Pastor Cal titled "The Slow Work of Formation."

We live in a world optimized for speed—where AI writes our policies, and entertainment is always on demand. But when it comes to following Jesus in real life, we often find ourselves discouraged. We wonder why we are still struggling with the same things after years of faith, or why our prayers don't seem to spark instant change. Pastor Cal suggests that we aren’t losing faith because of doubt; we’re losing heart because of pace.

Drawing from the Parable of the Growing Seed in Mark four, we unpack the "divine passive"—the Greek concept of automatē. We explore the relief of knowing that while the farmer sleeps, the seed grows by God’s sovereign action, not the farmer’s effort. If you’ve been feeling like you’re in a "dry season," this conversation is for you. We discuss why a lack of visible fruit might actually mean it is a season of roots, and why "remaining" is more important than "manufacturing".

In this episode, we chew on:

• The Salsa Lesson: How bottomless chips and salsa are a masterclass in unearned grace.
• The Sleeping Farmer: Why the most important spiritual work often happens while we are "asleep" to the process.
• Roots vs. Fruit: Understanding that spiritual growth is usually too slow to notice, but too powerful to stop.
• Connection Over Effort: Why the "Fruit of the Spirit" (Galatians five) is a singular organic whole that comes from abiding, not white-knuckling.

Kingdom Anchor: How do we live as citizens of a Kingdom that grows like a seed rather than a firework?. We wrap up with a reflection on what it means to simply stay and abide in the ordinary, unremarkable moments of our week.

This week on Kingdom and Coffee, we’re sitting with Pastor Cal’s message from the series Following Jesus in Real Life, focusing on the famous story of the Good Samaritan in Luke ten verse twenty-five through thirty-seven.We often treat the priest and the Levite in this story as the villains, but Pastor Cal offers a different perspective: what if the real villain is actually urgency?. We’re pulling on the thread of how our packed calendars and red phone notifications create a "blindness" that keeps us from seeing the neighbor right beside us.In this episode, we explore:

• The Power of Posture: Why the Samaritan’s journey wasn't just about a "good deed," but a completely different orientation toward people.
• Jesus as the Model: How Jesus was "totally interruptible," from the man lowered through the roof to the woman who touched the hem of his robe.
• The 5% Challenge: Practical ways to build a little more margin into our week so we don't miss the "holy interruptions" that are actually God's will.

Grab your coffee and join us as we reflect on how to stop moving so fast that we miss everything that matters.

Welcome to Kingdom and Coffee, where we grab today’s flavor of the day and look back at this week’s message from Pastor Calvary Callender at Lantana Community Church.

In a world obsessed with "Instagram-worthy" moments and "firework" displays of faith, it’s easy to feel like our ordinary lives don’t count for much in the Kingdom of God. But what if the real work of discipleship isn't happening on a stage or in a highlight reel, but in the unremarkable, unwitnessed days in between?

In this episode, we dive into the core of Pastor Cal’s message: The Christian life is rarely changed by a single dramatic act of faith; it is shaped by thousands of small acts of obedience. We explore why we need to stop living a "firework faith" in what Jesus describes as a "seed-shaped kingdom".

Key themes we discuss include:

• The Power of Small Things: Why Jesus constantly points to mustard seeds, yeast, and widow’s coins to show us where the Kingdom is truly at work.
• Luke 16:10: Understanding the principle that being trusted with "very little" is the prerequisite for being trusted with "much".
• The Parable of the Talents: A fresh look at the $600,000 "talent" and why the Master cares more about your posture of faithfulness than the size of your return.
• Jesus the Carpenter: Reflecting on the 30 years of ordinary, faithful labor that preceded the three years that changed the world.

Stop waiting for the "big thing" and join us as we ask the better question: "What is the next faithful thing God is asking me to do?".Grab your mug, pull up a chair, and let’s keep it real and keep it faithful. See you next brew. ☕️✨

This isn't a lecture or a formal study—it’s a warm, unhurried conversation between friends sitting across from each other at a café. Each week, we unpack the teachings of Pastor Cal (Dr. Calvary Callender) to help us process, apply, and carry the message into the texture of our everyday lives.

Our Core Lens: We believe the Kingdom of God isn't just something for "designated spiritual spaces." It’s breaking into the ordinary rhythms of real life. We explore what it actually looks like to live as citizens of that Kingdom on a Tuesday morning, in our neighborhoods, and in our living rooms.

What We’re Chewing On: In our current series, Following Jesus in Real Life, we are sitting with the radical idea that hospitality is discipleship. Drawing from the story of Mary and Martha in Luke ten thirty-eight through forty-two, we explore why the most important thing you can offer another person isn't a perfect meal or a clean house—it’s your unhurried, undivided presence.

We’ll pull on threads like:

• The Anatomy of Anxious Service: How our "doing" for God can sometimes pull us away (perispaomai) from being with God.
• Sacred Obligations: Understanding hachnasat orchim and why welcoming others is a way of honoring the Divine Presence.
• Choosing the Better Thing: Learning to put down the distractions in our hands to look at the person right in front of us.

The Vibe: Honest, reflective, and grounded. We voice the "but what about..." questions and lean into the tension of following Jesus in a distracted world. We don’t have all the answers, but we’re committed to practicing the presence of Jesus together.

Grab a cup and let’s sit with this. That’s Kingdom and Coffee.

Grab your morning go juice and join us at the table for a new episode of Kingdom and Coffee. This week, we are sitting with a powerful message from Pastor Bruno Ponce at Lantana Community Church titled "The Road Back to YOU".

In this episode, we unpack the story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus from Luke 24:13-35. We’re looking at what it means to follow Jesus in real life, especially when we find ourselves walking away from our hopes, feeling discouraged or confused.

In this conversation, we chew on three core rhythms of discipleship:

• The Power of Presence: How Jesus chooses to walk beside us on our "seven-mile walks" before offering answers, and how we can do the same for others.
• Rooted in the Word: Why true transformation requires us to move beyond emotions and sit with the Scriptures that point to Christ.
• Recognizing Jesus in the Ordinary: Exploring how the Kingdom of God breaks into the everyday rhythms of life—like sharing a meal or a simple phone call—and how those encounters always lead us back to mission.

Whether you're feeling on fire for the Lord or currently navigating a "broken road," this episode is a warm invitation to recognize that Jesus is often walking right beside you, even when your eyes haven't been opened to see Him yet.

Pull up a chair, grab your coffee, and let’s explore what it looks like to live as citizens of the Kingdom in the ordinary moments of our week.

That’s Kingdom and Coffee.

In this opening message of the summer series, "Following Jesus in Real Life," Pastor Calvary Callender challenges the idea that discipleship only happens during special seasons, spiritual retreats, or when our schedules finally clear up. Instead, he highlights how discipleship happens in the ordinary, such as a commute, a workday, or an exhausted Monday night. Drawing from Luke chapter 5 verses 1 through 11, the message explores the story of Simon Peter encountering Jesus on what Pastor Cal calls a "Tired Tuesday"—a day defined by professional failure, empty nets, and physical exhaustion.

The message emphasizes that Jesus doesn’t wait for us to have our lives together or for a "better moment" before He shows up; He steps into our "boats" and our workspaces while we are still in the middle of the mess. This encounter demonstrates that ordinary discipleship is often characterized by quiet, tired, and honest obedience, even when following Jesus’ word seems to contradict our own instincts and experiences.

In this episode, you will discover:

• How Jesus uses our most significant assets and workspaces as platforms for His teaching and transformation.
• Why a genuine encounter with the divine presence produces honesty about our inadequacies rather than immediate confidence.
• The way Jesus reorients who you already are—including your unique wiring, skills, and love—around His eternal purposes rather than erasing your identity.
• The profound significance of Jesus' most repeated command to those who feel undone: "Don't be afraid".

Following Jesus is not about grand gestures or perfectly ordered spiritual moments; it is about recognizing His presence in the middle of your failure and the mundane tasks of daily life. This message serves as an invitation to stop making future appointments with God and to start encountering the living Jesus right where you are today.

In this final installment of our five-week series on discipleship, Pastor Calvary Callender tackles perhaps the most challenging aspect of being formed into the image of Christ: forgiveness and releasing the emotional debts others owe us.

We often live with a natural instinct for retaliation, which shows up in "socially acceptable" ways like resentment, coldness, or keeping a meticulous ledger of wrongs. Drawing from Matthew chapter 5 verses 38 through 48, Pastor Cal explores how Jesus doesn't just ask us to "be nice," but actually completes the trajectory of the ancient law of lex talionis (an eye for an eye) by interrupting the cycle of escalation entirely.

In this episode, we explore:

• The Power of Agency: How "turning the other cheek" and "going the extra mile" are not acts of passivity, but radical ways to reclaim your agency and refuse to let contempt shape your response.
• The Posture of God: Understanding how God’s generosity extends even to His enemies—sending rain on the righteous and unrighteous alike—and how we are called to mirror that posture.
• The Cross as the Center: How Jesus absorbed the ultimate injustice, betrayal, and violence, yet chose to release it, providing the pattern for our own spiritual formation.
• Practical Release: Clarifying that releasing a debt is not the same as approving of the wrong, pretending it didn't happen, or eliminating healthy boundaries.

As Dr. Calvary Callender reminds us, a formed disciple slowly becomes impossible to poison with bitterness. Join us as we learn to trust God with the "accounting" of our lives and discover the freedom that comes when we refuse to let our wounds have the final say.

Follow along with the series as we move from the "gathered" church into the "scattered" church, living out discipleship in the ordinary, everyday moments of life.

What does love do with what it has? Join Pastor Calvary Callender for the fourth week of a series on justice and spiritual formation at Lantana Community Church. In this message, titled "Love That Gives," we explore the radical generosity of the early church as described in Acts 4:32-35, where "no one claimed that any of their possessions was their own".Pastor Cal challenges the idea that generosity is merely a financial obligation, instead framing it as a formation issue. When we are truly formed into the image of Christ for the sake of others, our relationship with our possessions, time, and plans is completely reoriented. Drawing from the Greek concept of mia kardia kai psyche (one heart and one soul), this message illustrates how the resurrection of Jesus serves as the ultimate source for loosening our grip on "stuff" and living with open hands.

Key themes in this episode include:

• The Resurrection as the Source: How believing that death is not the final word changes our need for accumulation.
• Three Directions of Open-Handedness: Exploring generosity toward people, the church, and in everyday life.
• Postures over Calculations: Moving from asking "How much do I have to give?" to "What do I have that someone else needs?".
• Hilaros Living: Understanding God's love for a "cheerful" (or hilarious) giver who acts out of freedom rather than pressure.

Whether it is your money, your time, or your plans, this message invites you to consider what you might be holding too tightly and how open-handed living can impact "your one"—the person God has placed in your life to reach with His love.

In a world that is increasingly "good at rushing to judgment," how do we embody the love of Jesus when situations aren't cut and dry? In this episode, Pastor Calvary Callender continues our series on discipleship by diving into one of the most dramatic and high-tension encounters in the New Testament: the woman caught in adultery in John 8:2-11.

Set against the backdrop of the Feast of Tabernacles—a "spring break" atmosphere in a packed Jerusalem—Pastor Calvary explores how religious leaders tried to use a woman as a "prop" in a "theological trap" designed to force Jesus into a snap verdict.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• The Power of the Pause: Why Jesus chose to write in the dirt to slow down a moment designed to rush Him toward a verdict of death.
• Grace and Truth: How Jesus offered neither condemnation nor permission, but instead held the tension of taking sin seriously while restoring the person’s dignity and future.
• A New Standard for Discipleship: What it looks like for us to "listen longer and judge slower" in a high-fatigue, social-media-driven culture.
• Practical Truth: Three keys for speaking truth in love: speaking within relationship, focusing on behavior rather than identity, and speaking plainly without "beating someone over the head."

Whether you feel like you’re standing in the crowd holding a stone or you’re the one carrying a story of shame you’re afraid to name, this message is a powerful reminder that Jesus doesn't let your sin be your opening statement. He sees the person, restores the soul, and invites us all to "go and sin no more."----------------------------------------------------------------------About Lantana Church: We exist to love like Jesus so that lives are changed. Join us as we explore what it means to be formed into the image of Christ for the sake of others.

Grab a cuppa and join us at the table for this week’s episode of Kingdom and Coffee. We are reflecting on a powerful message from Pastor Calvary Callender about a love that refuses to stay at a distance.

Drawing from Mark 2:1-12, we explore the story of the friends who were so determined to get their paralyzed companion to Jesus that they literally tore an opening in the roof to lower him down. As Pastor Cal highlights, this is more than just a story about a miracle; it is a masterclass in discipleship and what it means to have "mat-carrying" faith for those around us.

In this conversation, we look at how Jesus prioritizes restoration over mere relief. While relief addresses a surface need, Jesus dismantles the "shame structures" that keep people isolated, offering a total restoration of identity and belonging. We’ll discuss what it looks like for us to be a "gathered and scattered" church that enters into someone’s story rather than just helping from arm's length. We also tackle the big questions from this week's sermon: Who is your "one"? And where is God inviting you to move past providing a quick fix to offer a love that truly restores?.

Pour yourself a cup of joe and settle in for a thoughtful, Kingdom-minded look at how we can live out a Love That Restores.