In this special bonus, listen to highlights from the fifth episode, "Changing."

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In this special bonus, listen to highlights from the fourth episode, "Discerning."

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In this special bonus, listen to highlights from the third episode, "Belonging."  

Connect with Sherise!

In this special bonus, listen to highlights from the second episode, "Losing."

In this special bonus, listen to highlights from the first episode, "Wanting."

The desire to change is not unique to the Christian. But some of us struggle to see true gospel transformation in our lives. What are those barriers that keep us from changing and what’s truly good about the gospel of Jesus Christ to affect change in our lives? Listen as guest Sarah Laguna and Kelly Pong-Der talk about how individual change happens and the role of the local church community in that process.

Guests:

Sarah Laguna is a natural born rebel saved by grace, journeying to love and follow Jesus. Born to Korean immigrants and raised in Chicagoland, she considers San Francisco home for the last 7 years and loves any excuse to visit the ocean. Change is a constant in her current life stage as a pastor’s wife, mother of 3 and HR tech professional trying to disciple bi-cultural kids in an increasingly challenging climate. When she’s not dragging her family on hikes, or watching cooking videos, she’s searching for the best fried chicken sandwich, street tacos and Korean soups.

Kelly Pong-Der is a 4th generation SF native with roots in Southern China, Japan, and Hawaii. She considers herself a soft-spoken extrovert who loves to listen and help others to reflect deeply to find meaning, purpose, and value at one’s core and gets to utilize her passions at work as a Marriage & Family Therapist. During the pandemic she has picked up new hobbies such as growing to like sourdough bread that her husband makes and eating lots of it, making homemade jams to go with said bread, and baking with her daughter. Her comfort food is a bowl of noodle soup.

For show notes, click here.

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Proverbs 20:24 says, “A man's steps are from the LORD; how then can man understand his way?” It can be puzzling to wrap our head around the idea that there is human agency in our choices, yet God supremely reigns over everything. In discerning, we determine to know what’s good, and even in a broken world, there can be delight in discerning His good, pleasing, and perfect will. Listen as guests Liz Lee and Michelle Tze talk with us about what discernment is, why we need it, and how we get it.

Guests:

Liz Lee was born in Hong Kong and raised in San Francisco, California. God has led her to teach English in Osaka, Japan, be stay-at-home mom of 2 children for 10 years and more recently to return to teaching elementary school in SFUSD. She also helps with women's and young mom's ministries at Sunset Church.

Michelle Tze was changed forever when a friend explained that Jesus’ death on the cross was not just a martyr’s death but actually what she needed to be made right with God. She and her husband have been living and serving for 10+ years in a group of people needing the same message, but communicated in their own language and worldview.  The Tze’s have three kids and if you join them at the dinner table you may be asked to give your opinion on a variety of topics including, "If Adam and Eve didn't eat the fruit, would we be here right now?"  "Who is your favorite: Anna or Elsa?" and "Can you eat pepperoni or do you live with Muslims too?"

For show notes, click here.

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Belonging is a core human need that expresses our deepest longings to be known and accepted. When we consider where we feel the most belonging, for many of us it’s what or where we call home. Home and belonging are promised to us in the gospel, yet in our present lives we struggle to hold in tension our heavenly citizenship and the call to proclaim to the world that home is also promised to them. Listen as guests Suzette Lee and Jen Pollock Michel take us through their contemplations on how we as Christians understand and live out our true belonging.

Guests:

Suzette Lee is originally from Singapore. She accepted Jesus Christ as her personal Savior at age 30 at Sunset Church where her husband Abe and her were members for over 15 years. They moved to Chicago in 2018 and now attend the Church of the Beloved’s Wicker Park campus. She’s currently the U.S. director of Hands at Work in Africa (www.handsatwork.org), which seeks to mobilize local churches in Africa to care for the orphaned, widowed and dying in partnership with international churches. She enjoys urban and nature hikes, hosting, audiobooks, puzzles, board games and is a big Star Wars fan.

Jen Pollock Michel is the award-winning author of Surprised by Paradox: The Promise of “And” in an Either-or World, Teach Us to Want, and Keeping Place. She writes widely for print and digital publications and travels to speak at churches, conferences, and retreats. Jen holds a B.A. in French from Wheaton College and an M.A. in Literature from Northwestern University. She is married to Ryan, and they have five children and live in Toronto. You can find more at www.jenpollockmichel.com or follow Jen on Twitter @jenpmichel.

For show notes, click here.

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