MCC Podcast

By Miamisburg Christian ChurchReligion & Spirituality Christianity

MCC Podcast episodes

February 27, 2024 Jesus defends those who belong to Him
Did you know that you can confess, repent, and be forgiven, all from the comfort of your own home?
I found a sight called Absolution Online and you begin by selecting a category (some sins occur in more than one section):
-10 Commandments
-The 7 Deadly Sins
-Internal Sins
-Physical Sins
-General Sins
I also found an app called Sincerely - Off My Chest. It seems that people want to get things off their chest. So they publicly acknowledge things like:
-I removed the book jackets from trashy novels so that I look more sophisticated.
-I think I’m racist.
-I’m the anonymous caller who told your boss that you’ve been stealing.
One author said, “Like some of our readers, I’ve never personally asked God for His forgiveness, but recently I’ve come to realize that most of us, religious or not, seem to be indulging in some form of confession on a pretty regular basis.”
Religious or not, we feel the need to get something off our chest.
This week I’m looking forward to sharing what John says about sin as we look at 1 John 2.
29 min
February 20, 2024 Why is community important today?
This week I get to kick off our series on the book that we call 1 John. This book is actually a letter written by John. I don’t know if you know this, but Jesus nicknamed John and his brother James, two of the 12 apostles, the Sons of Thunder. You can find where Jesus gives them that nickname in Mark 3:17. It seems that it may relate to an incident when a town rejected Jesus and they wanted to call down fire from heaven to destroy it. You can find that story in Luke 9:53-54. My guess is that you grew up with kids in your neighborhood or at your school who could have earned that nickname. My brother and I were called the “Most Destructive Kids On The Block” but that’s another story.
I tell you that because when we get to this letter of John toward the end of the New Testament, John is now called The Apostle of Love. The Son of Thunder became the Apostle of Love. That’s what Jesus can do in your life.
As we look at how John encourages us through what he wrote to the early church, you will see that he weaves threads of relationship, authenticity, love, and truth throughout his words.
I’m looking forward to walking through this with you.
34 min
February 13, 2024 You Have a Spot at the Table
Let me tell you 3 things I know about your decision to follow Jesus, without knowing your story.
You had already heard the message, probably. It wasn’t like someone came to you in your 20’s or 30’s and said to you, “Jesus died on the cross for your sins” and you responded, “What? He did what? Are you kidding me?”
There are a few, but for most of us the message wasn’t new. And it wasn’t simply the message. It WAS the message, but it WAS ALSO the messenger.
There was something about THAT person combined with the message combined with your current circumstances.
You. Whether you see it or not. Whether you are ready to accept it or not, you have been and will continue to be perfectly positioned by God, because of who you are and the experiences you’ve had, to be the person God wants to use in someone else’s life to help them follow Him.
In our Journey series we have been reminded that disciples of Jesus are following and being changed by Jesus. This week I get to remind us what it means to be committed to the mission of Jesus.
31 min
February 06, 2024 Beyond Baptism: Being An All In Disciple
This weekend we will be looking at one of the very things that has perhaps caused people to struggle with church; they have seen too many whose lives often don’t match their words.
Did you know that last year we helped 53 people make their commitment to Jesus through their baptism? Which is great. But we all know that making that initial commitment to Jesus is not the finish line. It’s actually closer to the starting point of our faith journey.
And when it comes to being a disciple of Jesus, there is a decision we make once, about making Jesus Lord of our life. Now to be sure, we need to recommit to that daily, to remind ourselves and Jesus of Who He is in our lives. And that calls for an initial change of our lives - that is what Rich hit last week.
But there is another change that happens for the REST of our lives. It is a spiritual growth that is designed to continue as long as we breathe. Just like we expect to grow physically, we expect to grow spiritually. Does that make sense?
The problem that many outside the church have with people who go to church isn’t that they make their commitment to Jesus through their baptism. The problem is that too many stop there. This week, Mike will be speaking about how our faith journey includes “being changed by Jesus.”
32 min
February 06, 2024 How To Be A Dedicated Follower Of Jesus
We kick off a new series this week called Journey and week 1 is all about being a follower of Jesus.

33 min
December 11, 2023 Holiday Field Guide: Disillusionment
This Sunday, in our Holiday Field Guide series where we are looking at how to survive the holidays, we will be looking at how to survive disillusionment.
This is a significant issue for many of us at MCC and in our culture, especially around the holidays. Sometimes we get so caught up in the lights, gifts, and even the pace of Christmas that we don’t notice that there are others who, quite frankly, are a little disillusioned about faith because of those things.
This week Mike will take us back into the passage we looked at last Sunday to guide us through why Joseph dealt with being disillusioned and what he did about it. And what we can do about it ourselves, as well as help others, today.
29 min
December 04, 2023 Holiday Field Guide: Family
It may be fair to say that most of us have never been lost in the woods….but picture it: you’re lost, you have no supplies - no food, no water, no shelter.
What would you do first?
Where do you begin?
How do you figure out what is safe?
Sounds like you need a field guide!
A field guide is basically a manual for identifying natural objects, flora, or fauna in nature. It can provide survival tips and tactics, and show you what is safe to eat, what you can use for shelter, navigation, etc.
This series will be a field guide for us - to show us how to navigate the holidays. We’ll look at how to navigate relationships, our emotions, our thoughts, our choices, and our faith so that we stay on course and don’t end up “lost” in the busyness of this time of year. This kind of field guide will help us keep Jesus at the center of this Christmas season.
This week Josh will be talking about family. Navigating the terrain of family relationships during the holidays can be treacherous - we’ll be looking at 3 character battles you’ll want to seek God’s help to fight (and win) to successfully navigate this Christmas season! We’ll be looking for direction from Matthew 1- the story of the journey Joseph and Mary took together to be used by God to bring about the birth of Jesus.
41 min
November 27, 2023 The Heart of Generosity
I think when most people think of generosity, they think of a specific act. Somebody had an unexpected expense. They can’t afford to get it fixed. Somebody hears the news and swoops in to save the day. The bill is paid and life is back to normal because someone wrote a check!
Is that generosity? I’d like to think that, yes, that was generous. But does that one act paint the picture of what God says generosity is through His Word? I would submit that a single act of generosity can be displayed without a real heart change.
You see, that is what God is up to. As He shapes our hearts to reflect His character, He is trading us a “heart of stone” for “a heart of flesh” Ez 36:26.
This week Rich will walk us through a look at the things we should see in the life of a disciple that is being changed by Jesus. Paul talks plainly about them as he concludes the first letter to the Corinthians.
38 min
November 20, 2023 The Power and Purpose of Communion
The church in Corinth was like other churches in the first century in that they met at night and had a tradition of gathering for a church fellowship supper prior to their worship service. Apparently their pitch-in dinners provided not only an occasion for fellowship but gave the wealthy a chance to share their abundance with the poor. That might have been the best meal some of the slaves and unemployed members would have all week.
Then, after the meal, they had a worship service and served communion.
But over the course of time, as often happens, what was intended for good deteriorated into irreverence.
The rich got tired of waiting for the late-arriving slaves who worked until sunset, so they just ate early leaving only the scraps for the poor.
Others got to bickering among themselves over who really ran the church and they split up into separate cliques that always ate together.
Some drank so much wine at the fellowship meal that they got drunk. When the worship time came they were so inebriated that the Lord’s Supper was meaningless.
And while we don’t tend to have those problems, there is potential for a problem today. Perhaps you’ve experienced it: Communion can become just another thing we do without really thinking about why we do it or why it’s so important.
This week Mike will be sharing how Paul reminds us why, how we take communion, is important to God.
38 min
November 13, 2023 Spiritually Gifted for a Purpose
As we prepare for this weekend, I want to remind you that Paul is writing to the church in Corinth, which he started, about problems that they are experiencing that are causing divisions in the church. One of the divisive issues concerned spiritual gifts.
This Sunday, I am going to completely encircle what Eric was talking about last week. He gave the central message when it comes to spiritual gifts, the heart of the message if you will. When it comes to gifts and/or worship, the heart of the message is the heart of the believer. Love must sit at the center of ALL we do.
I want to pause for a moment to reflect on applying what Eric said this past Sunday. As I write this, Issue 1 has passed in Ohio. That breaks my heart and I believe breaks God’s heart as well. As we respond to this with people in conversation, or on social media, we must do so in a way that does not sound like a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal (1 Corinthians 13:1). Our goal is to help people see Jesus in us so they will be drawn to Him. It doesn’t mean we don’t speak truth, but we do it in a way that reflects His grace. Have the first conversation with people in such a way that you can have a second conversation with them.
This week we will see that the church in Corinth is confused about spiritual gifts. They are using spiritual gifts to make much of themselves. They even see spiritual gifts as a litmus test of spiritual maturity or even spiritual power and it has created rivalries that are tearing the church apart. Look above to be reminded of what we are calling this series. It still happens today.
This Sunday I’m looking forward to sharing what Paul was saying and how it plays out here at MCC.
30 min