McGregor Podcast

How close is the Worship Center to being finished, and what does November hold for the McGregor church family?

Pastor Mark Bricker is back with Tamar and Christian for a Renew update: the cross is in place, carpet is nearly finished, and pews start going in this week. They walk through the month ahead, including the member meeting and budget presentation on November 8, the Holiday Shopping Extravaganza on November 14, Surviving the Holidays on November 17, the Thanksgiving Dinner on November 24, and the last prospective member class of 2026 on December 13.

If you call McGregor home, this is your guide to the month. If the holidays will be hard this year, listen for the invitation to Surviving the Holidays and the reminder that God comforts us in all our affliction.

Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026

Habits of Grace: Looking Biblically at the Spiritual Disciplines

"Creating Space for Communion with God"

Most of us try to grow closer to God by doing more, and we end up running on empty. In this midweek study, Omar Edwards opens Scripture on four quiet habits the church often overlooks: fasting, journaling, solitude, and rest. He shows that Jesus expected His followers to fast, walks through why God's people fasted in Scripture, from seeking guidance to expressing repentance, and explains how journaling helps us remember God's faithfulness and see our growth. He closes with Jesus' own pattern of withdrawing to pray and His invitation to the weary in Matthew 11:28. These habits do not earn God's favor; Christ has already done that. They place us where His grace is already flowing, so we can enjoy Jesus.

October 28, 2026

Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026

Pastor Russell Howard follows a thread from Sunday's sermon in Matthew 19:28, where Jesus promises His disciples twelve thrones, to Revelation 21:14, where the names of the twelve apostles are written on the foundations of the New Jerusalem. Howard walks through Acts 1 and the choosing of Matthias, then shows how the New Testament uses the word apostle in three ways: the Twelve, apostles outside that circle such as Paul and Barnabas, and messengers sent out by the churches.

Anyone who has stumbled over the word apostle in their Bible reading will come away able to tell its uses apart from context, and with a clearer view of the Jesus who calls and sends His people.

Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026

Matthew - The King has Come

"The Cost Of The Kingdom"

Can anyone buy their way into the kingdom of God? As a rich young man walks away from Jesus, Jesus tells His disciples it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom. Pastor Russell Howard shows why that word lands closer to home than we think, and names three ways wealth gets in the way: pride, privilege, and priorities. He then turns to Peter's honest question about whether following Jesus is worth what it costs, and to Jesus' answer. Those who leave everything for His name will receive a hundredfold, and they will inherit eternal life. You will walk away seeing that eternal life is never earned as a reward. It is a gift of grace, received as an inheritance by those who follow Jesus by faith, and whatever following Him costs, He is good for it.

Sermon Notes

Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026

What does it look like for one church family to send people around the world and still serve neighbors at home?

With Pastor Mark Bricker away, Tamar and Christian share updates from the mission teams in South Asia and Zambia and the disaster relief team serving in the Florida Panhandle. They cover the Operation Christmas Child photo fundraiser today and serve day on Saturday, October 31, at 9:30 AM, Fall Festival that evening from 6:00 to 8:00 PM, and the member meeting on Sunday, November 8, at 12:30 PM. They also explain the new two-service schedule coming when we return to the Worship Center, then look ahead to the Holiday Shopping Extravaganza on November 14, Thanksgiving dinner on November 24, and the year's last Prospective Member Class on December 13.

Near or far, each of these is a way for this church family to make much of Jesus together.

Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026

Habits of Grace: Looking Biblically at the Spiritual Disciplines

"Enjoying the Privilege of Prayer"

Most believers agree prayer matters, so why is consistent prayer so hard? Pastor Peter Finch suggests the deeper problem is that we treat prayer as a duty rather than a privilege. Starting from Hebrews 4:16, he shows that prayer is relational and transformational, a response to the conversation God already started in His Word, made possible because Jesus bridged the gap our sin created. From Matthew 6:5-6 he explains why private prayer tests our sincerity and humbles our pride, then offers practical help: a set time and place, praying Scripture back to God, and the ACTS pattern. He closes with the call to pray continually and to pray together, as the early church did throughout Acts. You will walk away seeing prayer as grace to enjoy rather than a way to earn God's favor, with a few simple steps to start this week.

October 21, 2026

Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026

Can someone receive Jesus as Savior without following Him as Lord?

Picking up a thread from Sunday's sermon, Pastor Russell Howard walks through the Lordship salvation controversy, from Lewis Sperry Chafer's Systematic Theology in 1948 to the books by John MacArthur, Zane Hodges, and Charles Ryrie that defined the debate in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He then works through five questions at its center: what saving faith is, what repentance is, whether Christ must be received as Lord, what role good works play, and what grounds our assurance.

Howard lands where Scripture does: salvation is a work of God from beginning to end, and it is always permanent and always transformational. For anyone wondering what real faith looks like, or whether a decision made long ago is enough to rest on, this teaching offers a clear and hopeful answer.

Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026

Matthew - The King has Come

"How A Very Good Man Stayed Lost"

In Matthew 19:16-22, a young man comes to Jesus asking what good deed he must do to have eternal life. He is wealthy, moral, and eager, and he walks away sorrowful. Pastor Russell Howard walks through the encounter in three movements: his approach, which was better than many; his attitude, proud of a record that could not stand up to the heart of God's law; and his attribution, wanting the timing, the track record, and the terms to be his own. Jesus did not offer him a better deal. He called him to sell what he had and follow. Listeners walk away with a clear word for anyone trusting their own goodness, and a warning for every believer to watch for other loves that quietly crowd out their first love for Christ.

Sermon Notes

Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026

Week of October 18

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Habits of Grace: Looking Biblically at the Spiritual Disciplines

"Bringing The Word Into The Heart"

It is possible to understand a passage accurately, close your Bible, and move on without its truth ever taking root. In this Journey Together teaching, Pastor Russell Howard picks up from last week's call to careful Bible study and shows how three habits carry God's Word from the mind into the heart. Meditation is sustained attention to revealed truth, filling the mind rather than emptying it. Application reaches past a checklist of behaviors to the desires and character underneath them. Memorization keeps Scripture ready wherever life goes and builds a working map of the Bible's one big story, the way Jesus met temptation with "It is written." You will walk away with practical ways to stop driving past God's Word and start dwelling in it, trusting that these habits rest on grace, not on earning God's favor.

October 14, 2026

Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026