McGregor Podcast

I AM Seven Signs of the Savior

"I Am the Good Shepherd"

Jesus makes his boldest claim yet: "I am the good Shepherd." In the fourth of the seven I AM sayings in John's Gospel, He steps into a role God had claimed for Himself centuries earlier. Ron Cook opens in John 10 and traces the promise back to Ezekiel 34, where God, fed up with leaders who fed themselves while the flock scattered, vowed to come and shepherd the sheep Himself. That is the backdrop for Jesus standing among the people and saying the good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. This study walks through who the shepherd is, why He is good even when that good comes through hard circumstances, how His sheep come to know His voice, and the security of belonging to Him: no one can snatch them out of His hand. You walk away seeing that eternal life is not only a future home but knowing the One who came looking for you and refuses to lose even one.

September 2, 2026

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What do you hold onto when the night is long and your mind will not quiet down?

In this Beyond the Notes, Pastor Russell Howard returns to Psalm 121, the psalm he preached as "The God of the Sleepless Night," to sit with one word the pilgrims could not stop repeating: keep. Six times the psalm says the Lord guards, preserves, and watches over His people. Russell traces six takeaways from that promise, from the truth that God's keeping does not depend on our own vigilance, to the reminder that our security rests on His grip on us rather than our grip on Him.

This is for anyone walking an unfamiliar road and wondering who is watching over it. You will not walk away knowing what tomorrow holds, but you will walk away knowing the One who does.

Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026

Psalms - Songs of the King

"The God Of The Sleepless Night"

Some nights the thing you cannot fix only grows louder in the dark. Psalm 121 speaks straight into that hour. Pastor Russell Howard walks through this ancient psalm of ascent and the God it points to: a God who saves, who is strong enough to hold whatever you are carrying, who secures His people so they will not finally fall, and who never slumbers or sleeps. Drawing a striking contrast between a sleepless King Darius and a resting Daniel in the lion's den, this message is honest that following Jesus does not exempt us from hard seasons. It promises something better, a Keeper who guards our going out and our coming in, from this time forth and forevermore. You walk away able to hand the problem to the One who is awake anyway, and rest.

Sermon Notes

Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026

What changes when you read Paul's letters in the city he wrote them to?

Mark, Tamar, and Christian open the last Sunday of August with the Journeys of Paul trip to Greece and Turkey, running May 17 through 29, 2027 with Pastors Russell Howard and Cary Robinson. Around 25 have committed and there is still room. The 55 Plus office has brochures.

From there they move through the fall. Parent and Child Dedication is Friday, September 11. Prayer and Praise night is Wednesday, September 30 at 6:30 PM, and many of the songs that night were written by McGregor members. Candy collection for the October 31 Fall Festival opens that night. Elevate Weekend for grades six through twelve is October 2 through 4.

If you are trying to get the fall on your calendar, start here.

Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026

Jesus said "whoever is not against us is for us." He also said "whoever is not with me is against me." Which is it?

In part two of this Hot Topic teaching from McGregor Baptist Church, Pastor Russell Howard shows that the two statements agree. There are two camps and no neutral ground, and he follows that straight into the question people ask most: what about those who never hear the gospel? His answer comes from Romans 1, and it explains why the urgency of missions rises or falls on this point. He closes with Luke 16, the parable of the dishonest manager, and the single punchline that makes sense of it.

If parables have ever left you puzzled, or if you have wondered how a good God deals with those who never heard, this teaching gives you a framework to think it through.

Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026

I AM: Seven Signs of the Savior

"I Am the Door"

In John 10, Jesus makes a claim that both comforts and confronts: "I am the door of the sheep." Pastor Peter Finch teaches through the sheepfold imagery of the ancient Near East to show what Jesus meant, and why the religious leaders who first heard it were so unsettled. Jesus is the one door, and everyone who enters by Him is saved, kept secure, and satisfied, while false shepherds only come to take from the sheep. You walk away with a clear picture of who Jesus is as the door, and three honest questions to sit with: have you come through the door, are you trusting Him to lead you, and do you find your satisfaction in Him?

August 26, 2026

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We are taught to forgive. But what happens when we forgive and reconciliation still feels impossible?

In this Beyond the Notes conversation, Pastor Omar Edwards returns to Sunday's teaching on childlike forgiveness and opens Romans 12:16-21, what many Bibles call the marks of a true Christian. He draws a careful line between forgiveness, a one-way choice to release anger and the desire for payback, and reconciliation, a two-way road that needs both people to change, rebuild trust, and come back to the table. He walks through what it means to pursue peace, check our pride, and keep loving someone even when the relationship cannot return to what it once was.

If you are carrying a broken friendship, a strained family tie, or a wound you have released but cannot yet see healed, this teaching offers a biblical way to think clearly and hold onto hope in a God who still changes hearts.

Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026

Why would a loving church ever put someone out of its fellowship?

On this Beyond the Notes episode, Pastor Russell Howard takes us past his Sunday notes on church discipline and into a real case history from the New Testament. Walking through 1 Corinthians 5 and 2 Corinthians 2, he traces how the church at Corinth confronted a man in serious, public, unrepentant sin, and how, about a year later, that same man repented and was restored. He connects it all to the steps Jesus laid out in Matthew 18.

You will walk away seeing that church discipline is not about driving people away but about calling them home, for their good and the health of the whole church. For anyone who has wondered how grace and accountability fit together, this one brings clarity.

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Matthew - The King has Come

"Childlike Forgiveness"

When Peter asked Jesus how many times he had to forgive, he thought seven was already generous. Jesus answered with a number meant to stop the counting for good, then told a story about a servant forgiven an unpayable debt who refused to forgive a small one. In this sermon closing out Matthew 18, Elder Omar Edwards traces the command to forgive continually, the parable of the merciful king, and the hardness of a heart that forgets its own rescue. Forgiveness at Christ's standard is beyond us on our own strength, which is exactly why it drives us back to the cross and the Holy Spirit's work in us. You walk away seeing your own blind spots more honestly, and freer to extend the same grace you have already been given.

Sermon Notes

Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026

When will we actually be back in the worship center?

Mark, Tamar, and Christian give the honest two part answer. A certificate of occupancy is one milestone. A room ready for a thousand people on a Sunday is another, and the audio, video, and lighting install is the biggest piece left. Best case is sometime in November.

From there the conversation turns to the fall calendar. GriefShare starts Sunday at 12:30 PM in Faith Building room 174. DivorceCare meets Tuesdays at 6:00 PM, and it is not too late to join. Parent and Child Dedication is Friday, September 11, and registration closes August 26. The Know The Word Conference is September 18 and 19 with Dr. Greg Lanier. Prayer and Praise night is Wednesday, September 30.

If you have been wondering what is next at McGregor, or you know someone carrying a loss, this one is worth twelve minutes.

Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026