What do the rulers named Herod in your New Testament have to do with each other? The answer is more connected than most people realize.

In this Beyond the Notes episode, Pastor Russell Howard traces the Herodian dynasty across four generations, beginning with Herod the Great at the birth of Jesus and ending with Herod Agrippa II in the court of Governor Festus during the apostle Paul's imprisonment. He covers the family's role in the death of John the Baptist, the martyrdom of James the apostle, and Paul's appeal to Caesar, while also walking through how the first-century Jewish historian Josephus independently confirms the biblical account of Herod Agrippa the First's death.

Two takeaways anchor the episode: the apologetic value of secular history confirming Scripture, and the question of generational momentum. If your family has handed you a difficult legacy, your generation carries both the possibility and the accountability to break that pattern. If you inherited a godly one, the call is to treasure it and carry it forward.

Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026

The King Has Come

"Oh, The Places You'll Go"

In Matthew 14:1-12, two men occupy the same passage but inhabit entirely different worlds. Herod Antipas sits on a throne, driven by lust, cowardice, and a fear that bounces him from one bad decision to the next. John the Baptist sits in a dungeon, yet speaks freely because his faith is anchored in Christ. Pastor Russell Howard traces the contrasting paths of unbelief and persevering faith, and calls listeners to examine what kind of belief they actually hold. There is a belief that stays in the head, knowing facts and even trembling at them, and there is the saving belief that repents and trusts Jesus as Lord. This Mother's Day teaching closes with a pastoral word to every mother: your influence is going somewhere, so guard it for the love of Christ and the good of the people in your home.

Sermon Notes

Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026

Mother's Day arrives on the heels of one of the fullest Sundays of the year at McGregor.

Around McGregor hosts Mark, Tamar, and Christian look back on last Sunday, which included 17 baptisms across two services, senior recognition for graduating high school students, the introduction of incoming Family Ministry Minister Mike Hess, and a 400-person member meeting that welcomed 34 new members into the church family. They also celebrate Tamar's son graduating from UCF and look ahead to the church golf tournament, potential teacher training, the middle school sneak peak, the next prospective member class, and Vacation Bible School.

Through it all, last week was a reminder that Christ continues to build His church, and Mother's Day is a chance to thank God for the mothers who keep pointing their kids toward Jesus. This episode is for anyone connected to McGregor who wants to stay current with what's happening across the church family during Renew Phase 2.

Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026

Visit Our Website at McGregorPodcast.com

New to McGregor? Plan a visit at mcgregor.net/plan-a-visit

What is the right response when you come face to face with the holiness of God?

In this Journey Together Bible study, David Miller teaches from Luke 5:1–11, exploring what R.C. Sproul calls the trauma of holiness. The episode covers three effects that God's holiness produces in us: an awareness of sin, a holy fear, and a change in direction. Using the account of Peter's miraculous catch of fish, David shows how the miracle was never about the fish. Jesus directed Peter's attention away from the catch and toward something Peter could not escape: his own sinfulness in the presence of a holy God.

This episode is for anyone who has ever wondered why the gospel requires bad news before it can offer good news, and for those who need to be reminded that being caught in sin is not a sign of God's absence. It is a sign of his mercy.

Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026

What do you do when you've prayed and prayed and God has not said yes?

In this episode of Beyond the Notes, Pastor Russell Howard picks up where Sunday's sermon left off, working through James 4:2-3 to address what Scripture says about unanswered prayer. He walks through five biblical questions to ask when God hasn't yet said yes: Am I being selfish? Am I using prayer to delay obedience? Has God already closed the door? Am I trusting God without presuming on him? And am I willing to persevere? He draws from Exodus 14, where Moses is told to stop praying and start moving, the story of Anna in Luke 2 who prayed for the Messiah for decades, and the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18, where Jesus himself teaches that his people ought always to pray and not lose heart.

The listener walks away with a clear biblical framework for one of the most personal challenges in the Christian life — learning to hold a request before God faithfully without confusing confidence with control.

Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026

Matthew

"The Power of Unbelief"

In Matthew 13:53-58, Jesus returns to his hometown of Nazareth, and the people who knew him best are the ones who reject him most completely. Pastor Russell Howard examines what the hometown crowd's response reveals: that unbelief is not a matter of insufficient evidence, but of a heart unwilling to bow. The passage raises the stakes for everyone who has heard about Jesus without ever surrendering to him, and it presses believers to examine whether they are asking God for things, anticipating his care, and attributing good gifts to the One who gives them. James 1:17 says every good and perfect gift is from above. This sermon calls us to actually live that way.

Sermon Notes

Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026

What does a full Sunday at McGregor actually look like?

In this Around McGregor episode, hosts Mark Bricker, Tamara Miller, and Christian Miller walk through one of the busiest Sundays of the year, covering 17 baptisms across two services in Fellowship Hall, graduation recognition for all 22 seniors at all three services, and the in-person introduction of prospective Family Minister Mike Hess. They also cover the member meeting following the last service and the graduate family lunch.

Looking ahead, they highlight the Wings Group tea and luncheon on May 7th, All the King's Daughters on May 9th (registration open through May 8th), the 8th Annual Church Golf Tournament on May 16th supporting student camps and the Arizona family mission trip, and VBS "Rainforest Falls" running June 8-12 from 6:15 to 8:15 PM. VBS kids will be raising money to fund audio Bible devices for a community in Peru. Volunteers are still needed; sign up at mcgregor.net/vbs.

Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026

God is often described as loving, gracious, and near. But in Scripture, every person who encountered Him directly fell to the ground in fear.

In this McGregor Podcast teaching, Danny traces that pattern from Moses at the burning bush to John in Revelation, asking why holiness produces awe before comfort. He explores what Scripture means when it calls God holy, why the chasm between humanity and God is one no human effort can close, and why the cross is the only place where God's justice and mercy could ever meet.

Listeners walk away with a bigger view of what it cost to close that gap, and a deeper understanding of why grace only grows larger the more seriously we take God's holiness. This episode is for anyone wanting to understand the gospel at a deeper level, or whose sense of grace has grown smaller than Scripture intends.

Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026

The word "equity" shows up in Psalm 67:4. It also shows up constantly in the social justice conversation. Those two uses do not mean the same thing.

In this Beyond the Notes episode, David Miller works through what Psalm 67:4 actually says about how God governs and why the Hebrew word behind "equity" points to impartiality and righteousness, not equal outcomes. He draws on two key passages, Romans 9 and the parable of talents in Matthew 25, to argue that unequal outcomes are not inherently a sign of injustice. They can reflect God's purposeful design. He also references E. Calvin Beisner's short book "Social Justice: How Good Intentions Undermine Justice and the Gospel," available free through the Family Research Council.

Download the resource: https://downloads.frc.org/EF/EF13E133.pdf

This episode is for anyone trying to think biblically about justice, equity, and equality without losing the gospel in the process. You will walk away with a clear framework rooted in Scripture and a renewed sense of what sinners actually deserve and what grace actually provides.

Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026

"Our Missionary God"

(Psalm 67)

David Miller, Pastor of Membership and Missions at McGregor Baptist Church, preaches through Psalm 67, an ancient harvest song that Israel sang while bringing in crops from the land God had given them. But the psalm is about more than the harvest. It is about the reason God blesses his people at all. The requests in verse one, drawn from the priestly blessing of Numbers 6, are made with a clear purpose in verse two: that God's way would be known on earth and his saving power made known among all nations. That purpose runs all the way back to God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 12, and it runs forward to the church today.

Pastor David works through three movements in the psalm: the requests of God's people, the reasons behind those requests, and the results that follow. Along the way, he addresses why God's people have reason for joy, why his governance brings gladness, and what it means that salvation is not just transactional but familial. The sermon closes with a direct, pastoral challenge: if God saved us, he saved us to send us.

Sermon Notes

Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026