This week on the podcast Paul and Ben wrap up the series "With You Always." As we who follow Jesus seek to live out the mission of Jesus, we are deeply dependent upon the presence of the Holy Spirit. We need God to open doors. We need God to make us bold. We need a power that we will never find within us--one that only comes from God.

Jesus' first disciples were taught by the best teacher they could have asked for. They were well equipped. They had been trained to be like their master. In spite of this, Jesus told them not to leave Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came to them (Acts 1:5). Just as the first disciples could not take the gospel into the world on their own power, so we, today, have a desperate need for the power and presence of God as we seek to do the work of God.

We enjoy your questions and comments! Email us @ [email protected]

This Weeks Resources: A Spirit For the Rest of Us, Tim Woodroof: https://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Rest-Us-Tim-Woodroof/dp/0891126279/ref=sr_1_1?crid=US23OWNY3QAU&keywords=a+spirit+for+the+rest+of+us&qid=1646622249&sprefix=A+spirit+for+the+%2Caps%2C89&sr=8-1

Forgotten God, Francis Chan: https://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-God-Reversing-Tragic-Neglect/dp/B07RBR38DL/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2LQBBCK2HOB9H&keywords=forgotten+god+by+francis+chan&qid=1646622415&sprefix=forgotten+%2Caps%2C150&sr=8-1

Holy Spirit: Filled, Empowered, and Led, David Young: https://www.amazon.com/Holy-Spirit-Filled-Empowered-Theology/dp/1949921549/ref=sr_1_1?crid=22Y4UW3ARAHH9&keywords=david+young+holy+spirit&qid=1646622444&sprefix=David+young+holy+%2Caps%2C73&sr=8-1

This week, Paul and Ben continue the discussion about the indwelling presence and work of the Holy Spirit, by contemplating the Holy Spirit as a catalyst for Holiness in the lives of those who follow Jesus. We all fight a battle between the flesh and its desire for control over our lives, and the spiritual desire to surrender control to the work of God in us.

Romans 8 reminds us that this is not a battle we should or can fight alone. It is by the power of the Spirit, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, that we are daily conformed to the image of Jesus. We enjoy your questions and comments!

Email us @ [email protected]

This Weeks Resources: A Spirit For the Rest of Us,

Tim Woodroof: https://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Rest-Us-Tim-Woodroof/dp/0891126279/ref=sr_1_1?crid=US23OWNY3QAU&keywords=a+spirit+for+the+rest+of+us&qid=1646622249&sprefix=A+spirit+for+the+%2Caps%2C89&sr=8-1

Forgotten God, Francis Chan: https://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-God-Reversing-Tragic-Neglect/dp/B07RBR38DL/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2LQBBCK2HOB9H&keywords=forgotten+god+by+francis+chan&qid=1646622415&sprefix=forgotten+%2Caps%2C150&sr=8-1

Holy Spirit: Filled, Empowered, and Led, David Young: https://www.amazon.com/Holy-Spirit-Filled-Empowered-Theology/dp/1949921549/ref=sr_1_1?crid=22Y4UW3ARAHH9&keywords=david+young+holy+spirit&qid=1646622444&sprefix=David+young+holy+%2Caps%2C73&sr=8-1

Rob joins Paul and Ben for a conversation following part 4 of the series "Back on Track." In this episode, Rob, Paul and Ben discuss the power of teamwork as it relates to making disciples of Jesus.

In 1 Corinthians 3, the apostle Paul says that he planted the seeds of faith in the Corinthian church. Later someone named Apollos came along and watered those seeds. But nothing would have happened if God had not caused the seed to grow. In this we learn two things: 1, we are not able, no matter the eloquence of our words, or the cleverness of our systems to create disciples of Jesus. Only God can truly change a heart from one that seeks after the desires of this world, to one that seeks, first, the Kingdom. 2, we all have a part to play. God invites us to be faithful to the task He places before us. In this we join God in His work and become "co-workers in God's service" (1 Corinthians 3:9).

We enjoy your questions and comments! Email us @ [email protected]

In this week's episode Paul and Ben discuss the struggle many of us who have been raised in intellectual church traditions share as we try to embrace the presence and work of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes our skepticism simply exists because we don't know what we don't know. Others may have had negative experiences.

But Jesus calls all of us to realize that apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15:5). However, through the work of the Holy Spirit, Christians will be able to do even greater things than Jesus did (John 14:12).

Paul ends with the challenge to desire God's presence, whatever that means.

We enjoy your questions and comments! Email us @ [email protected]

This Weeks Resources: A Spirit For the Rest of Us, Tim Woodroof: https://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Rest-Us-Tim-Woodroof/dp/0891126279/ref=sr_1_1?crid=US23OWNY3QAU&keywords=a+spirit+for+the+rest+of+us&qid=1646622249&sprefix=A+spirit+for+the+%2Caps%2C89&sr=8-1

Forgotten God, Francis Chan: https://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-God-Reversing-Tragic-Neglect/dp/B07RBR38DL/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2LQBBCK2HOB9H&keywords=forgotten+god+by+francis+chan&qid=1646622415&sprefix=forgotten+%2Caps%2C150&sr=8-1

Holy Spirit: Filled, Empowered, and Led, David Young: https://www.amazon.com/Holy-Spirit-Filled-Empowered-Theology/dp/1949921549/ref=sr_1_1?crid=22Y4UW3ARAHH9&keywords=david+young+holy+spirit&qid=1646622444&sprefix=David+young+holy+%2Caps%2C73&sr=8-1

This Week, Paul begins a new series called, With You Always: The Indwelling Presence and Work of the Holy Spirit. In the first episode of this series, Paul and Ben discuss some of the barriers, especially those related to western culture, but also those tied to church culture, that make it difficult for many of us to see and acknowledge the spiritual world around us.

Paul concludes with a challenge to put aside some of the predispositions that would bias us against seeing the spiritual influences around us. Until we do so, acknowledging the work of the Holy Spirit will be a challenge.

We enjoy your questions and comments! Email us @ [email protected]

This Weeks Resources: 5 Reasons to Begin a Disciple Making Movement in the Attractional Church: https://discipleship.org/blog/5-reasons-to-begin-a-disciple-making-movement-in-the-attractional-church/?mc_cid=a92cc16a7e&mc_eid=5fe176da4c

A Spirit For the Rest of Us, Tim Woodroof: https://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Rest-Us-Tim-Woodroof/dp/0891126279/ref=sr_1_1?crid=US23OWNY3QAU&keywords=a+spirit+for+the+rest+of+us&qid=1646622249&sprefix=A+spirit+for+the+%2Caps%2C89&sr=8-1

Forgotten God, Francis Chan: https://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-God-Reversing-Tragic-Neglect/dp/B07RBR38DL/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2LQBBCK2HOB9H&keywords=forgotten+god+by+francis+chan&qid=1646622415&sprefix=forgotten+%2Caps%2C150&sr=8-1

Holy Spirit: Filled, Empowered, and Led, David Young: https://www.amazon.com/Holy-Spirit-Filled-Empowered-Theology/dp/1949921549/ref=sr_1_1?crid=22Y4UW3ARAHH9&keywords=david+young+holy+spirit&qid=1646622444&sprefix=David+young+holy+%2Caps%2C73&sr=8-1

Rob joins Paul and Ben for a conversation following part 3 of the series "Back on Track." In this episode, Rob helps us think through what it means to love and be willing to relationally disciple those who find themselves on the margins of society.

We are all tempted to surround ourselves with those who look like us, think like us, act like us, and so on. This week, we allow the words of the apostle Paul, the words of Jesus, and the words of James to challenge us about the practice of keeping marginalized people at arms length. The community of God is called to extend the invitation to know and become like Jesus to all people. This was the way of Jesus, and it must be our practice as well. Even here, Practice Makes Faithful.

Email us @ [email protected]

Rob joins Paul and Ben for a conversation following part 2 of the series "Back on Track." This week Rob reminds us about the importance of leaning on the Holy Spirit for the power we need as we seek to make disciples.

There is a temptation to trust in cleverness, eloquence, and the power of persuasion when trying to lead people to know Jesus, but in doing so we forget that the power we need belongs to God alone. The apostle Paul reminds us (1 Corinthians 1:5, NIV) that we lean on God's power when communicating the mystery of God, "so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power."

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This week, Paul and Ben invite Grace Chapel's Discipleship Minister, Rob Shaver, to join them on the Podcast. For the month of February, Rob will be preaching through a series called Back On Track. In this conversation following part one of the series, Rob talks about the struggle we often face in our own discipleship process.

Many times we have specific sins holding us back, and keeping us from becoming the disciples and disciple makers Jesus wants us to be. And while God wants us to be freed from sin, it doesn't stop there. God desires us to to live fully into what it means to follow and become like Jesus. Rob helps us think through a process of moving from "off track," to "neutral," to "on track."

Email us @ [email protected]

This week Paul and Ben conclude the series, "A Better Story." As they do, they share some observations about the state of disciple-making in America. At times we may be tempted to look at the world around us and struggle to feel hopeful about the future of the Western Church. In this episode Paul shares two reasons to be hopeful about the future. Ben concludes with a challenge to consider joining the adventure of Jesus' life mission.

This week's resources:

First Barna Study: https://www.barna.com/research/millennials-oppose-evangelism/

Second Barna Study:

https://www.barna.com/research/of-the-four-exile-groups-only-10-are-resilient-disciples/

John Mark Comer, "Preaching the Gospel," series (thoughts about lostness @ 13:50)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMRd84DoTqQ

Ben and Paul continue the conversation about the current state of the culture around us, but go a step further this week asking, "how should the Church respond to dominant narrative?". How can we reach people who are truly post-Christian and embrace a post-modern worldview? Paul also breaks down a few of post-modernisms unfulfilled promises. We hope this week's content is helpful to you!

This week's resources:

In this article Paul writes about the temptation to narrow the gap between church and culture. Jesus calls us, instead, to bridge the gap. https://renew.org/bridge-the-gap/