Pursuing God with Dave and Gene

Not everyone understands generosity. When you sacrifice something you love for something you love more- some people may not understand or even criticize your gifts. Even Jesus’ own disciples didn’t understand Mary’s big sacrifice of expensive perfume for Jesus. However, sacrificing something you love today to impact the kingdom of God forever is a good investment. 

In this episode Gene unpacks the importance of generosity. Learn how the local church is given the great opportunity to save as many people as we can from the sinking ship of this world. 

Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside’s conviction that God’s grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God’s presence and activity in your life.

Sacrifice is not always easy. But could you imagine owning something valued at one year’s worth of your salary and sacrificing it for a friend? In this episode Gene unpacks the extravagant sacrifice a woman named Mary made for Jesus. 

Discover how Mary gave up something she loved for something she loved more. She did what she could to show Jesus great gratitude. Love that goes beyond challenges us to move beyond what’s comfortable when showing gratitude to our great king. 

Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside’s conviction that God’s grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God’s presence and activity in your life.

We’re called to live a life filled with love for others. In this episode Gene begins discussing love that goes above and beyond. Find out how love that goes beyond involves sacrifice as he introduces a big sacrifice made in the Bible by a woman named Mary.  

Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside’s conviction that God’s grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God’s presence and activity in your life.

It’s impossible to find purpose without handing over the keys of your life to God. It’s realizing, “I need Jesus Christ in my life not only to save me from my sin, but to live in God’s meaning and purpose for my life, indwelt with God’s Spirit.

Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside’s conviction that God’s grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God’s presence and activity in your life.

So where do you discover the meaning of your life? Solomon ends his journal in Ecclesiastes by saying, “If you really want to find purpose in your life it comes down to these three words -- ‘Remember your Creator.’”

Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside’s conviction that God’s grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God’s presence and activity in your life.

After investigating everything “under the sun”, King Solomon writes, “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” In today’s devotion Gene shares what King Solomon finally discovers --the only way to find purpose is to look to that which cannot be seen.

Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside’s conviction that God’s grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God’s presence and activity in your life.

There’s a big difference between finding a path in life and discovering God’s purpose FOR your life. Solomon was a king and the richest person the world has ever known. The Bible says he denied himself nothing, yet he discovered that true fulfillment wasn’t found in the things of this world.

Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside’s conviction that God’s grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God’s presence and activity in your life.

Have you ever wondered why you were born? Deep down you sense there's a reason for being alive, but you can’t find it -- you feel stuck. Maybe your life has a path, but you feel like it doesn’t have a purpose. This week, Gene focuses on what we can learn from King Solomon’s quest for purpose.

Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside’s conviction that God’s grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God’s presence and activity in your life.

Many of us think of church as a restaurant, where we come and sit down to be served – our job, then, is to consume and be fed. But in Acts, we read that early followers of Jesus followed a different model and unleashed compassion to the extent that there were no needy persons among them. “Spiritual growth happens much more quickly in the KITCHEN than at the TABLE.”

Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside’s conviction that God’s grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God’s presence and activity in your life.

Small groups are a place to love and be loved; to serve and be served; to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. We read from Acts 2 that the early church followed this model when they met together in small groups in homes and shared meals together. In today’s episode, Gene encourages us to the community that is available at Eastside.

Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside’s conviction that God’s grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God’s presence and activity in your life.