Rediscovering Faith

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What if your “yes” to God isn’t the finish line—but the starting point?

In this episode of Saved Into Love, Pastor Evan Ryder reframes one of the most familiar moments in the Christian life: saying yes to Jesus. Instead of seeing salvation as a one-time decision or spiritual transaction, this episode invites you to see it as the beginning of a living, growing relationship with God.

Drawing from 2 Corinthians 5:17, we discover that in Christ, something entirely new begins. Salvation isn’t just about what you’ve been saved from—it’s about what you’ve been brought into: the life and love of God.

This episode challenges the idea that faith is something you “complete” and instead presents it as a daily invitation to walk with God, trust Him, and respond to His love again and again.

Because your first yes…leads to a lifetime of yes.

You’re not closing a deal with God.
 You’re stepping into relationship.

Love Challenge:
Have you been treating your yes to God as an ending or a beginning? Ask God: “Where are You inviting me to say yes right now?” And take one step of response today.

This is more than a moment.
 It’s the beginning of everything.

Send us your questions and reflections!

Are you saved by grace…or by choosing to believe?

In this episode of Saved Into Love, Pastor Evan Ryder tackles one of the most important tensions in the Christian faith: If salvation is a gift from God, why does Scripture still call us to respond?

Looking at Ephesians 2 and John 3:16, this episode offers a powerful way forward: you must choose salvation for yourself—but you cannot choose it by yourself.

God always moves first.

Before you ever reached for God, He was already reaching for you. Before you ever felt the desire to seek Him, His grace was already at work in your heart.

This is what theologians call prevenient grace—the grace that goes before. It’s God awakening your heart, opening your eyes, and restoring your ability to respond to His love.

But grace doesn’t force you.

Because love requires choice.

God pursues, invites, and opens the way through Jesus—but He waits for your response. Not because you earn salvation, but because real love must be freely received.

Think of it like a proposal: you don’t earn it—but your “yes” still matters.

God has already said yes to you. Now He invites your response.

Love Challenge:
Ask God: “How are You pursuing me right now?”
Where have you sensed His presence, His invitation, or His stirring in your life? And what is your faithful response?

You’re not chasing God.
He’s already pursuing you.

Send us your questions and reflections!

What if salvation isn’t just something you receive—but somewhere you’re invited?

In this episode of Saved Into Love, Pastor Evan Ryder builds on a powerful foundation: God is love, and God is Trinity. Now, we explore what that means for you.

Through Jesus’ prayer in John 17, we’re given a stunning glimpse into the heart of salvation. On the night before His crucifixion, Jesus prays not just for His disciples—but for you. And His request is astonishing:

“That they also may be in us.”

Not just near God. Not just forgiven by God.
 But brought into the very relationship that exists between the Father and the Son.

This changes everything.

Salvation isn’t just rescue from sin or a future in heaven—though it includes both. It’s something deeper. It’s inclusion. It’s being invited into the eternal love that has always existed within God.

You weren’t created to observe God from a distance. You were created to participate in His life.

That means:

•  Prayer becomes participation in divine relationship 
•  Worship becomes joining eternal love 
•  Obedience becomes alignment with God’s life 

Through Jesus, you’re not on the outside looking in—you’re being brought inside.

You are invited into the life of God.

Love Challenge:
How does this reshape your understanding of salvation? How might your prayer and worship change if you truly believed you were participating in the life and love of God?

This isn’t just theology.
 This is the invitation you were made for.

Send us your questions and reflections!

We say it often: God is love.
But how can that actually be true?

In this episode of Saved Into Love, Pastor Evan Ryder explores one of the greatest mysteries of the Christian faith—the Trinity—and why it’s essential to understanding God’s nature.

If God were a single, solitary being, who would He have loved before creation? Would love require us in order to exist?

This episode wrestles with that question and reveals a profound truth: God has never been alone. As Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, God has always existed in perfect relationship—loving, giving, and receiving within Himself.

This isn’t just theology—it’s the foundation of everything.

Because if God is relational at His core, then love isn’t something He learned or chose later. It’s who He has always been.

And that changes how we see ourselves.

You weren’t created out of necessity. You were created out of overflow—invited into the eternal love that has always existed within God.

You were made for relationship. You were made for love.

Love Challenge:
Spend time in Matthew 3:16–17 and John 14:31. What do these passages reveal about the love within God? How might He be inviting you into that love today?

The Trinity may be a mystery—but it’s a mystery that reveals the very heart of God.

Send us your questions and reflections!

What if the most important thing you believe about God…is incomplete?

In this opening episode of Saved Into Love, Pastor Evan explores the life-changing truth found in 1 John 4: God is love. Not just loving—but love itself.

This isn’t a small theological nuance—it’s the foundation everything else is built on. If God is merely loving, then love can feel conditional or distant. But if God is love, then His love is constant, unchanging, and at the very center of who He is.

Through a powerful illustration of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, this episode reveals how our understanding of God shapes the entire structure of our faith. You’ll also be challenged to reconsider common images of God—like king or judge—and ask a deeper question: what kind of God do you believe He is?

This episode launches a 10-part journey into what it truly means to be saved into love—not performance, not pressure, but relationship.

You were made for this: to live in the love of God.

Love Challenge:
What is your primary way of thinking about God—and why?

If God is love…that changes everything.

Send us your questions and reflections!

Conclude the entire Untangle series with this hope-filled finale about God's promise to make all things new. Based on Revelation 21:1-5, we learn that ultimately, resurrection—both Christ's and ours—means that we will dwell with God forever, and this is amazing. After seven weeks of untangling from control, expectations, comparison, enmity, self-preservation, approval, and death, today we discover the ultimate hope that makes freedom from all these tangles possible.

A New Heaven and a New Earth: John sees "a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away." This isn't heaven as we typically think of it—a spiritual place where disembodied souls float around. This is a new creation—physical, real, tangible. 

The Holy City Coming Down: John sees "the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." Heaven comes to earth. Not us going up to heaven—heaven coming down. God's dwelling place and our dwelling place merge.

The Dwelling Place of God Is With Man: The declaration: "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God." This is the culmination of the entire biblical story. 

Death Shall Be No More: The promise: "Death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." 

Why This Matters Now: When you know where you're headed, you can endure the journey. When you know the end of the story, you can handle the hard chapters. 

Perfect for anyone discouraged by brokenness, hopeless about the future, or needing to be reminded that God is making all things new and we will dwell with Him forever.

Scripture Focus: Revelation 21:1-5 Series: Untangle Week Theme: Untangle from the Power of Death

Discover the ultimate hope: God is making all things new, and you will dwell with Him forever in a world where death, pain, and tears are no more.

Send us your questions and reflections!

Untangle - Week 7, Episode 4: "Raised With Christ"

Discover how to live the resurrected life you've been given in this practical episode about where you set your mind. Based on Colossians 3:1-4, we learn that living a resurrected life is all about where our eyes are looking—is our mind set on things above or on things below? Continuing to untangle from the power of death, today we address the daily practice of setting our minds on eternal realities instead of temporary earthly concerns.

If You Have Been Raised With Christ: Paul starts with a condition: "If then you have been raised with Christ." This isn't questioning whether you've been raised—it's saying: since you have been raised with Christ, here's what that means for how you live. You died with Christ. You were raised with Christ. That's your reality, your spiritual position, your identity. And because that's true, you need to live like it.

Seek the Things That Are Above: Paul's first command: "Seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God." Seek—this is active, intentional, pursuing. You're not passively waiting for heavenly things to come to you; you're actively seeking them, pursuing them, making them your focus. What are the things above? The things where Christ is—the things of His kingdom, His priorities, His values, His purposes. Eternal things, not temporary things. Things that last, things that matter beyond this life.

Set Your Minds on Things Above: Paul gives a second command: "Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth." Set your minds—this is about where your mental energy goes, what you think about, what occupies your thoughts. Not occasionally, not just during prayer or Bible reading. Set your minds. Make it your default, your orientation, your habitual focus. Things above, not things on earth. Not that earthly things don't matter at all, but they're not your primary focus, not what dominates your thinking.

Your Life Is Hidden With Christ in God: Paul says something beautiful: "Your life is hidden with Christ in God." Your real life—your true identity, your eternal existence—isn't found in earthly success or failure. It's hidden with Christ in God. This means your life is secure, protected, safe, not dependent on earthly circumstances. When your life is hidden with Christ in God, earthly things lose their power to define you, to control you, to consume you.

Your Untangle Moment: Make a list of things that are valuable to God. Take note of how you know that this particular thing is valuable to God. Then evaluate your life against those values.

Scripture Focus: Colossians 3:1-4 Series: Untangle Week Theme: Untangle from the Power of Death

Learn to live the resurrected life by setting your mind on things above instead of being consumed by temporary earthly concerns.

Send us your questions and reflections!

Discover the life-changing hope of physical resurrection in this powerful episode about death's defeat. Based on 1 Corinthians 15:20-22 and 15:58, we learn that the physical resurrection of Jesus means that we too will receive a physical resurrection when Christ returns. This hope of resurrection means that we should live free from the fear of death, though it is a mystery to us, and invigorates us with motivation to do good works because they are not done in vain.

Christ Has Been Raised: Paul starts with the fact: "But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead." Not "His spirit lives on," not "He's alive in our hearts." He has been raised from the dead—physically, bodily, actually.  

The Firstfruits: Paul calls Christ "the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." Firstfruits is an agricultural term—the first portion of the harvest, the guarantee that more is coming. When you see the firstfruits, you know the full harvest is on its way. The firstfruits prove the harvest is real and coming. Christ is the firstfruits. His resurrection is the guarantee that our resurrection is coming. He's not the only one who will rise—He's the first. We're next.

By a Man Came Death, By a Man Came Resurrection: Paul explains the symmetry: "For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead." Adam brought death into the world. Christ brought resurrection. Death entered through one man's sin. Resurrection entered through one man's obedience. This is the reversal: what Adam broke, Christ fixed. What death destroyed, resurrection restores.

In Adam All Die, In Christ All Are Made Alive: Paul states the reality: "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive." In Adam, all die—that's universal. Death comes to everyone. No exceptions. But in Christ, all shall be made alive. Not just spiritually, not just in heaven. Made alive. Resurrected. Physically. This is the promise: if you're in Christ, resurrection is coming. Not maybe, not hopefully. Shall be made alive. Guaranteed.

We Forget the Physical Resurrection: We tend to forget resurrection is physical, not just spiritual. We believe our spirits go to be with Jesus when we die—and that's true. Paul says "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." But that's not the end of the story. That's the intermediate state. The final state is resurrection—body and spirit reunited, glorified, made new. Jesus didn't stay a disembodied spirit. He rose physically. And neither will we.

The Hope of Resurrection: This hope of resurrection does two things for us. First, it frees us from the fear of death. Death is real, death is painful, but death is not the end. It's been defeated. Resurrection is coming. You don't have to fear death having the final word—it doesn't. Christ does. And His word is resurrection. Second, it gives us motivation for good works. After explaining resurrection, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:58: "Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." Because resurrection is coming, your work matters. Your service isn't pointless. Your obedience isn't wasted. Nothing you do in the Lord is in vain.

Perfect for anyone afraid of death, feeling like their work is pointless, or learning that physical resurrection is guaranteed and changes everything about how you live now.

Scripture Focus: 1 Corinthians 15:20-22, 58 Series: Untangle Week Theme: Untangle from the Power of Death

Discover how the guarantee of physical resurrection frees you from fear and fills you with purpose because your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Send us your questions and reflections!

Discover the freedom you already have in Christ in this liberating episode about being set free from sin's dominion. Based on Romans 6:7-11, we learn that by faith in Christ, there is something fantastically good that has happened to us—we have been set free from sin and are no longer bound to sin in any form or fashion. Continuing to untangle from the power of death, today we address the power of sin and the freedom that's already ours in Christ.

Died With Christ, Set Free From Sin: Paul starts: "For one who has died has been set free from sin." When you die, sin no longer has power over you. A dead person can't be enslaved, can't be controlled, can't be dominated. When you were united with Christ in His death, you died—not physically, but spiritually. The old you, enslaved to sin, died. And because you died with Christ, you've been set free from sin. Past tense. Done. Finished.

Dead to Sin, Alive to God: Paul says "now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him." We died with Christ. We also live with Christ. Death and resurrection. Both realities. You're dead to sin and you're alive to God. Not one or the other—both. This is the gospel reality: the old you, dominated by sin, is dead. The new you, alive in Christ, is living.

Death No Longer Has Dominion: Paul continues: "Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him." Death had dominion over Christ for three days. But when He rose, death lost its power. It can never dominate Him again. The same is true for sin in your life. Sin had dominion over you before Christ. But when you died with Christ and rose with Him, sin lost its dominating power. It can't enslave you again. This doesn't mean you'll never sin—it means sin no longer has dominion, ruling power, enslaving power over you.

Once For All: Paul says "the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God." Once for all—not repeatedly, not progressively. Once for all. Christ died to sin once, and it was enough. Completely. Finally. Forever. And because you're united with Christ, His "once for all" death applies to you. You died to sin once for all. You don't have to keep dying. You don't have to keep trying to break free. You're already free.

Consider Yourselves: Paul gives a command: "So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus." Consider—this is about how you think about yourself, how you see yourself, how you understand your identity. You must consider yourself dead to sin. Not "trying to die to sin," not "hoping to die to sin." Dead to sin. Past tense. And alive to God. Not "working toward life," not "someday alive." Alive. Now. Present tense. This is the shift: from seeing yourself as enslaved to seeing yourself as free, from living like you're bound to living like you're alive.

Your Untangle Moment: Identify one area where you're living like you're still enslaved to sin, then practice untangling by considering yourself dead to sin and alive to God in that specific area.

Perfect for anyone struggling with repeated sin, feeling enslaved to patterns they can't break, or learning that freedom in Christ is already yours—not something to strive for.

Scripture Focus: Romans 6:7-11 Series: Untangle Week Theme: Untangle from the Power of Death

Discover that you have been set free from sin's dominion and learn to live from freedom instead of striving for it.

Send us your questions and reflections!

Begin the final week of Untangle with this hope-filled episode about God's mercy in the midst of suffering. Based on Lamentations 3:31-33, we learn that God's mercy is deeper than suffering. Starting this week's journey of untangling from the power of death, today we discover that while suffering is real and painful, it's not the deepest reality—God's steadfast love and abundant compassion are.

What You'll Learn:

• Why God's mercy is deeper than suffering
• The context of Lamentations and Jeremiah's devastating loss
• What it means that "the Lord will not cast off forever"
• Why God's compassion is "according to the abundance of his steadfast love"
• A practical untangle moment to anchor yourself in God's mercy when suffering feels final

The Context of Lamentations: Lamentations is a funeral dirge, a song of mourning over the destruction of Jerusalem. The city is in ruins. The temple is destroyed. The people are scattered, exiled, suffering. This isn't theoretical suffering—this is catastrophic loss. 

The Lord Will Not Cast Off Forever: Jeremiah starts: "The Lord will not cast off forever." Notice he doesn't deny that God has cast them off, doesn't minimize their suffering, doesn't pretend everything is fine. He acknowledges the reality—they've been cast off, they're experiencing God's judgment, the suffering is real. But—and this is critical—it's not forever. 

He Will Have Compassion: Jeremiah says "though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love." God's compassion isn't small, reluctant, or scarce. It's abundant—according to the abundance of His steadfast love.

He Does Not Afflict From His Heart: Jeremiah concludes "for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of man." This is profound. God doesn't take pleasure in your suffering. He doesn't afflict you because He enjoys it.

Your Untangle Moment: Identify one area where suffering or death feels like it has the final word, then practice untangling by anchoring yourself in the truth that God's mercy is deeper.

Perfect for anyone in the midst of deep suffering, feeling like grief will never end, or learning that God's mercy is the deeper reality beneath all pain.

Scripture Focus: Lamentations 3:31-33 Series: Untangle Week Theme: Untangle from the Power of Death

Discover that while suffering is real and painful, God's mercy is deeper and His steadfast love outlasts every form of death and grief.