We call Jesus King. We sing about His Kingdom. We pray, “Your Kingdom come.” But what does it actually mean to live as though Jesus really is King?

In this episode, Heather explores the Kingdom of God as His rule and reign, and what that means for Christian discipleship, surrender, trust, fear, power, loving our enemies, and the way we represent Jesus in the world.

From Buckingham Palace to the Sermon on the Mount, from wounds that can distort our view of God to Corrie ten Boom’s extraordinary story of forgiveness, this episode asks a deeply personal question:

What does my life tell people about my King?

Show Notes

In this episode, Heather explores:

• What Jesus meant by the Kingdom of God
• The “already and not yet” reality of the Kingdom
• Self-rule, surrender, and whether we truly trust the King
• How pain and past wounds can shape the way we see God
• The Sermon on the Mount as a picture of Kingdom culture
• Loving our enemies when love is costly
• Corrie ten Boom’s encounter with a former Ravensbrück guard
• What it means to be an ambassador of Christ
• Why fear, domination, and winning at any cost cannot define Christian witness

Key Question

If someone formed part of their understanding of Jesus by watching my life, what would they think my King is like?

Scriptures Referenced

Matthew 5:3–10, 44
 Matthew 6:10, 33
 John 17:14–18
 John 20:24–29
 Philippians 3:20
 Colossians 1:13
 2 Corinthians 5:17–20
 Hebrews 12:26–29

Connect with Heather

Instagram: @heather.murdock

Facebook: Heather Murdock

TikTok: @heathermurdock1

www.riseandrejoiceministries.com

What happens when Christians begin to approach faith like consumers?

In this episode, Heather examines the difference between being a consumer of Christianity and becoming a disciple of Jesus. We can attend church, listen to sermons, know Scripture, use our gifts, and still avoid the deeper work of transformation.

This episode explores how our habits, attention, expectations, and definitions of success shape who we are becoming, and why Jesus cares about more than what we know or how involved we appear to be. He is after lives that increasingly bear His fruit.

This is not a message of condemnation. It’s an invitation to honestly ask:

What is the Christianity we are practicing actually producing in us?

Show Notes

In this episode, Heather explores:

• The difference between consumers and disciples
• Why church attendance and and biblical knowledge are not the same as discipleship
• How our habits and repeated rhythms shape our hearts
• Why the battle for our attention matters spiritually
• Why suffering often reveals the depth of what has actually taken root in us
• How Jesus continues to lovingly transform His Church
• What it means for our lives to increasingly reflect the character of Christ

Key Takeaways

Every repeated rhythm shapes us.

What repeatedly receives our attention will eventually shape our affection.

Gifting is not character. Visibility is not maturity. Attendance is not discipleship.

Information is not transformation.

Consumerism asks, “What am I getting?” Discipleship asks, “Who am I becoming?”

Reflection Question

What is being formed in me, and does my life increasingly bear the fruit of having been with Jesus?

Scriptures Referenced

1 Corinthians 5:12–13

Matthew 7:16–20

Mark 4:1–20

Connect with Heather

Instagram: @heather.murdock

Facebook: Heather Murdock

TikTok: @heathermurdock1

www.riseandrejoiceministries.com

Jesus didn’t call us to build impressive churches. He called us to make disciples.

In this episode, Heather asks the Church to examine the difference between what looks successful to us and what Jesus actually values. We can build ministries, create powerful experiences, fill rooms, and stay busy, while still missing the deeper work of becoming people who reflect Jesus. 

Through Scripture, including the church of Laodicea in Revelation 3, this episode explores church culture, discipleship, spiritual maturity, obedience, and the danger of confusing activity with transformation.

This is not a call to criticize or abandon the Church.

It’s a call to return to Jesus as the center.

Show Notes

In this episode, Heather explores:

• What Jesus measures versus the ways we often measure church success
• Why church attendance and activity are not the same as following Jesus
• The danger of building impressive ministries without developing mature disciples
• What the church of Laodicea reveals about spiritual self-sufficiency
• Why influence, visibility, and activity can never replace obedience and transformation
• What it means to return to Jesus as the center of the Church
• How wholehearted discipleship changes the way we live beyond the church walls
• Why being the Church matters more than simply attending church

Key Question

Are we becoming the kind of people Jesus is calling us to be?

Scriptures Referenced

1 Samuel 16:6

Revelation 3:17, 20

Selected passages from the Gospels

Connect with Heather
Instagram: @heather.murdock
Facebook: Heather Murdock
TikTok: @heathermurdock1

Share this episode:

If this message encouraged or challenged you, share it with someone who loves the Church and wants to see the body of Christ become more like Jesus.

www.riseandrejoiceministries.com

Why do we keep repeating unhealthy patterns, even when we genuinely want to change?

Why do we react in ways we later regret? Why do fear, shame, comparison, people-pleasing, striving, or control keep showing up in our lives?

In this episode, Heather explores the connection between our beliefs, thoughts, emotions, desires, behaviors, and the results they produce. Drawing from Romans 7, Romans 12, Proverbs 4, and practical insight into renewing the mind, she explains why lasting Christian transformation rarely begins by simply trying harder to behave differently. Jesus goes deeper—into the heart.

In This Episode

• Why behavior is often the fruit, not the root
• How false beliefs can quietly drive unhealthy patterns
• The connection between our thoughts, emotions, desires, and actions
• Why self-awareness alone is not enough to produce lasting change
• What renewing the mind looks like in everyday life
• How Jesus transforms us from the inside out

Whether you’re wrestling with anxiety, comparison, people-pleasing, striving, burnout, control, or simply feeling stuck in patterns you can’t seem to change, this episode will help you begin identifying what may be happening beneath the behavior, and point you toward the freedom and transformation Jesus offers.

Connect with Heather
Instagram: @heather.murdock
Facebook: Heather Murdock
TikTok: @heathermurdock1

www.riseandrejoiceministries.com

Why does God place so much emphasis on the heart? It’s referenced more than 1,000 times in Scripture  

In this episode, Heather explores a foundational truth of Christian discipleship: God wants more than outward obedience. He wants our hearts.

Drawing from Proverbs 4:23, Heather unpacks what the Bible means when it speaks of the heart and why lasting transformation happens from the inside out. Our thoughts, feelings, desires, motives, beliefs, and choices all shape the course of our lives, and Jesus is interested in more than behavior modification. He is after wholehearted discipleship.

If you’ve ever wondered why change can feel difficult, why knowing the truth isn’t always enough, or what it really means to follow Jesus with your whole heart, this episode is for you.

In This Episode

• Why Scripture places such a high value on the heart
• Why obedience alone is not the whole picture of discipleship
• The difference between behavior modification and real transformation
• What the biblical heart includes
• How beliefs, perceptions, desires, and choices shape our lives
• What wholehearted discipleship looks like in everyday life
• Why God’s work in us begins from the inside out

Reflection Question

Does Jesus have my obedience, or does He have my heart?

Scripture Referenced

Proverbs 4:23

www.riseandrejoiceministries.com

In this deeply personal episode, Heather shares the story of how Jesus transformed her life.

Growing up in poverty, abuse, substance abuse, and dysfunction, she spent years searching for love, validation, and identity in all the wrong places. That search took her from a small town to Hollywood, New York City, heartbreak, addiction, and devastating loss. When her younger sister was killed in a tragic accident, grief and unanswered questions nearly ruined her.

But God was pursuing her long before she knew Him.

In this episode, Heather shares how a series of unexpected events led her to encounter the love of Jesus, experience the power of forgiveness, and find healing in places she once believed could never be restored. She also shares how God delivered her from a 20-year battle with bulimia and began a lifelong journey of transformation.

This is more than a personal story. It’s a testimony to the faithfulness of God and the healing, restoring power of Jesus.

If you’ve ever wrestled with shame, grief, unforgiveness, identity, addiction, or the question of whether God can truly heal what’s broken, this episode is for you.

Jesus still heals.

Jesus still restores.

Jesus still transforms lives.

Arise. Shine. Emerge. 

Connect with Heather

Instagram: @heather.murdock

Facebook: Heather Murdock

TikTok: @heathermurdock1

www.riseandrejoiceministries.com

Episode 1 introduces the heart behind Rise and Rejoice and the message that will shape this podcast.

Heather shares the journey that led her to finally launch the show, why clarity matters in this season, and why following Jesus wholeheartedly matters in a noisy, distracted world.

This episode explores wholehearted discipleship, spiritual growth, emotional health, leadership, and the kind of inside-out transformation that changes the way we live, lead, love, and respond to God.

If you’re hungry to grow deeper in your faith, live with greater purpose, and become not just informed but transformed, this is the place to begin.

Connect with Heather

Instagram: @heather.murdock

Facebook: Heather Murdock

TikTok: @heathermurdock1

www.riseandrejoiceministries.com

Rise and Rejoice with Heather Murdock is a podcast about wholehearted discipleship, courageous leadership, and real transformation.

In this short trailer, Heather shares the heart behind the show: honest conversations, practical teaching, Scripture, and Spirit-led insight that explore what it means to live rooted in truth and fully formed in Christ. Not just informed, but transformed.

Whether through solo teaching or meaningful conversations, this podcast is for people who are hungry for depth, healing, growth, and wholehearted living in everyday life.

The first full episode arrives Thursday, May 21st. Follow or subscribe now, so it's waiting for you the moment it drops.

Rise and Rejoice is a production of Rise and Rejoice Ministries.

www.riseandrejoiceministries.com