Rob Conti | College Retreat

In this episode, Rob will dive into Paul’s message that the “word of the cross” may look foolish to the world, but it’s the very power of God. From ancient demands for signs and wisdom to modern skepticism, He will explore why the Gospel confronts human pride and reveals true strength through Christ crucified.

Discover the freedom of being forgiven, chosen, and covered in Christ’s righteousness and the courage to share Jesus plainly, trusting the Spirit to move.

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Zach Mabry | College Retreat

In this episode, Zach will expose the quiet war for your attention, identity, and purpose, and offer a biblical path back to focus, depth, and joy.

He will name the subtle cultural forces pulling you off course and lay out practical, grounded rhythms to fight back, anchoring your life in Scripture, committing to a local church, practicing real accountability, and choosing covenant faithfulness over distraction. If you’re tired of drifting, this is a call to be formed on purpose and to live sturdy and unashamed of the Gospel.

College Retreat

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Jake Schwarting | College Retreat

This episode unpacks a clearer way to discern God’s will through daily obedience, prayer, gratitude, and wise counsel. Drawing from 1 Thessalonians, we’re reminded that God’s will isn’t hidden; it’s your sanctification and steady faithfulness. With six practical filters for big decisions, you’ll learn to move forward with clarity and trust, not fear.

College Retreat

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Hank Parker Jr. | College Retreat

In this episode, Hank will explore why Scripture calls the local church essential to maturity, perseverance, and joy. He will explain the biblical vision for community and offer practical help for choosing a church, overcoming past discomfort, and trading consumer habits for faithful presence.

Ephesians 4

Acts 2

College Retreat

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Harry McSween | College Retreat

In this episode, Harry will unpack why Scripture must shape our desires, habits, and lives. Walking through Ephesians 4, we explore sanctification as God’s ongoing work and why lasting faith is built through simple, daily practices. 

You’ll hear practical frameworks for Bible reading, memorization, and community, along with a hopeful vision for steady, lifelong faithfulness rooted in God’s Word.

College Retreat

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Spencer Davis | College Retreat

In this episode, Spencer will look at Mark 14, where Jesus stands firm before a corrupt council, declaring His Lordship and embracing the cost, while Peter crumbles by a courtyard fire out of fear of being seen. 

This episode contrasts courage and collapse, exposes the quiet ways we deny Christ today, and points to the hope found in Christ.

College Retreat

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Brody Holloway | College Retreat

This episode, Brody dives into the heart of the Gospel through the eyes of the apostle Paul. This message unpacks how Jesus completely reshaped Paul’s life and theology and why that still matters for us today. Drawing from Scripture, we see four powerful truths: Jesus is our Mediator, our Propitiation, our Lord, and our ultimate and supreme example.

This episode challenges listeners to move beyond surface-level belief and embrace a life transformed by the Gospel.

 College Retreat

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"In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” Luke 2:1-14

And the Hits Keep on Coming

First off, Merry Christmas! We’re here, it’s Christmas day. We have been looking forward to this day all year and counting down to it all month. Today is when we get to see everything come together perfectly.

Remember all those prophecies about whose family the Messiah would come through? Well, it’s happening. If you have any doubts you can see all their names in Matthew 1 where he traces the genealogy all the way down from Abraham to Jesus (or can listen to Andrew Peterson’s song “Matthew’s Begats”).

Today we get to see all the promises coming together in one glorious birth. We get to see God keeping his word to his people: to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Jesse, Ruth, David, Joseph, Mary, and others. But how does God do it?

You and I both remember that Gabriel appeared to Joseph and Mary telling them about Jesus, right? And we know that way before that he promised that the baby would be born in Bethlehem. But did you ever stop and realize that Joseph didn’t even live in Bethlehem? Sure, it’s where his great, great, great grandfather David lived but that was 1,000 years earlier. It looks like Joseph actually lived about 100 miles from Bethlehem. So how and why did he get to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus?

You Just Can’t Make This Stuff Up

On the one side, you have a pregnant virgin with an elderly cousin who is also pregnant, both of which have been announced by angels from heaven. On the other hand, you have a pagan ruler who wants to get as much tax money as he can from those he is ruling over. What do they have in common? God is God over them all. Somehow God put it on the heart of this Caesar that he needed to tax the people of Israel and the best way to do this is to get everyone back to their ancestral hometowns so that they can be properly registered. And it just so happens that this is the exact time that Mary

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"In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.

  Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” Luke 1:5-17

A Little Deja Vu

We are one day out from Christmas so it only makes sense that we would talk about John the Baptist today. After all, he is the one who prepares us for the coming of Jesus. When we take a minute to step back from this story and look at it in light of the rest of the Bible we are struck with some really interesting similarities regarding the way God works in history. 

Have you noticed that God seems to prefer working in similar ways at different times? Take this situation for example. You have an older couple that God has decided to work through who are beyond their childbearing years. Then, all of a sudden, you have a messenger from heaven tell them that they are going to have a baby boy. Sound familiar? Yeah, this is very similar to what happened with Abraham and Sarah. The difference in this situation is that it’s the dad who didn’t believe. 

The Mute Priest

Here we have Zechariah. He is taking his turn offering up prayers and incense in the temple. Then out of nowhere the angel Gabriel appears to him and Zechariah freaks out. Of course he did! I couldn’t imagine the shock that he experienced. I’m picturing him closing his eyes in prayer and then opening them to move on to the next candle he’s supposed to light and BOOM! there’s an angelic warrior right there with him in this sacred space. No wonder Gabriel has to tell him to not be afraid. 

Now I understand that he’s old and his wife Elizabeth is old but you would think that sending Gabriel to tell someone something would be enough to convince them of just about anything. I mean, we’re talking about an angel that just came from standing before God. But he didn’t believe… and Gabriel knew it. So, since he didn’t believe it, Gabriel tells him that he won’t be able to speak until his wife has her baby boy. 

It’s All Starting to Click

I’m assuming that as soon as Zechariah gets stuck with silence it all started coming together.

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"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
  There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
  The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known."
John 1:1-18

Intentional Echo

If you were going to summarize the book of John in one phrase it would be “Jesus is God”. It seems like everywhere you turn in the book of John either Jesus is saying that he is God, one of the supporting characters is saying it, or, like we have right here, John himself is making it clear.

Even those who aren’t very familiar with the Bible can realize that John is intentionally using the same language as the creation account in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created”. But why would he do this? He is letting us know that the God who created the whole world by the word of his mouth at the beginning is none other than Jesus Christ.

The Grand Arrival

Remember that we call this season that we are celebrating, “advent”. We explained at the beginning that it comes from a word that means arrival. So what we are doing this month is celebrating the arrival of Jesus into the world. Today we need to pause and think about the fact that when someone “arrives” somewhere it means that they were somewhere else first. Does that make sense? What I mean by this is very important. Jesus did not come into existence at his birth. In fact, Jesus never came into existence at all. Jesus has always existed. This month we are celebrating the time when the eternal God arrived in our world as a baby boy.

This Has Always Been the Plan

When Jesus created mankind in the garden we had fellowship with him. This is what God intended. God made mankind in his own image for a relationship with him. Unfortunately, you know what happened, man sinned and our relationship with God was damaged. But this isn’t the end of the story. God already had a plan to restore our relationship with him. And the rest of the Bible tells us the

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