The Core Podcasts

What is God thinking right now? Answer—More than you know. While humans tend to think small, logical, natural thoughts, God’s mind soars to higher places, higher than the heavens are above the earth. There he thinks about illogical grace, supernatural power, and freely pardoning wicked people.

The famous phrase “I think, therefore I am” has a powerful application for God’s people. What we think about determines how we are in our day to day lives. Think about what is true, good, noble, beautiful, and biblical, and you will get one step closer to the peace and joy that Paul describes in Philippians 4.

Do you have questions about God? Or about faith? Or about different religions, different churches, and different ideas? We all do, but often we are scared to ask them. That is why The CORE’s Q&A Sunday started. In place of a regular message, we will take time to anonymously ask questions and find the passages with Jesus’ answers. We hope you can join us for Q&A Sunday!

Do you have questions about God? Or about faith? Or about different religions, different churches, and different ideas? We all do, but often we are scared to ask them. That is why The CORE’s Q&A Sunday started. In place of a regular message, we will take time to anonymously ask questions and find the passages with Jesus’ answers. We hope you can join us for Q&A Sunday!

Did you know that the name, Jesus, was a common everyday name in the New Testament? There were lots of baby boys given that name. Jesus however gave new meaning to that name. Because of that new meaning, we have new meaning in life. Your birth certificate states your legal name. Your name on it legally identifies who you are. The Gospel writer Matthew records how Jesus' name gives us a greater identity than any birth certificate. The benefits are greater than any legal piece of paper. You're invited to come hear the new legal name you have before God.

It doesn’t take a Bible scholar to see the amount of stress that preceded the birth of Jesus. Roman occupation. Raised taxes. A mandated journey. Terrible timing. A pregnant fiance and a steep climb to Bethlehem. No room in the inn. Can you imagine it?! But in the midst of that stress and chaos, Jesus was born. These details are a gripping reminder that God isn’t waiting until life is peaceful and perfect to bless us. Instead, he shows up in the middle of personal, political, and relational drama and offers us Jesus, the one sent to save.

In the 1st century, motherhood was everything. That meant that Elizabeth, old and infertile, had nothing. But God worked a miracle to take away her shame and weave her into the story of the coming Savior. In a similar way, God reaches out to us, in our sin and shame, and offers us the miracle of grace, a connection to the Savior who has already come.

In the 21st century, the Virgin Mary is a household name. But in the 1st century, Mary from Nazareth as a nobody, a humble and sometimes hungry girl from the hills of upper Galilee. When Gabriel announced the news to Mary, she was stunned and overwhelmed with joy. So are we. Jesus saves us, fills us, and lifts us up to join him in his Kingdom, a blessing we don’t deserve but absolutely enjoy.

The first Christmas is filled with all kinds people - and not just young people. Luke’s main characters include Zechariah, Elizabeth, Anna, and Simeon, faithful Christians whom God blessed to be a part of his Son’s story. The first two Luke introduces us to are Zachariah and Elizabeth. And yet their story is like many people who have loved God - being faithful isn’t without discouragement or disappointment which makes being full of faith hard. These two “past their prime” 1st Christmas Christians reminds us that God answers prayer.

Luke’s Gospel begins with a clear reminder that the story of Christmas is more than a story. It is history, verified and recorded by eyewitnesses. The point of that careful research is to help people like Theophilus, and people like us, to be certain of the Christmas promises that we are about to hear.