Episode 9. We continue discussing the fifth of the five challenges revealed to us over the last 18 months, and its matching idea that with God's help we can aspire to. Covenant membership has been a focus of our teaching series at MVBC - "Thrive: A Flourishing Church in a Struggling World." In Part 2 of this podcast (Part 1 was the prior Episode 8), we take a deep dive into covenant, and how church membership is "covenantal."

We mention several Scripture passages in this podcast which are listed in the notes below. These passages are a sample but are not a comprehensive list.

-God's covenants (1:57)

    ...with Noah (Genesis 8:20ff)

    ...with Abraham (Genesis 15)

    ...with Moses and all Israel (Exodus 19)

    ...with David (2 Samuel 7)

-Assembly - Genesis 35:11 (3:00)

-Passover - Exodus 12:6 (4:42)

-Renewals of the Covenant (9:24)

    -Deuteronomy 27-28

    -Joshua 8:30-35

    -Joshua 24

    -1 Kings 8

    -2 Kings 23

    -Nehemiah 8, 9, 10

-The New Covenant (17:44)

    -Jeremiah 31:31ff

    -Luke 22:14ff

    -1 Peter 2

    -1 John 5:2-3

-Application: membership is "covenantal" (26:57)

Episode 8. We are discussing the fifth of the five challenges revealed to us over the last 18 months, and its matching idea that with God's help we can aspire to. Covenant membership has been a focus of our teaching series at MVBC - "Thrive: A Flourishing Church in a Struggling World." In part 1 of this podcast, we discuss membership related to the cultural challenge. In part 2, which will be released next week, we'll take a deep dive into "covenant."

-Cultural challenge: less commitment (2:14)

-Consumerism (7:41)

-Implications for the church (9:36)

-Two ways the culture can affect our view of church membership - 1 Corinthians 12 (11:40)

-Do we really need to have an active church membership? 1 Cor. 12, Ephesians 4 (18:15)

-Who are we? Who's in the body? 1 Corinthians 14:40 (25:56)

-Fundamental parts of church membership (31:22)

-In Part 2 (our next podcast), how church membership is "covenantal" (37:38)

Episode 7. We are discussing the fourth of the five challenges revealed to us over the last 18 months, and its matching idea that with God's help we can aspire to. Eternal perspective has been the focus of the most recent week of our teaching series at MVBC - "Thrive: A Flourishing Church in a Struggling World."

-What are we afraid of? (1:10)

-Cultural challenge: people are fearful, polarized, uncertain (3:27)

-Where do we look for answers? (7:31)

-God's eternal perspective - biblical foundations (11:02)

-Value of solitude for reflection and meditation (19:12)

-Curate where we get our information - recommendation: firstthings.com (21:20)

-Eternal perspective - the long view (21:20)

-Eternal perspective - the whole puzzle (22:39)

-Eternal perspective - have the Spirit, hang on to the Word (26:44)

Episode 6. In the earlier part of 2021, we started asking ourselves the question, "What is it that Covid has revealed to us about the larger culture and about our faith family here at MVBC?" In this episode we discuss the 3rd of the 5 answers we were led to, and its matching idea that with God's help we can aspire to. Biblical engagement has been the focus of the most recent week of our teaching series at MVBC - "Thrive: A Flourishing Church in a Struggling World."

-Testimony for Incarnational Community (2:01)

-Cultural challenge: media and public figure influence (4:16)

-Political polarization (8:15)

-Politics and Christianity (10:12)

-Do we have the ability to apply God's Word to culture? (17:13)

-Getting God's Word in our hearts (19:40)

-Final thoughts (22:19)

Episode 5. In the earlier part of 2021, we started asking ourselves the question, "What is it that Covid has revealed to us about the larger culture and about our faith family here at MVBC?" In this episode we discuss the 2nd of the 5 answers we were led to, and its matching idea that with God's help we can aspire to. Adaptability in missions has been the focus of the second week of our teaching series at MVBC - "Thrive: A Flourishing Church in a Struggling World." -Missions "at every opportunity" (1:34) -Cultural challenge: more flexibility and informality (3:47) -Missions during pandemic times (6:07) -Being prepared for international missions at places like Wal-Mart! (9:02) -Biblical Foundation: Peter in Acts 10 (10:39) -Making God's Word available in people's heart language (13:20) -The nations have also come to us (14:25) -Adaptability in missions for Covid and beyond (19:46) -Final thoughts: 2 Timothy 4:2-3 (25:59)

Episode 4. In the earlier part of 2021, we started asking ourselves the question, "What is it that Covid has revealed to us about the larger culture and about our faith family here at MVBC?" In this episode we discuss 1 of the 5 answers we were led to, and its matching idea that with God's help we can aspire to. This incarnational community has been the focus of the first week of our teaching series at MVBC - "Thrive: A Flourishing Church in a Struggling World."

Cultural challenge: living more isolated and detached (1:50)

What does "incarnational" mean? (6:23)

Community from a biblical standpoint (12:52)

Applying community to MVBC (19:02)

Research on Zoom fatigue (24:07)

The Church is a body (28:36)

Final thoughts (32:58)

In the earlier part of 2021, we started asking ourselves the question, "What is it that Covid has revealed to us about the larger culture and about our faith family here at MVBC?" There are 5 answers we were led to, and for each one, a matching "aspiration" that with God's help we can strive for. These will be the focus of our upcoming series at MVBC - "Thrive: A Flourishing Church in a Struggling World."

Cultural Moment/Aspiration #1 (10:02)

Cultural Moment/Aspiration #2 (17:52)

Cultural Moment/Aspiration #3 (22:14)

Cultural Moment/Aspiration #4 (26:47)

Cultural Moment/Aspiration #5 (30:30)

Join Pastors Joshua Blythe, Kevin Moore, and Daniel Brown as they discuss MVBC's Vision & Values: where and how they originated, what they are, how they have been ingrained so far in the life of our church, and how we hope to see them further grow into our body.