Together Church-Sermon +

"I'm fine." "No worries." "It's all good." What if not telling the truth is just a quieter way of being a smooth operator?

Sunday we met Absalom, King David's charming son, who stole the hearts of Israel by telling everyone what they wanted to hear. But there's a second smooth operator in his story: his father. After years of silence, David welcomed Absalom home with a kiss and not one word.

In this episode of Sermon+, Pastor Robbie goes deeper into 2 Samuel 13-15: a line from the Dead Sea Scrolls that explains David's silence, a son who set a field on fire just to get a conversation, and why the opposite of a lie isn't silence. Then it gets practical: five ways to have the conversation you've been kissing your way around, plus how to make it safe for others to tell you the truth.

In this episode:

• Two smooth operators: one who says too much, one who says nothing
• Why "It's fine" protects you more than them
• Five moves for honest conversations, straight from Scripture
• What to do when a conversation isn't safe

Scripture: 2 Samuel 13-15; 1 Kings 1:5-6; Jeremiah 6:14; Ephesians 4:15, 25; Luke 15:20-32; 2 Samuel 12; John 21:15-17; Colossians 1:20 (CSB)

Questions to take with you:

1. Where are you saying "It's fine" when it isn't?
2. Who is waiting on words from you that you keep replacing with something else?
3. Where do you call it "keeping the peace" when it's really avoiding the conversation?

Jesus told Martha that Mary made the right choice. So who made dinner?

Sunday's message was about the backseat driver, the controller, and Martha's kitchen in Luke 10. This week, Pastor Robbie takes on the question most doers walk out with: did Jesus just say serving matters less than sitting?

The answer is in where Luke put the story (right between "go and do likewise" and "teach us to pray"), one small Greek word in verse 42 that turns "the right choice" into an inheritance, and a complaint in Acts 6 that sounds exactly like Martha's. Jesus never told Martha to stop serving. He told her what has to come first.

One idea, twenty minutes, a little deeper than Sunday. Companion to Week 2 of "It Takes One" at Together Church.

Sunday we talked about the red pen in your hand. This week, the pen is in somebody else’s.

In Luke 7, Jesus gets criticized three separate times in about twenty verses. A crowd calls him a glutton and a drunkard. His dinner host silently grades him. Then the whole table turns on him at once. And he handles each one differently. He names one out loud. He answers one with a story. And one he doesn’t respond to at all.

In this episode of Sermon+, Pastor Robbie goes back to Simon’s dinner table to ask a question Sunday didn’t have time for: okay, I don’t want to be Simon, but what do I do when somebody’s being Simon to me?

You’ll hear:

• Why Luke put the “glutton and drunkard” accusation right before the dinner scene
• What it means that Jesus answered a thought Simon never said out loud
• Three questions to run every piece of criticism through: Is it true? Is it mine? Is it mine to answer?
• The difference between criticism and confrontation (and why it isn’t volume)
• One five-minute thing to do with the criticism that’s still stuck to you

Criticism deserves consideration, not control. The critics don’t get the last word. Jesus does.

Scripture: Luke 7:31-50, Proverbs 27:6, 1 Peter 2:23, 2 Samuel 12, Matthew 18:15, Romans 3:23-24 (CSB)

Sermon+ is the companion podcast to Sunday’s message at Together Church. One idea, twenty minutes, a little deeper than we could go on Sunday.

Israel wins the battle against Amalek, but not because of Joshua's sword. It's because Moses' hands stayed raised, held up by Aaron and Hur when he couldn't hold them up himself.

In the finale of Hallowed Be Thy Name, Pastor Robbie Foreman opens Exodus 17 and shows what it means to fight under the name Jehovah Nissi, the Lord is my banner. Scripture:

Exodus 17:8-16

Sunday we talked about familiarity , how the people closest to Jesus kept missing him while the outsiders found him. But tucked into Mark 6 is a story that didn't make the Sunday message: the execution of John the Baptist. A birthday party, a dancing girl, a drunken promise, and a severed head on a platter. Mark tells it in vivid detail and places it right in the middle of the disciples being sent on mission. This week on the podcast we find out why, and what it means for how we follow.

Show Notes

Primary:  Mark 6:14–29

Parallel account:  Matthew 14:1–12

OT Background:  Malachi 4:5 (Elijah coming), Leviticus 18:16 (brother's wife), Proverbs 6:2 (trapped by your words)

Historical context:  Herod Antipas, Herodias, Salome — confirmed by Josephus, Antiquities 18.5.2

Jesus on John:  Matthew 11:11 — "among those born of women there has arisen no one greater"

Sunday we preached the parable of the sower. But Mark 4 keeps going. Three more parables follow, the lamp under the basket, the seed that grows while the farmer sleeps, and the mustard seed. Short passages. But the claim underneath all three is the same: the kingdom of God is already here, it is growing whether you can see it or not, and it is going to end up much larger than it looks right now. This episode unpacks all three, including the Old Testament background behind the mustard seed that changes everything about what Jesus was saying.

Show Notes

Primary:  Mark 4:21–34

OT Background:  Ezekiel 17:22–24 (great tree, birds nesting), Daniel 4:10–12 (Nebuchadnezzar's tree dream), Isaiah 55:10–11 (word as seed)

Isaiah 6 connection:  Mark 4:11–12 — why Jesus teaches in parables

Greek note:  automatē (Mark 4:28) — the earth produces "by itself"; same root as "automatic"

Rabbinic background:  Mustard seed as proverbial shorthand for smallest possible thing in first-century Jewish teaching

Sunday we saw the trouble Jesus started, forgiving sins, eating with the wrong people, healing on the Sabbath. But tucked into Mark 3 is one of the most feared passages in the Bible: the unforgivable sin. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. People have lost sleep over this. In this episode we look at it carefully, the Jewish background, the specific accusation Jesus was responding to, and why the person who worries they've committed it almost certainly hasn't.

Mark gives us two verses for the temptation of Jesus. Matthew and Luke give us three rounds of dialogue and a full theological showdown. Why does Mark barely mention it? Because Mark isn’t interested in the details of the temptation. He’s interested in the fact that Jesus went, stayed, and came back. The wilderness didn’t stop him.

In this episode we unpack what the number 40 carries in the Old Testament — Israel’s forty years, Moses’ forty days, Elijah’s forty days — and why Jesus passing the wilderness test is the most important thing that happens before his public ministry begins.

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KEY TEXTS FOR SHOW NOTES

Mark 1:12–13 — The wilderness account

Matthew 4:1–11 — The three temptations in full

Luke 4:1–13 — Luke’s parallel account

Deuteronomy 8:3 — Man shall not live by bread alone

Deuteronomy 6:13 — You shall worship the Lord your God alone

Deuteronomy 6:16 — You shall not put the Lord your God to the test

1 Kings 19:1–8 — Elijah in the wilderness

Isaiah 11:6–9 — The peaceable kingdom / wild animals

Romans 5:12–21 — The second Adam thread

Numbers 14 — Israel’s forty years

Exodus 32 — The golden calf while Moses was on the mountain

Ever feel like you know what’s true, you just forget it under pressure?

In Sticky Notes, Pastor Hal uses 1 Peter and 2 Peter to deliver four reminders God keeps putting back in front of us: salvation is a gift, identity is secured in Christ, holiness is what we’re called and equipped for, and the best is still ahead because God keeps His promises. This message is for anyone who’s tired of spiritual drift and ready to live anchored, clear, and hopeful again.

Scripture: 2 Peter 1:12–15, 3:1–2 (plus 1 Peter 1:1–5, 2:22–25; 1 Peter 2:1–12; 1 Peter 1:13–16; 2 Peter 1:3–11; 2 Peter 3:3–13; Joshua 21:44–45; 1 Corinthians 2:9–10; 2 Peter 3:14–18)

In this episode, we dig into Genesis 3 and the role shame plays in pushing people into hiding. From the very beginning, the enemy’s strategy has been deception followed by shame. Adam and Eve hide. They cover. But God does something unexpected, He comes looking and provides a covering they could never make for themselves.

The enemy gives shame.
God gives grace.

Sermon Plus exists to slow things down, explore biblical context, and talk honestly about what following Jesus looks like in real life. This episode is for anyone who has felt distant from God because of shame and is ready to step back into freedom.