Tulip Church Podcast

What happens when you truly encounter the holiness of God?

In this message from Isaiah 6:1–8, we walk through Isaiah’s encounter with the Holy One and the four-step progression that follows: Seen, Realized, Paid, and Sent.

Isaiah first sees God in His glory and realizes just how far he falls short of God’s holiness. But instead of leaving Isaiah in his guilt and shame, God provides a way for his sin to be cleansed. The coal from the altar touches Isaiah’s lips, his guilt is taken away, and he is then sent out by God.

This points us to the gospel of Jesus. Jesus is the One who came down to us, paid the price for our sin, and makes us clean. Because of what Jesus has done, our past and our shortcomings do not have to disqualify us from being used by God.

The message challenges us to consider four questions:

Have you seen the Holy One?
Have you realized how far short you fall of Him?
Have you allowed Jesus to pay the deficit?
Will you allow Him to send you?

We are not responsible for controlling what happens when we share the gospel. We are called to plant the seed and trust God with the results. Even the people Isaiah preached to often refused to listen, yet God still used Isaiah’s faithfulness.

Your past may be the very thing you think disqualifies you, but God can use your story and your testimony for His glory.

Seek God. Let Him forgive you. And allow Him to use the very thing you once felt ashamed of for His glory.

This week as Jeff is on travel John Ruggles steps into the pulpit to share his personal testimony. this is a powerful example of what God does whenever we reach our end and surrender to him. you will not want to miss this!

In this message, we looked at what God has called us to be as a church through the picture of planting, watering, and leaving the growth to God from 1 Corinthians 3:5–9. The message also shared part of the pastor’s personal story and how God has gradually revealed a vision for the church over many years.

Our vision is built around two ideas: we are a church that plants and waters and leaves the growth to God, and we are a church that walks with people one step at a time, joining them wherever they are and accepting them for who they are at that moment.

Being planters and waterers means being more concerned with trying than succeeding, trusting God with the results. It means choosing grace over justice, recognizing that God’s justice is greater than anything we could give someone. And it means choosing love over our rights, being willing to set aside what we feel entitled to in order to love and serve people.

Ultimately, this vision is about removing barriers to Jesus, helping people take their first or next step with Him, and walking alongside people wherever God has placed them. We plant, we water, we walk with people—and we trust God to grow them.

In this message, we look at Jesus’ words in John 20: “As the Father has sent me, I also send you.” Just as Jesus was sent to seek and save the lost, reflect God’s glory, and live out grace, truth, and love, we are given that same invitation as His followers.

Being sent doesn’t require a perfect plan—it requires a willingness to obey, see people, point them toward God, and walk with them in love. The invitation has already been given. The question is: how will you respond?

Jesus is the greatest example of what it means to be sent. In this message, we look at the story of Zaccheus and discover the heart behind Jesus' mission: to seek and save the lost. Zaccheus was someone others had written off, but Jesus saw someone who was worth finding.

Through Scripture and the story of a lost child, we're reminded that we are never too lost for God to find us. His love pursues us, and nothing can separate us from Him. But for those who have been found, the mission doesn't stop there—we are called to join Jesus in seeking those who are still lost.

This message challenges us to see people the way Jesus does: lost, worth finding, and worth saving.

Have you ever wondered if God made a mistake by choosing you? In this message, we look at Isaiah 6 and the moment Isaiah encounters God, recognizes his own inadequacy, and responds, “Here I am, send me.”

God's calling doesn't always come with a detailed plan or every step laid out. More often, He asks us to trust Him, follow Him, and take the next step. Like Isaiah, we don't have to be perfect or have everything figured out—we simply need to be willing to go where God sends us. Discover what it means to live with a posture of being called, commissioned, and sent by God.