Word Processing

In our earthly relationships, it can often feel like we're on a different page with someone when we have unrealistic or faulty expectations. The same can be true of our relationship with God, his people, and his church. When our expectations of God are incomplete, inaccurate, or immature, we end up getting angry, hurt, frustrated, or disillusioned with a God of our own making.

This week on the podcast, Josiah and Andrew return to Matthew 11 and discuss the dangers of having faulty expectations of God, as well as what to do when you realize you might be struggling with this in your life. Spoiler alert: the solution is to return to the Word!

There are some words that are popular in Christianity that we sometimes use without fully understanding. "Calling" is one of those words. It gets used in different ways by different people, sometimes positively and sometimes negatively. The result is confusion, as we are left with many questions: Who is called? Are we all called? How do I know if I'm called? What is my calling? And ultimately, what does it even mean to be called?

Join with Josiah and Andrew as they tackled these questions and many more, exploring this sometimes mysterious and ambiguous term on today's podcast.

As a local church grows in size (or is forced apart because of a virus!) it can become increasingly difficult to actually know everyone in the community and, thus, to be blessed by everyone in the community. This is unfortunate because there are no unnecessary members (1 Corinthians 12:7), none who are ungifted (Romans 12:6), and not one who isn't called to the "work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ" unto spiritual maturity (Ephesians 4:11–13). Said another way, we need one another as Spirit-indwelled conduits of God's grace to propel us toward holiness and, when unable to be around one another and to know one another, this process is hindered.

With that in mind, we're going to try and "shrink the church" a bit today and, hopefully, provide an opportunity for one particular Oakridge family member to "build up the body of Christ" from afar. On this episode, Josiah chats with Carol Clooney about her walk with Christ, her greatest struggles in her Christian life, lessons she's learned along the way, and much more.

As we come to the conclusion of the section of Matthew's gospel made up of chapters 8 and 9, we once again see Jesus demonstrating his authority through the miraculous. However, we know that very soon in the story, the people of Israel are going to be put to a choice; and it's a choice highlighted in the middle of our text today: Do you believe? Do you believe that Jesus is who he says he is and that he can do what he says he will do? The same choice is before us now, and it has eternal significance. Do you believe?

In Matthew 9 we read the account of Jesus inviting a lowly tax collector to follow him. Without hesitation nor reservation, up jumped the sinner and joined his life to Jesus. He left everything behind knowing that nothing he had could compare to the One to whom he now joined his life.

We want to be like that man, don't we? We want to be Christians that freely and excitedly follow after our Saviour with joy and gratitude in our hearts and fuelled by the knowledge of the grace he has, is, and will lavish upon us. We want to pursue holiness in this life as the privilege it is, in the power God has provided, and for the glory he is worthy of receiving.

Unfortunately, other things often distract us from filling up our Christian tanks with premium grace. Instead, we sometimes are tempted to settle for low-grade tradition, hollow habits, and rote routine. Today Andrew and Josiah talk about how to better ensure we're getting the good stuff when we're at the pump.

If you missed the sermon being discussed in this episode, it can be found here: "Feasting, Fasting, and Following Jesus (Matthew 9:9–17)."

On this episode, Dr. Fred Chay makes his return to the podcast. He is the founder and president of Grace Line ministries, a theology professor and academic dean at Grace School of Theology, and managing editor of Grace Theology Press. He has a number of books published covering a variety of topics. Translation: He's not bored and he has a lot to teach us!

In his first visit to the world of Word Processing, Dr. Chay led us in an exploration of justification, that is, what it means to be saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. This time around, however, the topic of conversation is sanctification, or, what it means to grow in godliness. Once justified, how does an individual Christian mature? How do we become increasingly conformed to the image of God the Son by the power of God the Spirit for the glory of God the Father? And, why bother? 

Fallenness, fear, and a fixing faith? Sounds like fun! In the midst of a world that has so much wrong with it, it is comforting to look to our Lord and understand that he is the solution. Join with Josiah and Andrew as they look at the second trio of miracles in Matthew 8 and 9, noticing Jesus' authority on display and applying what that authority means for all of us who ever face fear. So if you're ready to take the leap, let's dive in to the topic of faith and fear together.

As a local church grows in size (or is forced apart because of a virus!) it can become increasingly difficult to actually know everyone in the community and, thus, to be blessed by everyone in the community. This is unfortunate because there are no unnecessary members (1 Corinthians 12:7), none who are ungifted (Romans 12:6), and not one who isn't called to the "work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ" unto spiritual maturity (Ephesians 4:11–13). Said another way, we need one another as Spirit-indwelled conduits of God's grace to propel us toward holiness and, when unable to be around one another and to know one another, this process is hindered.

With that in mind, we're going to try and "shrink the church" a bit today and, hopefully, provide an opportunity for one particular Oakridge family member to "build up the body of Christ" from afar. On this episode, Josiah chats with Gordon Rumford about his walk with Christ, his greatest struggles in his Christian life, lessons he's learned along the way, and much more.

While music in corporate worship should be something that brings joy and comfort to God's people, facilitates biblical worship of a holy God, and celebrates unity in the body of Christ, it is often notorious for just the opposite. Too often church music can spark conflict, distract from biblical worship, encouraging self-centredness and the idolization of personal preference, and threatening church division. Why is that? How do we move away from (and guard against!) the latter in favour of the former?

Today on the podcast, Andrew and Josiah talk about what role music is supposed to play in the life of a church and, more specifically, in the event of corporate worship. They also discuss how music is often misunderstood, what set of criteria guide Oakridge Bible Chapel in song-selection for Sunday mornings, and why some other "good" songs miss the cut.

We use many different terms when talking about Scripture: inspiration, inerrancy, and infallibility to name a few. But one that we don't always talk about as much is sufficiency. That is to say, is the Bible sufficient to accomplish the task for which it was written? Well to answer that, we need to understand what that purpose is, and just as importantly, what that purpose isn't.

This week on the podcast, Josiah and Andrew discuss these issues and more as they seek to bring clarity to the topic of the sufficiency of scripture, inspired by a series of blog posts written by Josiah on our website.