Zion Podcast

Most believers think that it is God's will for us to be used by Him. This term means that we would do the Lord's work as servants of His Kingdom. Although this seems noble, it turns out he would rather be our friend. God wants to know you.

This week as we read Acts 13, we find out that before Saul and Barnabas were sent out, they ministered to the Lord. Have you ever taken a moment to be with God before you carried out the work that you thought you were supposed to do? You may discover that God wants you to stop and just be with Him. His calling and destiny for your life might be much greater than a few years of good service to the Lord. He wants so much more.
Tune in to this week's episode to find out what it looks like to walk into a horizon of destiny with God. . .

Is there something in your life that you need to see a breakthrough? Is there something in your life that you are willing to pray for until you see it happen? Although earnest, fervent prayers are the beginning of a miracle, it's time to live from a posture of knowing that God will break the chains off of strongholds in your life.

This week at Zion, Pastor Josh Lester tells us the story of Peter as he is cast into prison and chained to two soldiers in Acts 12. In this story, we see that as the church prays for Peter, an angel comes to him and tells him to get up as the chains fall off of him and he leaves the prison unnoticed and unharmed.
 
In this week's episode, we want you to know that God is encouraging you to get up. With access to the same power and freedom that Peter has in this story, it is time to pray, posture ourselves, and expect God to move as He is calling us to get up!! What if the exact moment you changed your perspective, God answered your prayer? Tune in to find out more. . .

This week at Zion, Pastor Brandon Block gives us a recap of Peter's vision and how the Holy Spirit falls on the Gentiles and continues to preach in Acts 11. Here Peter explains his actions to the Jews and they glorified God because even the Gentiles could receive salvation. 

Just as the Gentiles receive the Holy Spirit in this passage, God's desire is for you to be filled with the Holy Spirit. While listening to this episode, our prayer is that you would have an encounter with the Holy Spirit in a way that is evident in your life. That you would no longer just be "a good person" because of your relationship with God, but you would bring power with you wherever you go that can spiritually change a room. 

In the book of Acts, Cornelius was a man who was devoted to God. Acts 10: 2 says, "He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly." Cornelius was a man that most Christians aspire to be like today. Although he was devoted, God had more for him than he could imagine if he was willing and obedient to God's voice. 

In this week's episode, we discover that like Cornelius, God is calling us to a higher level of relationship with him. Because of Cornelius's obedience beyond being a devout Christian, he had an encounter with Peter that led to baptism in the Holy Spirit. Whether you may be a devout Christian or someone who is searching for something you feel is missing,  God could be calling you to something more than you could imagine. Listen to this episode to find out more. . . 

This week at Zion, the members of our congregation had the opportunity to be baptized. This declaration of faith is empowering and encouraging to the believer while providing a fresh start to living a life obedient to God. Being baptized is a beautiful thing, but what happens next? Is submersion in water the answer to all of our problems?

In the Bible, Paul had the obedience to serve God faithfully no matter where he was. He went as far as the desert in Saudi Arabia to obey God's plan for his life. Whether he was in a desert, or surrounded by encourages like Barnabas, Paul lived dependant on God no matter where he went. Paul now was living a life knowing that Jesus was greater than all the tradition and religion that he left behind, and people needed to know about Him.

In this episode, Pastor Brandon Block continues in Acts 9 about how Paul was obedient to travel to meet with Ananias. Ananias was somebody who would have been a sworn enemy of Paul previous to Paul's encounter with God. Out of Paul's obedience, Paul gets baptized in the Holy Spirit where he is empowered to fulfill a ministry that spread Christianity across the globe. Knowing this, our encouragement to you is to live a life completely obedient to God no matter where He calls you. . .

It's easy to justify religion and tradition as a means of living a life dedicated to God's plan for our lives. Going to church, reading our Bible, and praying before bed all seem like things God wants us to do. Sometimes we go a step further and memorize parts of scripture and serve in our community. Although these are all things God likes us to do, they can be a gateway to comfortability in our relationship with God as we justify ourselves as "good Christians" by doing them.

In the Bible, a man named Saul followed this same justification process. He memorized more of the Bible than most people did during that time. He was known as an extremely religious man dedicated to protecting God's name. According to religion and tradition, Saul persecuted Christians because the message of Jesus was against everything that the Jews had previously known. While Saul believed that everything he was doing was good and for God, this story reveals that Saul was opposing the Lord the whole time.

In this week's episode, Pastor Brandon continues to preach in the book of Acts about how God knocks Saul off of a horse and blinds him so that he can finally see God's true destiny for his life.  Here we discover that even with good intentions, we may be kicking against the pricks of God's plan for our own lives. Listen to this episode to find out more.

As much as we like for God to show up in big and mighty ways, He often reveals himself in a still small voice. Sometimes this voice is as simple as saying something like, "Go stand over there". The results of being obedient to this voice oftentimes are greater than you could imagine.

In this week's episode, Pastor Brandon continues to preach in the book of Acts where an angel of the Lord tells Phillip to go down a desert road from Jerusalem to Gaza. In this instruction, the Spirit tells Phillip to "Go to that chariot and stand near it"(Acts 8:29). Later we find out that through this interaction, Phillip gets do disciple to an Ethiopian man and baptize him in water.

Just like Phillip, the Spirit speaks to us daily with instructions that can change the people around us, our community, and even the world. Our relationship with God is more than just a tradition following routine to an unknown God that is too powerful to understand. He actually craves a more intimate experience with us. He would rather walk with us daily, where we can be obedient in the small moments when all we hear is a whisper from the Lord. Tune in to find out more. . .

In today's society, the world is constantly making counterfeit solutions to our broken world. To the eye, most of these things are enticing and make things seem better for a moment. The world has popularized horoscopes, witchcraft, crystals, drugs, and many other strategies that seem effective to the average person. Harmless in appearance, none of these things contain the same power that God desires you to carry wherever you go.

In the Bible, Peter and John carried something that people knew was real from the moment they walked into Samaria. A sorcerer named Simon noticed the difference between his "magic" and the power of the Holy Spirit. He wanted what they had so badly that he wished to buy it from them so that his sorcery seemed valid so he could use it for his personal gain.

In this week's episode, Pastor Brandon Block reads Acts 8:9-25 about the story of Simon the Sorcerer. Here he reveals to us the importance of having a heart that is convinced of God's true power. With the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, we can show the world the one and true answer to our broken situations because God wants to use YOU to reveal His glory. Tune in to find out more. . .

Our story has the potential to impact eternity. We often don't even know that we are living out something great while we are in it. If you look at the stories you follow and favor in the world, it can tell a lot about the person you are or want to become. For some people, it's the stories in People Magazine, the next scoop on the Kardashians, or the memoirs and stories of a President that you look up to the most. These stories shape us and inspire us to triumph in our lives. Like these examples, the Bible is full of many stories of heroes who had no idea that the lives they were living would be written down and read about 2,000 years later. These stories are still being told today because they are full of people willing and obedient to God's story.

This week, Pastor Brandon Block continues in the book of Acts in chapters 7:54-8:8. In this passage we discover how the persecution of Stephen didn't just cause a scattering of those willing to preach God's word and perform miracles, this event is the beginning of Pauls journey to becoming a Godly man who writes the majority of the New Testament. In addition to that, Pastor Brandon encourages us to live out God's plan for our lives so that maybe someday, our story impacts the lives of generations to come. Tune in to find out how God is calling you to live out a story that you couldn't even begin to dream of.

This Father's Day, we recognize the gifts and unique abilities that our fathers have. Some dad always knows what will happen next, as if they can see into the future. Some dads just have the best jokes. But the greatest fathers have chosen to serve more than just their families. They are servants of all.

This week, Pastor Brandon gives us a word to our dads that can be applied to all of us. As he preaches over Matthew 20:20-18  it says, "whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant." From the words of Jesus, we learn that in order to become great, we must first choose to become a servant of others. This means more than just doing good deeds. It means putting others' needs before our own without keeping score. Listen to this episode to find out more about how we can operate in the Spirit instead of the flesh so that we can operate in this way.