"We have a tendency to minimize our sins. We have a tendency to be more sorry that we got caught than grieved over our sins." Ever heard the phrase "easier said than done"? Nowhere is that more true than with apologies. Sometimes simply saying "sorry" isn't enough. We teach kids how to apologize, but teaching them how to repent isn’t as easy. Learn what repentance really is (and isn't) from https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/staff/keith-simon/ (Keith) as he studies https://www.biblegateway.com/pa...
Feb 03, 2020•11 min•Season 1Ep. 45
"They had to put family second in order to put Jesus first. And here we see that even Jesus had to do this. He had to put His parents second so that He could put His Heavenly Father First." Stating that family comes first—that nothing comes before family, that family means everything—sounds good, right? It sounds noble and virtuous. But that's not quite right. Family is pretty important, but it's not the MOST important thing. https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/staff/patrick-miller/ (Patrick) expl...
Jan 29, 2020•12 min•Season 1Ep. 44
"The last act is about to begin: God is about to console Israel. God is about to rescue them from exile. God is about to draw the Gentiles into His own family and to announce forgiveness for all people—Jew and Gentile alike." https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+2%3A21-40&version=NIV (Luke 2.21-40) stages the beginning of the end. The Bible contains two large books, the Old Testament and the New Testament, which each contain several more books of their own. It's tempting to read...
Jan 27, 2020•10 min•Season 1Ep. 43
"Oftentimes, it looks as if the kingdom of God is being defeated by the kingdom of Caesar, by the kingdom of this world, by the kingdom of whatever power is ruling." Sometimes it feels like Christianity is at war with the world and losing. But, despite years of persecution and pushback, Christianity has survived over two thousand years. It's been challenging the world since the very beginning and always come out stronger. Listen to https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/staff/keith-simon/ (Keith) unc...
Jan 22, 2020•12 min•Season 1Ep. 42
"Our culture is fixated on being great, but Mary says, 'God fixes the world through the lowly.' Our culture calls the thoughts of the proud and the powerful 'visions'—they're visionaries—but God calls the humble to build His vision of heaven on earth." Do you ever wonder why other people are chosen over you? Why did they get the job? Why did they get the recognition? Why did they get the opportunity? In the back of your mind, you're probably thinking, "I'm better than them. I'm more deserving." ...
Jan 20, 2020•10 min•Season 1Ep. 41
"Three times [Jesus] goes and prays and asks God to take this cup of judgment away from Him. And yet, every time he prays, 'not my will but Your will be done in my life.' You can hear Mary, can't you?" When Mary submits to God and becomes the mother of Jesus, she surrenders her entire life to Him. She doesn't just suffer the pain of childbirth and a compromised engagement. Gossip and scandal follow her for the rest of her life. Her Son is her Savior, and He's not at all what she'd expected from ...
Jan 15, 2020•14 min•Season 1Ep. 40
"I think what Luke is trying to help us see is that God doesn't care about your background; He doesn't care about your religiousness." In the last episode, https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/staff/keith-simon/ (Keith) talked about Zachariah's response when the angel Gabriel visited him. This time, Keith discusses Mary's response. God made great promises to both of Zachariah and Mary. He didn't care about their contrasting reputations or social standing. Explore what God does care about as Keith r...
Jan 13, 2020•10 min•Season 1Ep. 39
"The story of Zachariah is a warning to religious people." Sometimes Christians are clueless about what it means to be a Christian. When you've grown up in a Christian household and have been one for as long as you can remember, when it's all you've ever known, it can be hard to describe. You might think you get it, but you really don't. Zachariah was a priest, and his faith failed him. He demonstrates what faith isn't. Learn what to do when religion fails you as https://www.thecrossingchurch.co...
Jan 08, 2020•14 min•Season 1Ep. 38
"There's kind of a disconnect between the way we talk about how somebody begins a relationship with Jesus and how Jesus actually talked to people. We make it about this moment of asking people to be our Savior, but that's not the way Jesus talks." If someone asks you how to become a Christian, what do you say? Do you tell them to pray a prayer that accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior? It's a common answer, but https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/staff/patrick-miller/ (Patrick) and https://www.thecros...
Jan 06, 2020•17 min•Season 1Ep. 37
"Casting our anxiety on God is a way to humble ourselves before Him. Or, another way to put it, worry is actually a form of pride." Join us in welcoming our first guest speaker! In addition to being an active church member and busy mom, https://thrivinghomeblog.com/about-thriving-home/ (Rachel Tiemeyer) is a co-founder of https://thrivinghomeblog.com/ (Thriving Home) and co-author of two cookbooks (including a new book on https://www.amazon.com/Freezer-Cooker-Delicious-Whole-Foods-Pressure/dp/16...
Jan 01, 2020•9 min•Season 1Ep. 36
"One scholar calls this https://www.jstor.org/stable/43717700?seq=1 (bureaucratic terrorism). [...] They're not just ideas. No, these future possibilities represent human lives. As the king goes, so the people go. " Some people call this the Age of Terror. And some people distrust their leaders and the threat of an internal enemy even more than the threat of an external enemy. Leaders don't only shape the future; they impact its viability. They can create the future, and they can destroy it. Hea...
Dec 30, 2019•16 min•Season 1Ep. 35
"I identify with David: I, too, am a mixed bag. But it reminds me that I can't read this story with the idea that I'm supposed to be like David." Leaders set examples. They become examples: ideals to respect and emulate. The Bible is full of leaders—like David, a man after God's own heart. Samuel tells the story of David, but that's just a couple of chapters in a big book. What about the whole Bible? What's the story of the Bible and who's the hero? Learn how to read the Bible from https://www.t...
Dec 25, 2019•13 min•Season 1Ep. 34
"It's an uncomfortable fact for a lot of Christians that the Bible is so comfortable taking God to court." Protesting demonstrates what you stand for and what you stand against. We live in a fallen world, surrounded by wrongs and injustices, so it's easy to feel helpless and hopeless. But we're not completely helpless. https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/staff/patrick-miller/ (Patrick) explains why you should protest as he reads through https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+18&...
Dec 23, 2019•11 min•Season 1Ep. 33
God's forgiveness reconciles us with God, but it does not erase or eliminate the consequences for the sins that we committed There's always a consequence for your actions. Sometimes it's a good consequence, like a little smile turning someone's entire day around and causing a ripple effect. But sometimes it's a bad consequence that can ruin someone's life —and also cause a ripple effect. Sin isn't just a personal problem with personal consequences. Hear how the consequences of sin span across ge...
Dec 18, 2019•11 min•Season 1Ep. 32
You know the sad thing? Dysfunction seems to be the norm in most families. I mean, most of us, when we were kids, we made vows: "Oh, I'm not going be like my parents. Oh, I'll do things differently" Dysfunctional families are everywhere. Everyone has some sort of family dysfunction. No one believes the cover images of perfect, smiling families. There's always something going on in the background, even if we can't see it and don't know what it is. What causes a dysfunctional family legacy? Where ...
Dec 16, 2019•10 min•Season 1Ep. 31
"I think the trap we fall into is we try to pay God back, like 'I screwed up God, but I can make it right.'" How do you make it right with God? What can do you do to set things straight? When we mess up, it's instinctive to want to fix things. We made the mess, so we'll make it right again. That's what we do with our friends and family and coworkers. It's what we do with anyone any time we make a mistake. But God isn't anyone, and sin isn't just an accident. Learn how to make it right with God f...
Dec 11, 2019•12 min•Season 1Ep. 30
"Do you see the terrible problem that God, Himself, has to face? For Him to be good, for Him to be just, He has to destroy David." Now we get to the infamous story of David and Bathsheba. When David knowingly sins, he does the same thing Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden: he confronts God. When we sin, we're confronting God and His goodness. We're testing how His goodness reacts to our evil. We're challenging God to see how His goodness can overcome our evil without destroying us. Listen to...
Dec 09, 2019•11 min•Season 1Ep. 29
"It's a story that makes grace come alive. In this story, kindness means more than just being nice to someone" Christianity made kindness notorious for its lethal power. ("Kill 'em with kindness" came from Christ long before Selena made it a hit song.) But kindness should also be recognized for its redemptive power as well. God's grace elevates kindness from "just being nice" to becoming alive. In this episode, https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/staff/keith-simon/ (Keith) explains how David's kin...
Dec 04, 2019•12 min•Season 1Ep. 28
"And now, in 2 Samuel 7, God is making a promise to David that sounds a lot like His promise to Abraham ... But then He goes a step further" The Bible is a book of God's promises. It's a book containing every genre: supernatural conflict between God and the devil; romance between Him and the church; history behind God's promises; and mystery of how He'll resolve all the issues, which we're still waiting for Him to reveal. Even though we know what happens in the end, we don't know how. The Bible ...
Dec 02, 2019•11 min•Season 1Ep. 27
"Can we be honest? Few things come more naturally to us than using God." We don't really use the word "reverence" anymore. It sounds so old and severe. But it's really just another word for "respect." Patrick continues our https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/podcast-series/david-in-22-stories/ (David in 22) series with a time when the Israelites showed God great irreverence. One of them died, and David became angry. Find out what the worst irreverence was and what God did to set things right. In t...
Nov 27, 2019•10 min•Season 1Ep. 26
"It's ironic—to me, at least—that our currency in the United States says, 'In God We Trust.' We all know the truth" Why is faith important? It's fundamental to being a Christian, but do you know why? It's because Christianity is all about having a relationship with God, and you can't have a relationship without trust. Faith is trusting in God. You know it, but do you do it? Our money says, "In God We Trust," but do we? David didn't, and it eventually caused his kingdom to crumble. Discover what ...
Nov 25, 2019•10 min•Season 1Ep. 25
"It's actually for that exact reason that God won't allow David to build His temple." Do you ever ask God why you're not allowed to have something? Do you ask why you're not allowed to do something? David asked God why he wasn't allowed to build the Temple, and the answer comes back to this chapter of https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+2&version=NIV (2 Samuel 2). David was asking the wrong question. Someone else asked the right one, and it wasn't answered for centuries lat...
Nov 20, 2019•10 min•Season 1Ep. 24
"When a kid, who's not prone to much emotion or drama, starts crying on Christmas morning, you're like, 'Okay, something went terribly wrong.'" Some people love surprises, but some people hate them. The people who love surprises don't understand how you could possibly hate them, but the people who hate surprises know how terribly wrong things can go. (They probably have a few surprising stories of their own!). When Saul died, the most surprising thing was not how he died but how David reacted. H...
Nov 18, 2019•11 min•Season 1Ep. 23
God can do amazing, shocking, crazy things. After all, He's God. Isn't that why we worship Him? It's what we expect from Him. But what about when God lets us down? What about when God doesn't do great things? Perhaps He doesn't even seem to do anything at all. Find out how to deal with being let down by God as https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/staff/keith-simon/ (Keith) continues our https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/podcast-series/david-in-22-stories/ (David in 22) series. Featured Quote: If yo...
Nov 13, 2019•11 min•Season 1Ep. 22
We hail David as a great king, and rightly so, but he didn't do it alone. Sometimes we forget about the people who helped him along the way: people like Abigail. She was a wise woman who quelled the antipathy of two men "caught in the snare of foolishness." In this episode, https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/staff/patrick-miller/ (Patrick) discusses how God speaks to David through Abigail. Discover how a wise woman impacted David's legacy and consider whom He might be using to speak to you as we ...
Nov 11, 2019•10 min•Season 1Ep. 21
If you're like me, you hate waste, and waiting usually seems like a huge waste of time. Time is one of our most important assets, and waiting can literally feel like we're wasting our lives away. God promised David he would be king, but David had to wait on God for decades before He fulfilled His promise. David's story shows that waiting on God is not passive but actually very active. Waiting on God takes a lot of work. Learn how to actively wait on God as https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/staff...
Nov 07, 2019•10 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Since its recent release, “Jesus is King,” the newest album from Kanye West, has gained both positive and negative reviews from a wide-ranging audience. In this episode, Keith and Patrick discuss the Christian response to the album and examine how, controversy aside, it points to a central truth of the Gospel. Want to learn more about how Jesus’ kingship is at the heart of the Gospel? Check out some of the books that have helped shape Keith & Patrick’s thinking: Gospel Allegiance by Matthew ...
Nov 06, 2019•34 min•Season 1Ep. 27
When David runs from Saul, he does something really stupid: he runs to God. In today's world of hyperrationality, belief seems weak and foolish. Belief means not knowing and being okay with that. David believed that God would deliver him, even though he didn't know how. He trusted in God more than he feared Saul. Listen to https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/staff/patrick-miller/ (Patrick) explain how to believe in God, even when it doesn't seem smart. In this episode, we discuss anxiety. If that'...
Nov 04, 2019•9 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Keith talks about a form of love which modern people too easily minimize and forget: friendship. If you live in the Columbia area, we hope you’ll join us in person. Our https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/about/sundays/ (website) has all the info you’ll need. You can follow us on https://www.facebook.com/TheCrossingCOMO/ (Facebook), https://www.instagram.com/thecrossingcomo/ (Instagram) or https://twitter.com/TheCrossingCoMo (Twitter). Want to learn about more 1-2 Samuel? Do you want a deeper look...
Oct 31, 2019•13 min•Season 1Ep. 25
What happens when it’s Thanksgiving dinner and conversations about disagreements in politics, culture, morals and religion start up? What about in the office? Among friends? Today it feels like it's impossible to talk about these things without an argument or causing offense. But Christians should be able to lovingly engage in conversation with others—no matter how impossible it feels. This episode will teach you how. To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twi...
Oct 30, 2019•31 min•Season 1Ep. 24
