The 180 Church Podcast with Dr. Sammy and Friends

Holy Ghost: A Spirit Filled Community

Every new, budding relationship has the stage commonly known as the "honeymoon phase". It’s the rose tinted, picture-perfect feeling we all know that eventually dissipates as reality comes into focus. It is this utopian ideal that often bleeds into our expectations of the church, though what we come to find is that any spirit-filled community will not as perfect as we deem it should be. The spirit-filled community is a learning community, who gleans wisdom from our personal shortcomings and fails forward, in the likeness of the Biblical forefathers.

Holy Ghost: Wind and Fire

How do you know whether the Holy Spirit is leading our lives? By wind and fire. In today's podcast, we talk about how we distinguish the voice of God apart from the voices of this world and identify the fruit of the Spirit that provides evidence for the working of God's mission for humanity.

Holy Ghost: Influence

In this week's episode, the podcast crew discusses the mysterious nature of the third person of the Trinity: The Holy Spirit. Though hard to grasp, for us who are seeking and for believers alike, we are still able to recognize the work and influence of the Holy Spirit in our lives and witness the unbelievable transformations we experience through him. So, what does it mean to be filled by the Spirit? Some good indicators are changed hearts and lives.

Holy Ghost: A Family Affair

In this week's podcast, we are continuing on the series, "Holy Ghost" and talk about how we are invited into a family affair when we join the family of God. We're bombarded with the cultural voice that glorifies independence and seeks no help from God, our communities, and our friends, but kingdom culture goes against the very grain of self-reliance and calls for total dependence on it's family. Jesus leaves us with the Spirit so that we could join God in his mission, know the safety of his coddling, and be pushed beyond mediocrity.

Holy Ghost: The Gift of the Resurrection

We are back after Good Friday and Easter Sunday with a message about what really happens after the resurrection of Jesus and what that means for us. For many of us, it can seem that faith erases all doubt from our minds and hearts and that everything becomes picture perfect with Jesus's victory over death, but we are left still with some doubts, uncertainty and the feeling that it could just be too good to be true. The reality is, faith is not opposed to doubt, and whether we are seeking, believe, or somewhere in the middle, the gift of the resurrection is meant to be received so that we can become something new.

Also, if anyone has any questions about faith, doubt or the process, feel free to send them at 180churchpodcast@gmail.com so that we can answer them!

Easter Sunday: Redefined Reality

Those who are remembered in the annals of history have conclusively always been on the winning side - and so the saying “to the victor go the spoils.” On Easter Sunday, two millennia ago, perhaps the greatest victory of all time took place and is still talked about to this present moment. Easter is a celebration, not because Christianity is founded on piety and morality, but because the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the victory over death, ultimately redefined the fabric of reality and eternity as we know it forever.

Lent: Fasting Subplots

In a culture that emphasizes customization and instant gratification of the individual, many of us tend to live as if our lives are the main plot. However, when our lives are ambiguous and uncertain, how do we find greater purpose, meaning, and joy when we feel unsatisfied by the subplots that make up our lives? Although we generally find it difficult to surrender ourselves and fast our own subplots, we need to remember to depend on God with ruthless trust in order to remember Jesus who came to surrender himself so that we can have a choice to participate in the main story of God's will.

Lent: Lifelong Friendship

In a culture of blame, envy, and transiency, how do we build life-long friendships that are both shared and celebrated? As our community is learning to fast our defaults, we discuss how we are fasting self-interest in the interest of being intentional with our relationships and learning to champion one another in friendships that truly are treasures. Through the model lived by the life of Jesus and his friends, we glean wisdom on how our flourishing can be shared, fruitful, and rich in our lives.

Lent: Fasting Self-Reliance

In today's podcast, the crew has a real open conversation about fasting self-reliance and the illusion of being self-made. We all culturally bought into a belief that the self-made, independent person is a mark of success though the reality is, no one built their success on their own. Far from it actually. The truth is, it takes a village for us to thrive and to find that the richness of life is found in the fruitfulness of our relationships and dependency on one another.

Lent: Fasting and Prayer

Today's podcast is about the reason why we fast during Lent. Often times fasting becomes the goal and end-all, but it is really a means to an end, to unleash and experience the power of God that changes lives. That is why Jesus fasted. He fasted to pray, to feed on fellowship and communion with God which led him to overcome the temptations of the devil. In the same way, we fast to pray and to draw near to God and when we draw near to God through fasting, we will experience the power of God. Tune in to find out how you can experience the power of God in your life and for your destiny.