The 180 Church Podcast with Dr. Sammy and Friends

Lent: Paying Attention to God’s Sacred Presence in the Ordinary

180 Vision Series: How Integrity Keeps Your People In and The Enemy Out.

Integrity is a lost value in today’s age of corruption. Our trust in authority and institutions are at an all-time low, with a growing suspicion of what truth really is. This doesn’t only occur in politics but in our daily lives. The Gospel is crucial, even refreshing, in a time where the standards of truth appear distorted. The Word tells us to own, confess, and turn from our sins and mistakes as this is repentance. King David in Psalm 51 exemplifies this process of repentance integral to our integrity as followers of Christ. The truth that comes from God does not change even if the truth spoken by the spirit of each age does. How do we live a life of integrity: a complete and honest life? James 5 tells us to confess our sins and to pray for each other, and to acknowledge the lows—our valleys—but to also celebrate and embrace the highs—our hills—as one community.

Social Holiness

Holiness, which means “set apart,” takes on deeper meaning as we progress over the experiences of various prophets throughout Scripture and ultimately through Jesus. In Exodus, Moses encounters a burning bush and experiences holiness as close proximity to God. Later, a vision of the seraphim given to Isaiah sets up the idea that God can transfer purity to man. This is then reinforced when Ezekiel has a vision of water flowing out from God's temple and bringing life to the land of death. Finally, the meaning of holiness reaches its pinnacle in Jesus, who performed miracles as a manifestation of transformative holiness - as an expression of love. Jesus showed us social holiness, that there is no holiness without centering our lives around God and loving our communities because He loves us.

180 Vision Series: Finding Our People – Community Part II

Our culture emphasizes self-reliance which leads to unrealistic expectations and an unhealthy focus on perfection. The pressure to present an illusion of perfection is alleviated by the gospel, offering a safe space for human imperfection. Jesus encourages people who are weary from always presenting themselves at their best to find rest and embrace their humanity within a supportive community, emphasizing the innate human need for connection and vulnerability. The idea that self-sufficiency is expected contributes to shame, while the gospel teaches the importance of sharing struggles and seeking help as a fundamental aspect of being human.

180 Vision Series: Finding Your People - Community

Loss, coupled with trauma that we've experienced in our lives, can be a force powerful enough to unravel us. It’s in these periods when we feel lost and at a loss for words that we fall more readily into isolation, are broken by grief, and need community most - though it may not be what we want in the moment. The good news of the gospel is that even when we’re lost and unglued, God sends his community after us in our isolation and unraveling. When we recognize that the Father sends his people to us, we recognize a greater love that expels our fears and restores us into the community of God and his people.

Continuing Our Witness Through Changing Circumstances

While nostalgia is a natural byproduct of doing life with the people we love, it can hold us captive to the past and make us reluctant to adapt to changing circumstances. In our faith, longing too much for how things used to be can cause us to miss out on new opportunities to welcome others into God's community. In an inevitably and perpetually changing world, what remains constant is God and His call for us to follow Him. True discipleship means learning to accept change and allowing God to grow us into people who participate in His kingdom, no matter the circumstances.

180 Vision Series: The Backstory Behind Our Name.

In Jesus's encounter with the Samaritan woman, he influenced her so much that she did a complete 180, turning from her brokenness and proclaiming Jesus's message to everyone she subsequently met. We may similarly desire such profound life change, but we cannot engender such change alone; God must be the one to create the change. We can, however, pave the way for God, and equally important, create a community around God. By doing so, we can not only provide healing for those who are broken, but also accountability for those who become so proud as to forget their God-given values. By doing so, we can become part of God's plan in creating 180 change.

Advent: Wisdom From the First Noel

The Joy accompanied by the arrival of the Christmas season is also subtly marked by the departure of days past. Christ’s arrival in the first Noel brought promises and joys of new life, but simultaneously came with grief and loss as a result of his transition from divinity to humanity. Much like how Christ experienced joy alongside grief on that first Christmas, the joy we experience in following Christ is not in vain when we are inevitably faced with grief; it perseveres because of the Father who knows our stories, and fully sees and understands us.

Advent: Joy To The World

Joy can be experienced in the midst of sorrow; it’s an attitude we adopt not because of our circumstances but because of our hope in God’s love and promises. Psalm 98 captures the joy of our response to Advent, because Jesus’s arrival was anything but exuberant and lofty—it was quiet, humble, and subtle. He is the reason to share this joy boldly this season.

Advent: The Hope Jesus Brings Us At Christmas

As we enter into Advent this year, we reflect on the hope God gave us through the birth of Jesus Christ. In the Gospel of Luke, when Mary receives news that she will give birth to the Son of God, we see that this is God's blessing and the fulfillment of His promise to redeem His people. That God would come in the flesh meant radical change for the entire world as well as in each of our personal lives. Back then, and still now, the news of Jesus' imminent birth is the ultimate reminder that we have hope because Jesus is Emmanuel - God with us - not just in the future, but presently and eternally.