Covenant Podcast

God’s plan of salvation has been revealed to us believers from start to finish. Although we live in the present, the truth of past prophecies builds confidence for our future inheritance.

Life involves trials, even for those who are beloved of God. We can have joy, even in our trials. All of this life’s trials are temporary, since this life is short and we can be sure that God will use them to accomplish his purposes. Don’t be surprised by trials, instead understand that they are revealing to you the quality of your faith. More importantly, the power of the one in whom you believe, which will result in salvation.

We are exiles in a foreign land, but we have every reason to bless God! Through Jesus’ death and resurrection we are born again. We now have a hope waiting for us that this world cannot touch.

The apostle Peter writes a book to a group of churches in modern day Turkey. In it, he reminds them that even though they are exiles in this world, that they are also chosen by God.

Sex is a part of God’s plan for the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman. Sex unites two people, both body and soul, and so we must be careful to keep it within the bounds of marriage. In marriage sex should be frequent, patient, and giving.

Problems exist within any marriage. At the heart of a great number of marriage problems are an unwillingness to prioritize your spouse, commit to loving them as they change throughout life, and trusting God’s good plan in submission and servant leadership.

Because Christ is ultimate, singleness is not a problem to fix, a season to waste, or a sign that someone is incomplete. Whether singleness lasts a season or a lifetime, our identity, fulfillment, intimacy, purpose, and hope are ultimately found in Jesus, not in a relationship status.

Marriage is meant to be sanctifying. As two people come together in honest and loyal friendship and commitment, they help one another toward the common goal of the upward call of sanctification.

A marriage commitment is based on a Biblical understanding of love. Love is not a feeling, but an action. Marriage is a lifelong commitment to act in a loving way toward another person.

When we have the Holy Spirit, we are enabled to submit to one another in marriage and eschew self-centeredness as the cancer to healthy marriage that it is.

There are good reasons for getting married, but one core reason that is often overlooked in today’s society is companionship. We are meant to marry our best friend. 

Marriage is not well understood in our culture or in our churches today. God has a design and a desire for marriage, it is something the God has created and it is something that God defines. If we don’t understand the design, or don’t recognize that God created and regulates marriage, we will end up struggling in our marriages or missing out completely. 

When a nation or a people forsake the Lord, collapse is inevitable. We are in need of a King whose reign will never fail: we have one, His name is Jesus. 

Judges 17–18 shows how sincere worship can still be false when it’s shaped by our preferences instead of God’s truth. Micah creates a version of worship that looks spiritual but is ultimately self-made, turning his relationship with God into something transactional and controllable. In the end, what he built fails him, revealing that anything we elevate above God will eventually collapse and leave us empty

God raised Samson with a clear calling and incredible strength, yet his story shows how a person can be outwardly gifted but inwardly drifting from God. Instead of following the Lord’s direction, Samson repeatedly pursued what was right in his own eyes, allowing small compromises to pull him further from obedience. His life warns us that spiritual strength doesn’t come from our abilities, but from faithfully walking in God’s ways.

Judges 10-11 explores Israel's repeated cycle of idolatry — abandoning God to serve false gods like Molech and Chemosh — and God's response of tough love followed by compassion when they genuinely repented. The core message is that idolatry means seeking from other things what only God can provide, and true repentance requires destroying those idols, not just setting them aside. The story of Jephthah illustrates how a flawed, unlikely person can be used by God, but also warns against treating God transactionally — making bargains rather than trusting His character. The sermon closes with a call to move from an "if/then" mindset to a "because/now" faith rooted in trust that God is fully committed to our good.

Judges 9 marks a dark turning point in Israel’s history as the familiar cycle of sin, repentance, and deliverance collapses. Abimelech, Gideon’s illegitimate son, seizes power through manipulation and violence, and when faithful leadership steps aside, Israel crowns a bramble instead. The result is destruction for both the king and the people who chose him, revealing how tolerated sin grows heavier over time and leadership vacuums invite corruption. Yet even in the collapse, God’s justice and mercy remain, calling His people to repentance and true refuge under the rule of the rightful King.

In this message, we follow Gideon’s story to see how starting well and finishing well aren’t the same—especially after success. Gideon trusted God in weakness, but after victory he began relying on himself, chasing recognition, and building a “replacement” for dependence on the Lord. This is a warning about the spiritual danger of success and an invitation to return to prayer, accountability, and humble faith. Ultimately, we’re pointed to Jesus—the true Savior who succeeds where we fail and calls us back to grace-filled dependence on God.

Judges 6–7 shows Israel caught in a cycle of spiritual decline, hardship, and crying out to God. The message highlights how faith can fade across generations, and how God uses unlikely people like Gideon to bring deliverance. Even when God’s plans seem confusing or impossible, He confirms His calling and proves His power. The takeaway: trust God—He is faithful, big enough, and His plans are always right.

God alone deserves the praise that results from a life of faith in practice.. We should live with a mindset of obedience and faith, recognizing that we’re not alone as we follow. God goes before, God works His will, and we give Him praise. 

God is not as predictable as we often seem to make Him out to be. He is sovereign over all; and that includes sin, evil, and suffering. God will stop at nothing to redeem His people, and works in mysterious ways to accomplish that goal. He is always seeking our trust, and will work in the necessary ways to foster our dependance on Him. 

Judges 2 show God’s people slowly drift from Him through partial obedience, forgetting He is Lord across generations, yet are relentlessly pursued by a faithful, rescuing God.  

As Christians, we have been saved and given an inheritance that we will experience more and more as we’re sanctified by the Holy Spirit, grown to emulate Christ, and work to mature in their faith. 

This sermon will be laying out the series, bringing in past context, talking about the purpose behind Judges and examining the reality of what happened to the people of Israel when they made it into “the promised land”.

If we are willing to follow basic obedience to Christ by pursuing financial, relational, and spiritual peace, we can have more overall peace in our lives and more effectively point others to Him in our efforts to seek and save the lost.

The peace of God starts in an individual as they receive Jesus Christ as their Lord. But, the peace of God is meant to spread from the individual to a broken world.

Sometimes, the greatest battles we face are the battles within our minds. Jesus, through His finished work of the cross, offers peace there too. Instead of waiting for that peace to come, there are practical steps we can take to cultivate the peace our minds crave.

God created a world at peace, but we broke that peace between us and God through sin. Jesus wants to restore peace and keep our wandering hearts at peace, but we have to set our minds on Him.

Fasting with prayer has been a Christian practice since Jesus came. People fasted and prayed in the OT. Jesus fasted and prayed. The apostles and early church fasted and prayed and God expected that we would fast and pray. Fasting helps to subdue our flesh so that we are more alive in the spirit. Fasting helps to prepare us for deeper and more powerful prayer. Fasting helps us to break the bonds of sin as we humble ourselves and seek the person and presence of Jesus. Preparing for a fast:Examine your motivesMatthew 6Warning against fasting for wrong reasonsExamine your actionsFasting is not a pleasing work in and of itselfIsaiah 58PracticalMost fasting was 24 hours, sundown to sundownDrink waterIf you have health considerations with fasting, talk to a doctorIt will be hardChristians much prefer feasting to fasting! Very few Christians practice fasting because of the difficulty. Allow this to difficulty to take you deep into prayer, asking God to enable you to continue.

If we aren’t receiving answers to our prayers, there are things that we can look toward that the Bible says may be hindering us getting an answer. Perhaps we are praying wrongly by not asking, asking with wrong motives or asking for things outside of God’s will. Perhaps we have been ignoring God’s word and neglecting the poor, disobeying Him, or dishonoring our spouse. Maybe there is sin in our lives that needs to be confessed and repented of. 

As this epistle to the Philippians concludes, Paul reflects on a great partnership and reminds us of God’s economy and an eternal perspective on giving. 

We have the ability as believers to strengthen the faith of others through our love of Christ. Although others strengthen our faith, it is Christ alone that brings true contentment.  No matter what life throws at us, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. 

What you think about matters. If you’re constantly thinking about your mistakes, your failings, and the shame from your past you’ll stay stuck in the past. If you’re constantly thinking about your fears and anxieties for the future, you will stay stuck in the present. If you allow your mind to dwell on sinful things and go down corrupted paths, you will be miserable. 

Paul is pleading with two co-laborers in the gospel to settle their differences and live at peace. He gives some wisdom on how we can live at peace instead of anxious and worried lives.

Paul tells the believers that they should follow his example, and the example of other believers in Philippi. We must learn to keep our eyes on those who follow Jesus, imitate their example of faithfulness and remember that we are citizens of heaven not earth. 

Paul reminds us that salvation is the starting line, not the finish line, and true maturity means recognizing we still have more growing to do. Like a runner pressing toward the goal, we must forget past failures and successes and keep straining forward toward deeper fellowship with Christ. And since the race is too hard to run alone, God gave us the church so we can press on together until we reach the finish line with Him.

Paul concludes this thought with a flurry of personal mission statements. He summarizes his life’s mission: to know God and experience the power of a life with Christ through participating in his sufferings. It’s all worth it because he will someday be with Christ. 

Paul reflects on all of his pedigree and achievements and declares that none are good places for his confidence. In fact, he throws them all away in order to be found righteous in Christ.

We are told to rejoice and Paul finds no problem repeating that over and over. We have reasons to rejoice! We must watch out for the dogs, evildoers and mutilators of the flesh. But we can tell we are from God if we worship in the Spirit, Glory in Christ, and place our confidence in God.

What would it look like to use what God has placed in our hearts and hands to serve those around us?

God often glorifies himself with small groups of faithful people. The disciples were some of the 500 people who were witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We too are called to be witnesses in our generation.

King David knew that God wanted to use him for His glory, but he faced time in the wilderness. There, a group of 400 loyal and dedicated men joined him and together they changed Israel for God’s glory. There is real power when “I” becomes “We”. We Build This Together. We Invest in Life Change. With 400 dedicated men God changed the course of Israel’s history.

God chooses to accomplish his purposes in His own ways. He sometimes uses small groups of dedicated and obedient people to accomplish great feats for His glory. Even fear-filled obedience is useful to God. 

Although we are saved (justified) by Christ, we still have to learn to live in the new reality (sanctification). If we hold onto Christ, we will shine like stars in the sky, drawing others toward the feet of Jesus.

We see the example that we as believers are meant to emulate in the humility of Christ. We should look to him as our example, learn from him as our guide, and lift him up as our Lord.

God is reminding the Philippian church of the importance of maintaining unity by recalling to their mind what He has done. He encourages them to fight to be of one mind and mission and watch out for things that cause division.

In order to live a life worthy of the Gospel, we must have the Gospel. Then we can respond to the world with grace that transforms.

As the Apostle Paul reflects on his current situation, he is reminded of his imprisonment as well as his deliverance. He is filled with confidence as he exclaims that life or death - either works just fine for him because he has Jesus. 

We see that the thing that matters most to Paul is that the Gospel is advancing. He’s not bitter about his past, he’s rejoicing that in every way the Gospel is being proclaimed through his current circumstances.

A remembrance of the Philippian church brings prayers of thankfulness and joy to Paul’s lips. What could do that? A gospel partnership! We long to be a part of something bigger and more meaningful than our own lives and goals - Jesus provides that for us with his mission. Great partnerships share the same values and same mission - Gospel partnerships involve people with a shared submission to Christ.