Cascades Conversations

In Week 3 of our Empty series, Pastor Jackson walks us through one of the most overlooked gauges in our lives: our physical health. It's easy to ignore the warning lights and just turn the music up louder — but your body isn't just a vehicle for getting through the day. It's the vehicle God gave you to live out your calling.This week we're diving into 1 Corinthians 6 and Galatians 6 to explore what Scripture says about caring for the body, breaking free from habits that hold us back, and why your physical gauge affects everything else — your relationships, your mental health, and your spiritual life.Plus, Michael shares a powerful personal story about a wake-up call that changed his trajectory — and why the decisions you make today are writing the story of where you'll be five years from now.Whether your physical gauge is running on empty or you're just looking for that one next step, this episode will challenge and encourage you to move forward.Series: Empty — Checking the RPMs of Your Life (Relational · Physical · Mental · Spiritual)📖 Scripture: 1 Corinthians 6 | Galatians 6🎙️ Speaker: Pastor JacksonNew to Church of the Cascades? We're a community rooted in Jesus, based in the Pacific Northwest. Join us every week as we dig into what it looks like to follow God in real, everyday life.

This week, the conversation shifts to something most people don’t think about until it’s already off track—your relational gauge.Building off the “EMPTY” series, this episode dives into why real growth doesn’t happen in isolation and why the relationships around you matter more than you think. Looking at moments from Genesis, Mark, Proverbs, and John, the team unpacks how even Jesus built a circle—not just a crowd—and what that means for how we live today.From the difficulty of real change without accountability, to the slow drift into isolation that most people don’t even notice happening, this conversation gets honest about the kind of relationships that actually shape your life.Because the truth is—no one drifts into healthy, life-giving relationships… but drifting into isolation? That happens real easy.

In this episode of the Church of the Cascades podcast, the team keeps the conversation going from Sunday’s message, diving into what it actually looks like to stay spiritually hungry in everyday life. From morning routines and favorite quiet places to real talk about drifting, burnout, and rebuilding that hunger, this one feels more like sitting in on an honest conversation than a polished production.They also unpack the tension between conviction and shame, share personal seasons of feeling empty (and what pulled them out), and talk through the challenge of keeping your spiritual, mental, physical, and relational “gauges” healthy.It’s real, it’s a little chaotic, and it’s exactly the kind of conversation that doesn’t end when church does.

What if the tomb really was empty?This episode explores that question at a high level—what it means, why it matters, and why it’s anything but a small or symbolic idea. Looking at the resurrection account in Gospel of Matthew and the implications laid out in First Epistle to the Corinthians, this message frames the resurrection not as a distant event, but as a defining moment that reshapes everything.If it’s true, then death isn’t the end. Hope isn’t fragile. And faith isn’t just a concept—it’s a response.With insight that echoes C. S. Lewis, this conversation sets the stage for a deeper discussion on what it means to live in light of a risen Jesus, and how that reality moves from being historical… to personal.The sermon lays the foundation—then the podcast digs in.