Equipped in Grace Podcast

On our final episode of Season 1, we take one last look at Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and examine what it means to love the Lord with all of your might.

Where you start is not where you finish and the Biblical Story of Gideon is proof of that. On this episode, we are joined again by Reverend Dan Gilder as we look at Gideon's story and the transformative power of simple faithfulness.

Encouraging us towards being "deeply rooted" in Christ is one of the main goals of Scripture, but how do we do it? Worship Arts Director Kaitlynn Pisarski joins us on this episode to dive into that question and more.

King Herod couldn't be bothered to give up and afternoon to find Jesus while a group of foreign astrologers traveled for years to meet the new born king. We talk about that and the importance of loving the Lord with all of your soul on this episode of Equipped in Grace.

Life is crazy and Christmas often makes it crazier! In this episode we talk about making space for God in our hearts and minds during the busiest seasons of life.

Your kids are practically adults and heading off to college, but how do you continue to encourage them to walk with the Lord amidst one of the biggest changes that life throws at us? We discuss that in this, the 3rd part of our "Parenting in Christ" series with our special guest and mother of 8, Debbie Reddick.

Whether you're excited for it, dreading it, or somewhere in between, there's no doubt that parenting teens to follow the Lord and grow in integrity is it's own unique challenge and responsibility. Mother of 8, Debbie Reddick, joins us again to talk about some of the things she and her husband did to help their kids grow in Christ through those teenage years.

On this episode we start a 3 part series on raising kids to follow the Lord in each season of their young lives. To kick things off, we discuss how to raise young children to follow the Lord with our friend Debbie Reddick who mothered 8 children of her own!

On this episode we continue our conversation with Kelsey Luckasevic as she shares her insights and experiences from reading John Mark Comer's "The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry."

Our culture is full of tips, books, and videos, for how to get more done faster, and whereas God does want us to be fruitful the path to spiritual productivity may actually involve more slowing down than speeding up. We unpack that idea with our guest Kelsey Luckasevic as she shares her insights and experiences from reading John Mark Comer's "The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry."

Making disciples is the Great Commission but on this episode we discuss what some consider to be the predominant prerequisite to all other Christian activity: living a life in worship and reverence towards God.

Taking a step back is not always a sign of defeat or even regression. Rather it is the first step towards regeneration. In this episode we discuss the importance of taking time away from being merely productive so that we can be fruitful in the seasons to come

What does Jesus mean when he says we are to be salty? Find out the answer to that question as we look at what it means to act like an image of God.

Loving God and Loving others are deeply linked throughout scripture and in this episode we look into why that is and why it's important to recognize the image of God in all of us.

It's one thing to start a conversation with friends from work, but it's a whole other level to find out which ones want to pray with you before you start your day. In this episode we talk with Loraine Flick who reveals how she goes about finding friends to pray with at work and the difference it's made in her life.

In our own attempts to fix ourselves, we sometimes end up getting ourselves more lost. However, in this episode we pick up part 2 of our conversation on anorexia and how a simple prompt from God helped move our guest towards freedom.

When life get's out of control, we sometimes follow suit. In this episode we dive into the story of how a playground accident turned in a battle with anorexia .

It's easy to get ahead of God sometimes. We think we know what we want and how life should be, so we run ahead of God thinking maybe He'll catch on when in reality God is waiting for us to catch on to what He is really doing. In this episode we dive into this tension of following God and why it's important to stay in step with Him and not run ahead.

There's no denying that music can have a profound impact on our lives. However, in a world full of noise and business, sometimes the best tool a composer can use to get our attention is actually to make less noise, not more. We'll unpack that idea and how it relates to our life of faith in this episode.

Seeking to mentor or be mentored can be an intimidating process, however in this episode we look at why that doesn't necessarily have to be true.

Even the greatest leaders in the world had to start somewhere, and it's guaranteed they didn't learn everything on their own. In this two part series with Jackson Fong we'll learn about the important role mentors play in his life and begin to dive into how we can mentor or seek mentorship from others.

Have you ever tried to plan out your life, or even just your week and found that things rarely actually turn out how you designed them to? Have you ever gotten frustrated by this change of reality? On this episode we discuss the importance of leaning not on our own understanding, but instead, leaning on God's plans and letting Him lead us.

Loosing your house in a fire is probably one of the biggest and sudden shifts in reality that one can experience in a life time. It's understandable that such an event would rock your whole world including your faith. In this episode we sit down with Jill Thorton and hear her tale of watching her home catch fire and how she got through it with her faith in tact.

Being angry with God may seem a bit taboo, and though we certainly don't encourage staying mad at God, expressing your frustrations can actually be a healthy way to move past them and into a deeper relationship with God.

Construction has a way of interrupting a perfectly good drive, however, roads are not the only thing that need renovating every once in a while. In this episode we talk about driving through Michigan, renovating kitchens, and how those things relate to how we treat the people in our lives.

Sometimes life can be going along just fine and normal, and then suddenly it isn’t. On this episode we listen to a true story of a sudden life threatening illness and how faith and community helped make a difference.

Life is stressful, work is stressful, this is no secret. Finding a way to rest amidst the stress, not as obvious. In this episode we hear Jeff Chalfin's story of finding rest amidst unrest at work.

Though rain may occasionally upset our outdoor plans, it's not always a bad thing. And just like rain isn't always bad, in this episode we'll discuss why hardship and challenges are actually good for us and water our character and grow out connection to God.

You may have heard someone say that God spoke to them through a nudging or a small voice in their heart, but what about when God speaks to us with a strong tone? On this episode our guests tell us about the importance of sharing our faith stories and share there own story when they felt God push them out of their respective roles and into the unknown.

It's easy to praise God when things are going well, but what about when they're not? In this episode we discuss why it's important to worship as a response not just to blessings, but also to hardships, burdens, and discipline.

From multiple jobs, to a messy house, there's a lot to accomplish and learn in a day, so how do we actually remember the important moments and lessons from a life in constant motion? On this episode we discuss not only the importance of looking back on life and scripture, but also some practical habits to help us remember what the Lord has done for us and what He's trying to teach us.

It's important to breathe while singing and to refuel your car every once in a while. In this episode we'll dive into why pausing in your life to breathe and refuel is not only important, it's Biblical!

Missional living doesn't have to mean packing up your whole live and digging wells in a foreign country. On this episode we dive into what it means to view our everyday, seemingly ordinary lives as a mission field to bring people into the Kingdom of God.

This can be such a nebulous topic for so many believers so on this episode we discuss practically what it means and looks like to start living a life lead by the Holy Spirit.

We all have a lens through which we view the world - biases that influence how we see and treat one another. On this episode we talk about begin seeing the world the way God sees it, by embracing the teachings of Jesus and letting them impact our actions.

It's very easy for us humans to define ourselves by what we do. For many our performance equals our value. However, on this episode we're going to discuss how finding our identity in God actually doesn't start with our performance but our presence with Him.

In this episode we talk about how to handle the craziness of life by taking practical steps to plant our lives in God's ways so that we can begin to flourish even in stressful times like a tree would if it's planted by a flowing river. The Bible passage we'll be referencing is Jeremiah 17:5-8 which The Message paraphrases as follows:"Cursed is the strong one who depends on mere humans, Who thinks he can make it on muscle alone and sets God aside as dead weight. He’s like a tumbleweed on the prairie, out of touch with the good earth. He lives rootless and aimless in a land where nothing grows.“But blessed is the man who trusts me, God, the woman who sticks with God. They’re like trees replanted in Eden, putting down roots near the rivers— Never a worry through the hottest of summers, never dropping a leaf, Serene and calm through droughts, bearing fresh fruit every season."