Bridgewater Hallstead’s Podcast

We all want “the good life,” and we chase it through things like more money, a better relationship, and being liked. All of us are chasing something. The question is - do we know what we are chasing and why? 
If you’re always hungry for the next big thing, but frustrated because it never seems to satisfy, you might be Chasing Carrots. It’s time to hop off the treadmill and chase after something real.
This four-week series is about the things we chase that do not satisfy - things like money and stuff, fame and approval, comfort and control, and success and achievement - and how we can find true satisfaction in our relationship with Jesus. The world will tell you that chasing treasures on earth is the pursuit of the good life. Jesus says the good life is found in chasing more treasures in heaven. We are often tempted to think we can do both, but Jesus says we cannot serve two masters.
Passage: Matt. 6.19-24, Romans 6.16-18
Speaker:

What I most love about God is the character trait that I least desire in my own life. He loves His enemies. I like loving my friends, but loving those who love me isn’t virtuous, it’s just smart because it benefits me. Jesus didn’t die just to make stupid people smart, He died to make bad people good. That takes extraordinary love of our enemies. Luke 6:2-27 explains not only what extraordinary love looks like, but why it is worth it.
Passage: Luke 6:27-36
Speaker: Kevin Stiles

How do you live your best life now? How can we have a successful life? Jesus tells us in Luke 6 that the keys to success are poverty, hunger, weeping, and being cursed, mocked and hated. What is that all about? Did Jesus wake up on the wrong side of bed that day? Many of the things Jesus says seem to turn the world upside down. But Jesus isn’t wrong. We must kill the concept of normal success if we truly want an extraordinary life.
Passage: Luke 6:20-26
Speaker: Kevin Stiles

Ordinary religion operates like a club: Following the rules is what gets you in and keeps you in. Jesus’ relationship with the rules kills the ordinary religious scorecard. Instead of a club, God created a family. Keeping the rules didn’t get you into your family, nor does it kick you out. Instead, God’s commands point us toward something even more important than conforming to the rules – loving God and others. 
Passage: Luke 6:1-11
Speaker: David Wyman

Children dream of slaying dragons or befriending them. But somewhere in the journey to adulthood, we scale back our visions for greatness and settle for an ordinary life... and then, boring mediocrity. But the Creator of this Universe didn’t make you to be ordinary. Jesus didn’t die on the cross in the hope that you would someday reach the heights of ordinary-ness. Let’s let our 2-dimentional dream of normal die and follow Jesus to the extraordinary life He calls us to. An ordinary church and life is about me, “my people” and my successful commandment-keeping. It is a museum for like-minded saints. Jesus condemns this ordinary church and life in the strongest of language. Instead, he challenges us to be an extraordinary that pursues the despised and loves Jesus more than our way or our rules. Jesus wants a messy-hospital-church for the hurting and hungry and not a beautiful-casket-church concealing the spiritually self-centered and dead.
Passage: Luke 5:27-32/39
Speaker: Kevin Stiles

At the end of Esther 7 everything seems fixed, but there are three chapters left! A new law had to be written, preparations made and then the Jews had to unite and fight for their survival. God’s deliverance still required obedience. But even after that, it wasn’t over. The last phase of God’s victory is setting up a system to remember it. When will you habitually celebrate God’s victories in your life? Joy truly is the serious business of heaven.
Passage: Esther 8-10
Speaker: Kevin Stiles

It is the plot of endless stories, because we never tire of it. The situation is dark. All hope is lost... but then out of some impossible scenario, the hero shows up and wins the day. The tables are turned. That is the story of Esther 6-7. But how did it happen? Eventually, God always wins. But Esther shows us several tips of how to make sure we are on the Lord’s side. 
Passage: Esther 6-7
Speaker: Kevin Stiles

In our modern age of fear and anxiety we desperately need to have the courage of Esther. How was she able to confront the two most powerful men in the largest empire on earth – alone!? Esther 4-5 reveals four secrets to great courage that will embolden you to overcome the fears in your life today.
Passage: Esther 4-5
Speaker: Kevin Stiles

What do you do when it seems like God doesn’t show up and evil is winning? Don’t mistake God’s silence for His absence. Like Esther we must trust and obey God even when everything seems hopeless. Evil often takes the lead, but God’s side succeeds.
Passage: Esther 2:19–3:15
Speaker: David Wyman

God’s name is never mentioned in Esther, but His fingerprints are all over every unexpected twist and turn. Join us as we discover how God works to bring about an amazing story of courage, justice, purpose and hope through quiet coincidences, not obvious miracles. Esther’s story reflects our own: we may not always see God’s hand, but we can trust His heart. Often, God’s plan to transform the world is not through spectacular displays of power, but by invisibly working behind the scenes and using ordinary people like Esther and Mordecai. Like them, we need to personally love those God has put in front of us. Like an artist who can make beauty from discarded things, God’s plan is to use us. That doesn’t seem like a great plan, but it is! Let Him use you in His story of salvation and hope.

Passage: Esther 1:1-2:18

Speaker: Kevin Stiles