Bridgewater Hallstead’s Podcast

James - BeReal: Faith and Wisdom

Life can be confusing, frustrating, and difficult to navigate. Because of that, wisdom is a treasure so valuable we eagerly search for it in books, blogs, and people. But how do we know when we’ve found it? What does true wisdom look like? James shows us the differences between worldly wisdom and wisdom from God and why people of faith pursue the wisdom that is from God.

James 3:13-18

Speaker: Matt Pousseur 

James - BeReal: Faith that doesn’t save

Faith is essential to having a relationship with God. But is it possible to have a kind of faith that God doesn’t accept? The answer is yes! So we’ll discover qualities and characteristics of both real and counterfeit faith to determine which we have.

James 2:14-26

Speaker: Matt Pousseur

James - BeReal: Faith in the Face of Temptation

Temptation is part of the human experience. We’re all tempted to do what we know is wrong. But how should we respond to temptation? And when does temptation become sin? What does our response to temptation reveal about our faith? We’ll look at the process of temptation from beginning to end to better understand how sin works and how to overcome it.

James 1:13-18

Speaker: David Wyman 

James - BeReal: Faith in Suffering

In a world of copies and counterfeits, it can be difficult to know that you have something authentic, something real. And when it comes to issues of faith, it can be even more confusing. But James offers us help as he shows us what real, authentic faith looks like in the context of everyday life.

Everybody experiences times of difficulty and suffering. But for followers of Jesus, these trials not only expose the condition of our faith in Jesus, but also serve to strengthen and develop it. We’ll see how our responses to suffering shed light on whether our faith is real or counterfeit.

James 1:1-8

Speaker: Matt Pousseur 

2022 Recap

Let's take a look back at what God has done in 2022, and look ahead to what we hope He does in 2023!

Philippians 1:3-6

Speaker: Matt Pousseur 

Reset: Keeping the Change

Anything in life that is worth changing, is worth doing the work to keep that change. We can’t clean our house once and expect it to stay clean forever, in the same way we can’t expect one short season of trying to change make us different forever. Real, lasting change is a result of choosing to pursue and keep that change day in and day out.

Lamentations 3:19-25

Speaker: Matt Pousseur

Reset: The Most Important Change

There are so many things our lives can be about. So many really good things can become the center of our priorities, even. In Christianity it can feel a little overwhelming when you consider all the “good things” we could and maybe feel like we should be doing. But what if it was really much simpler than that? What if the entirety of everything we ought to aim for in life could be boiled down into two things?

Matthew 28

Speaker: David Wyman

Reset: A Pathway to Change

God sent Jesus to the cross to make change possible, and then He sent His Spirit to live in us to give us the power to actually change. But He wasn’t done yet! God also gave us His Word to lay out a pathway to leave behind the old and move our lives towards the new life offered in Christ.

Psalm 119

Speaker: Matt Pousseur 

Reset: The Power to Change

Even if we were successful in keeping our resolution for the year, and we were successful in changing behaviors, the heart often remains the same. But what if I were to tell you that God not only has the desire for us to change, but gives us the power to change?

Galatians 5:16-25

Speaker: Matt Pousseur 

Reset: Are You Ready for a Change?

As you consider last year, are there things you would have wanted to be different? Are there things that were great that you want to keep doing? Are there things that maybe aren’t so great that you want to stop doing? The New Year provides a great opportunity to hit the reset button and make some changes—to take one step closer to the life we want. Are you ready?

We are going to be looking at 4 key factors in change. Where do we get the power to change, what change should we be aiming towards, what is the pathway to that change, and finally, how do we keep the change we worked so hard to get?

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Speaker: Matt Pousseur