The Central Peninsula Church Podcast

Episode 32: Vision

This past weekend, Kevin kicked off our upcoming series Becoming: Apprenticeship to Jesus. Today, Kevin and Brandon talk through what that apprenticeship looks like in our modern context, and how we can allow the countercultural ways of Jesus to transform us.

 

Highlights

 

How’s the water? - 1:24

• How the things we’re unaware of shape our reality.
• Perception of the good life vs. the reality of the good life.
• Intentional and unintentional spiritual formation.

 

What it means to follow - 17:45

• Jesus had a formation experience too.
• Take up your cross, give up your allegiances.

 

The goal of apprenticeship - 27:33

• Be present with the person who is discipling you and participate with him in what he is doing.
• Why are we starting with silence and solitude as our first spiritual discipline?
• Touching on the role of the 3 other spiritual disciplines.

 

Quotables

• “We absorb, we swim in waters, that project a good life, but they're doing something to us and there has to be a different way to live.”
• “...Any movement towards the way of Jesus is not it's, it's actually a counter formation. We're counter-forming against the way the world is forming us.”
• “It's in following Jesus, we are revoking or at least diminishing all other of our identities, not to where they don't exist. Cause God created us with the particularities that we have as men or women or whatever ethnicity we come from, heritage, all of that's important for sure. It doesn't diminish or flatten that. But it does move all of those things to say, like, we now have a new fundamental allegiance in identity. It's not in being male or female. It's not in being American. It's not in being you know, a CEO it's not in any of those things. It's now what matters is this in this that we are in the family of God, that is first and fundamentally our primary allegiance. And if anything else bumps its head against that. It has to be dealt with.”

 

Resources & References

• David Foster Wallace - Kenyon College Commencement Speech (full transcript available here)

Episode 31: Unbelief

Listen in as Brandon, Dan, and Kevin talk about unbelief.

Episode 30: Tender Power

Join Kevin and Brandon as they dig a little deeper into last week’s sermon. They talk through the pains of getting older, how to posture our hearts when we pray, and how the tender power of Jesus brings healing to our brokenness.

 

Highlights

Healthy Tension - 4:02

• How to position our hearts when we don’t see God moving.
• Jarius’ risk coming to Jesus
• How desperation can bring people to the feet of Jesus.

 

Creation’s Groaning - 16:49

• Does God make bad things happen to people?
• Jesus and the woman with the issue of blood.

 

Do you want God?  - 26:30

• Seeking the hand of Jesus versus seeking Jesus himself.
• Building greater intimacy with God.
• Shifting your focal point of desire.

 

Resources & References 

• Mark 1
• Matthew 4
• Inaugurated Eschatology according to thirdmill.org.
• Romans 8

 

Quotables

• “...the gospel's about the reconciliation of all things, which means all things. It means both material [and] spiritual. It means the very created earth that the world itself needs to be restored from its own brokenness.”
•  There's this Jesus who's influential and has some fame at this point, crowds are gathering around him and this kind of menial, outcast, marginalized woman. And you don't expect Jesus to say daughter. But in that moment, it reinstates her, if you will, or even just welcome sees her truest identity as a child of God, um, it says your faith has healed. You, you know, go in peace, uh, which is just this beautiful, beautiful exchange.
• “The more we are connected with God, the more we start noticing all the ways that God's kingdom is breaking through.”

Episode 29: Disruption

For this episode of the CPC Life Together Podcast, Brandon, Kevin, and Rachel are sitting in the discomfort of how Jesus calls us to live versus what is in our human nature. Take a listen as they discuss last week’s sermon and how we can bring our discomfort to God.

 

Highlights

 

Understanding evil in a modern context - 8:20

• Processing the problem of evil.
• How do we interact with people who are acting in line with evil?
• The myth of redemptive violence

 

“The world is more complex than that” - 19:41

• How people attempt to create simple solutions for complex issues?
• The challenges of mob mentality.

 

Jesus as a disruptive force for good - 27:04

• How Jesus disrupted the life of contemporaries.
• How we can respond to Jesus’ disruptions in our own lives?
• How Jesus meets the broken and hurting.

 

Quotables

• “We have to understand the difference between someone who disagrees with us, and someone who may be actually doing evil. And, and sometimes, we can actually be under the influence, uh, and so engrossed in a particular cultural issue or whatnot, where we view the other side as evil.”
• If we try to live in his reality, it's disruptive to our current status. I feel like that's such a massive thing. I feel like embracing, following Jesus, if we really wanna become apprentices of Jesus, we have to be ready for that disruption.
• “On Sunday, you worded it as both scary and a beautiful thing. Cause I think you said if your will is bent away from the way of Jesus, he'll give you what you will, but it's beautiful because he'll always welcome you back.”

 

Resources & References

• Matthew 4:24
• Dallas Willard - The Cost of Non-Discipleship
• Romans 12:2

Episode 28: Storms

This week, we’re turning the tables! Our Communications Pastor Sandy Hughes normally helps put together the CPC Real Life Together Podcast from behind the scenes. But this week, she’s joining us in front of the mic! Take a listen as Sandy, Kevin, and Rachel dig a little deeper into last week’s sermon, the best road trip snacks, and how we can build our faith in Jesus even in the midst of our storms.

 

Highlights

 

What Hume Lake and the Sea of Galilee have in common - 6:25

• Sandy shares her story of being in the middle of a storm.
• The symbolism of the sea for Jewish people.
• The tension between fear and confidence for the disciples.

Following Jesus in the midst of storms - 17:36

• Who do we run to when things are hard?
• I am bringing God in the full human experience and His response to us.

 

Building faith to endure the storms - 25:56

• Building faith and family within our community.
• What do our gut responses in the midst of storms reveal about us?
• Encouragement to those feeling the weight of a storm.

 

Quotables

• “The sea came to symbolize for them the dark power of evil. Yeah. Threatening to destroy god's good creation, God's people, and God's purposes.”
• “Following Jesus does not mean that the storms will never come. It isn't God removing us from circumstances.
• “I, I think the big, the big thing is we know who to run to in the middle of it. Yeah. I mean, we may not understand why, but eventually, you see God at work doing something in your own life, in your own soul. Yeah. And he has this for a reason.”
• I think about my life, in the middle of the storms. I really don't believe we're meant to go through those by ourselves. We can. We can choose to. But I think there's a piece of community that is so important.
• “If there's anything I've learned about Jesus being Lord over the storm, he loves us. He's in it with us. He's big enough to handle your grief, your anger, and whatever emotions you're feeling. And if there's anything I've learned in my life, I can trust him.”

 

Resources & References

• Gardettos - Kevin’s go to road trip snack.
• Burnt Peanuts and Bugles - Sandy’s go to road trip snack.
• Hot Cheetos and Gummy Bears - Rachel (and Kaciny’s) go to road trip snack.
• Mark 4:35-41 - Jesus and the disciples at the Sea of Galilee
• Psalm 107 - 

Episode 27: Counter Cultural

Jesus’ presence on Earth impacted the trajectory of life as we know it by virtue of how countercultural he was. Join Kevin and Brandon as they talk through the various ways that Christ's kingdom countered the ways of the world.

Highlights

Defining the Kingdom of God - 10:00

• Start with what the kingdom of God is not.
• God as the ultimate reconciler.
• The Kingdom of God versus the Kingdom of Me

The Counter-Culture of Christ - 20:00

• The difference between Jesus’ way and our way.
• The transformative power of Christ in our lives.
• What is “The Good Life?”

 

Quotables

• “ if you're just feeling like Jesus just always agrees with you  I'm like your will like, oh yeah, my will is always just kind of Jesus' will it's always out. There's a chance that you're getting it wrong.”
• “...We can't employ means that are counter to the kingdom of God to then live into its reality.”

 

Resources & References 

• Psalm 23

Episode 26: Summer XP

Kevin and Brandon sit down with Daniel Grunewald and Glendy Martin from the CPCKids Team.

Episode 25: Hear

What do alien sounds and hearing the Gospel have in common? Join Kevin and Brandon for this episode of the CPC Real Life Together Podcast to find out as they talk through last week’s sermon and the weight of what it is to truly hear the Gospel.

 

Highlights

 

The Good News - 10:58

• Brandon and Kevin process the idea that the Gospel is not good news for everybody.
• From building our lives around broken systems to reorienting our lives around Christ.

 

Wrestling with the Old Creation Dynamic - 16:53

• Peter’s struggle with the Gospel.
• The alternative logic of Kingdom dynamics.
• Becoming a student of the Kingdom.

 

How Do We Unlearn? - 23:20

• The importance of changing our habits.
• Becoming the kind of person who loves their enemies.
• Jesus puts the ball in our court to change.
• Unlearning the worries of this life.

Resources & References

• Endel - Soundscape App
• Build My Life - Housefires (ft. Pat Barrett)
• Mark 4 through Mark 8 - Scripture referenced in this episode
• The Divine Conspiracy - a book by Dallas Willard
• The Power of Habit - a book by Charles Duhigg 
• Matthew 5:38-42
• Luke 18:18-26 - The parable of the Rich Young Ruler

Quotables

• “...If you build your life around a system that is broken. Yeah. Um, it's gonna be painful to try to rip that system down.” - Brandon
• “I think that's the difference between... um, those who say they wanna follow Jesus and those who, who resist is the follower of Jesus, whether or not they figure it out and get there it's their deepest desire at their core saying, no, I want to follow this. Jesus. Wow. And then it's how do we get these strong desires in alignment with your deep desire?” - Kevin

To get in touch with us, you can email us at communications@cpc.org, leave a comment on our PodBean website, or leave a review on Apple Podcasts (or anywhere else you listen to podcasts)

Episode 24: Fan

Dan is back on the podcast this week as Brandon and Kevin talk with him about what it means to be a fan or follower of Jesus. Join us as we learn more about how Dan came to faith and the difference between being a fan of Jesus and a follower of Jesus.

 

Highlights

 

Icebreaker - 0:46

• What is a sword drill?
• Dan shares a bit about his faith journey.

 

Fans vs Followers - 10:20

• What do a fan and a follower look like in our world and our faith?
• Jesus’ invitation to discipleship.
• What does it mean to be an apprentice?

 

Being With Jesus -  27:26

• Figuring out the balance between doing and simply being with Jesus.
• How Jesus modeled being in the presence of the Lord for us.
• The kind of people Jesus kept community with. 

Quotables

• (13:27) “A fan doesn't have skin in the game. There isn't a real impact on whether or not they continue being a quote fan of Jesus versus… you know, followers. They've got skin in the game… you know, you look at the disciples. They dropped their nets. They left everything. They left their old way of living to enter into a new one. And that radically changes their perspective on what it means to follow Jesus.”

 

• (28:32) “It begins with this relationship with him. And what emanates out of that relationship is the service that we do, you know, loving God and loving others, you know, and how that manifests itself using our gifts.”

 

Resources & References 

• Dan’s Wallet Pen
• CPC Hot Ones
• Not a Fan - Book by Kyle Idleman
• John 10:10
• To get in touch with us, you can email us at communications@cpc.org, leave a comment on our PodBean website, or leave a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever else you listen to podcasts.

Episode 23: Sabbath

On today’s episode of the CPC Podcast, Kevin and Brandon explore the role of Sabbath in the Christian life. They reflect on this past week’s sermon and discuss how we can find healthier rhythms of rest and work in our own lives.

 

Highlights

 

The god of efficiency - 9:12

• How over-prioritizing efficiency can be harmful in the long run
• Living in a state of soul fatigue

Sabbath in real-life - 22:23

• The origins of Sabbath in scripture
• Brandon reflects on his experience finding a rhythm of rest.
• What Sabbath is and is not.
• The gift that God gives us through sabbath 

 

Resources & References

• Genesis 2
• Kitchen Table Talks - Brandon Pasion
• Shout out to Travis at the San Mateo Zoo

 

Quotes

• “Sabbath is about reconstituting yourself. It's about bringing yourself the ways you've been frayed by your busy week saying, ‘Okay. Who, who am I again? Who am I in connection with God and who does God say I am?’”.