The Central Peninsula Church Podcast

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?’”.

Episode 22: Expose

This week, Brandon sits down with Dan Reid as they reflect on last week’s sermon. They discuss Jesus’ approach to engaging with people who were on the outside edges of society and how that can influence the way we engage with people today.

 

Highlights

 

How Jesus Exposed Religion - 5:20

• What the gospel says about how to find freedom.
• How Jesus relates to those on the outskirts of society.
• From “Are you good enough?” to “Are you bad enough?”

 

How We Can Live Out Christ’s Example - 20:01

• How can we be like the Pharisees in our thinking?
• Who can we invite into our lives that we may not have ordinarily walked alongside?
• How does Jesus view the world and do we view it the same way?

 

Quotables

• “Don’t let your tool become a rule.”
• “How much of your story is time spent with sinners?”
• “When it comes to relationships [disgust] was not something on Jesus’ radar… Jesus didn’t apply that to people. Jesus was there in the dirt, in the lowest of lows with the people society would say ‘I’m disgusted by you.’”
• There’s a big difference between being offended by behaviors and being disgusted by people.

 

Resources & References

• Arby’s
• Arbeit macht frei (German) - Work sets you free - found at the entrance of various concentration camps during the Holocaust.

Episode 21: Forgiveness

Forgiveness is a central part of the Christian life. Both as the gift we receive from Christ and as the gift we can extend to others. Join Kevin and Brandon as they unpack last week’s sermon and the way that forgiveness heals.

 

Highlights

Jesus and the Paralyzed Man - 5:55

• Which people do we identify with in this story: the crowds or the scribes?

 

Accountability: What it Looks Like for Us - 19:23

• The Scribes: How they demonstrate the importance of accountability for individuals and institutions.

 

Resources & References 

• What is hacky-sack?
• Scripture references: Mark 2:1-12

Episode 20: Restore

Sam Abel, CPC's Middle School Ministry Director, joins Kevin and Brandon for this week's episode. Listen as they talk through Sam's sermon last Sunday and the impact of Jesus' ability to bring restoration in scripture and our lives. 

 

Highlights

 

Introduction - 0:17

• A little about Sam Abel, Middle School Ministry Director.

Jesus’ Restoration in Scripture - 12:25

• Jesus takes personal responsibility for the lepers’ restoration.
• Mark demonstrates the kingdom of God through Christ’s restoration.
• The physical and spiritual need for restoration

Jesus’ Restoration in Our Lives - 22:03

• Who have we banished?
• How can we move toward people the way Jesus did?
• What areas do we avoid in our lives and how do we learn to face it head-on?

Resources & References

• He Is Able - The Maranantha! Singers
• God of this City - Chris Tomlin
• Rivulose - marked with irregular, narrow, sinuous, or crooked lines
• GoFundMe for Sam’s Dish Gloves
• Sozo (greek) - to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction.
• “People are hard to hate up close. Move in.” from Braving the Wilderness by Brené Brown (researcher, speaker, & author)
• John 5 - The man healed at the Pool of Bethesda

Episode 19: Practice

CPC’s Vision Director Rachel Almeida joins Kevin and Brandon to talk through this past Sunday’s sermon. They explore what it looks like to practice the kingdom and find connection with God in a world constantly competing for our attention.

 

Highlights 

Silence, Solitude, and Hurry-Sickness - 5:40

• The importance of silence and solitude in modern life.
• How can we move out of hurrying and into the presence of God?

Disconnect to Connect with God - 18:10

• Eremos: How Jesus practiced the Kingdom.
• The role of prayer in connecting us to God.

What does this look like in real life? - 26:50

• The practice of prayer and teaching our brains to tune in.
• Engaging with Jesus versus performing for Jesus.

 

Quotables

• “Can you ever really imagine Jesus busy? When you think about the life of Jesus, you can’t ever really imagine him rushing around.”
• “Solitude affords us that opportunity to unplug to both assess our life as well as become comfortable with inefficiency.”
• “If we want the life of Jesus, we have to take on the lifestyle of Jesus” - Dallas Willard
• “The more I’m connected with God, the more I have his perspective and his priorities… from that flows everything else.”

 

Resources & References

• The Difference between Busy and Hurry (article)
• Eremos meaning
• Dallas Willard - theologian and philosopher

 

Episode 18: Hope

Brandon and Kevin sit down with Stephen Petiti after last weekend’s sermon. They talk through the importance of Jesus’ role as the messiah and how his life was the fulfillment of the old testament.

 

Highlights

Jesus: The Messiah - 7:09

• Jesus wasn’t the only one who claimed to be messiah.
• How the book of Isaiah revealed Christ and his holiness.
• Holiness in a secular age.

Where does Jesus reside for us? - 18:20

• What will we let master us?
• What does surrendering to Jesus look like in this day and age?

Quotables

• “When things get really hard, that’s where His Lordship is revealed.”

 

Resources & References

• American Gladiators
• Thrice - American band formed in Irvine, California.
• A Secular Age - book by Charles Taylor
• James 2:19 (NIV) - “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.”
• 1 Corinthians 6:12 (NASB) - “All things are permitted for me, but not all things are of benefit. All things are permitted for me, but I will not be mastered by anything.”

Episode 17: Kingdom

This episode was recorded before the Uvalde shootings.

 

Brandon and Kevin bring a little humor and a lot of thought to this week’s episode of the CPC podcast. Listen in as they reflect on last Sunday’s sermon and how the book of Mark shows us that the Gospel is truly centered around the Kingdom of God.

 

Highlights 

 

Jesus’ Thesis - 4:41

• The kingdom of God: how we’ve come to understand it today and what we may be missing.
• What does it actually mean to be an evangelical?
• New creation dynamics vs old creation dynamics

Misconceptions about the Kingdom of God - 22:38

• Differences in the way we think about heaven
• Understand repentance
• What are the nets that we need to let go of?

Resources & References

• Kairos - According to Strong’s Greek Concordance, kairos means time or season, and it is a noun used to represent a fitting season or opportunity, an occasion.
• Evangelion - According to Merriam Webster: Late Greek euangelion, from Greek, good news, gospel.
• The Evangelical Quadrilateral by David W. Bebbington
• Metanoeo (or Metanoia) - to change one’s mind

Episode 16 Reimagine

General Info

• Recording Date: 5-16-22
• Release Date: 5-20-22
• Hosts: Kevin Sneed and Brandon Pasion
• Episode 16 Reimagine
• Guest: McKenna Mitchell Takech

Podcast Summary

Brandon and Kevin sit down with McKenna Mitchell Takach to reflect on the service from this past week. They break down what it means to reimagine royalty. They also take a deep dive to examine our relationship to Jesus and how that impacts our relationship with each other.

 

Highlights

Impressions of Jesus - 4:26

• Culture’s impact on how we see Jesus.
• Getting to know the Jesus of the scriptures.

 

Reimagining Royalty - 13:10

• Jesus, Mother Teresa, and Princess Diana: The intersection between them
• Recognizing the legacy of the people who came before us
• Determining the life we want to live as Christ-followers.

Walking in Right Relationship  - 25:44

• What we can learn from how Jesus related to God.
• What blocks are we putting on our relationship with God?
• Creating a culture of honor in our relationships with each other.

Quotables

• We have a truncated impression of love and we extend that to Jesus.
• We don’t compromise Christlikeness to imitate Christ

Resources & References

• John 10:10
• Princess Diana
• Mother Teresa
• The Meaning of Marriage - Tim Keller

Episode 15: Wilderness

General Info

• Wilderness
• Release Date: Friday, May 13
• Hosts: Brandon Pasion, Kevin Sneed
• Guests: Dan Reid
• Episode 15

 

Podcast Summary 

Dan Reid joins Kevin and Brandon as they delve into last week’s sermon and how John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus. They also talk through the significance of the metaphor of the wilderness.

Highlights

 

Who Is Jesus? - 5:38

• Dan’s bullet points about Mark.
• The importance of John the Baptist’s role.

 

Navigating The Wilderness - 11:18

• Calling Israel back to the wilderness.
• The parallels between where religion took people in the bible versus where religion is taking us now.
• Navigating our own personal wilderness seasons.

 

Resources & References 

• Matthew 3:4 - John the Baptist ate locusts and wild honey
• Beef Tartare
• From the Inside Out by Ryan Kuja

Episode 14: Mark

General Info

• Release Date: April 29, 2022
• Hosts: Brandon Pasion, Kevin Sneed
• Guests: Rachel Almeida and Stephen Petiti
• Episode 14

 

Podcast Summary

Brandon and Kevin give a behind the scenes look at what we’re talking about in the coming weeks as we journey through the gospel of Mark. Rachel Almeida and Stephen Petiti guest star in this episode to share their perspective.

 

Highlights

 

The Gospel of Mark - 5:14

• Where we’ve been in the past couple of years and how that leads us into the book of Mark.
• How we can read through the gospels.

 

To Know and to Follow Jesus  - 18:16

• Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament.
• The three questions to break down in this series.
• What makes Jesus so compelling?

Resources & References

• Picanha - Rachel’s favorite cut of steak
• Fogo de Chao - Brazilian steakhouse
• Darkwing Duck, Rugrats, and Spongebob
• The Gospel of Thomas
• The Gospel of Mark
• Long Obedience in the Same Direction - Eugene Peterson
• 2 Thessalonians 3:13
• John 10:7
• King of Glory - Third Day
• This I Believe (The Creed) - Hillsong Worship
• Wonderful Cross - Chris Tomlin