Southside Baptist Church Podcast

There are places we want to go and places we must go. We want to go on vacation; we must go to the dentist. We want to go to the movies or a sporting event; we must go to school or work. Whether it is a “want to” or a “must” go place, technology allows us to type in the destination and our phones will tell us how to get there. That’s exactly how many of us approach prayer. We enter a question or location and expect God to show us the answer or chart a course to a destination of our choosing. But that is not the way Jesus taught His disciples to pray. Join us for the final message in the three-part series, “Prayer Journey,” where we will discover that total surrender is essential to an intimate relationship with God.

Mobile devices can warn drivers about everything from road debris to major highway construction. When activated and acted on, drivers can potentially save time by following the directions offered by their “smart” device. Then there are those people who assume their device is smarter than it actually is, and end up in a ditch off the side of a road. Unlike modern technology, however, God offers directions that, while they may not always make sense at the time, are sure to get us safely to our destination. Although we have all deviated from His directions, God is patient and allows for course corrections. Join us for part two of “Prayer Journey,” where we will discover the importance of repentance and the role it plays on our journey to greater intimacy with God.

When you put an address into your favorite mapping software, you should get a clear picture of your desired destination, but if you want to go there, you’ll need to provide your current location. Fortunately (or maybe not), our “smart” devices frequently know where we are even when we do not! It’s difficult to chart a course if you do not know where you are beginning the journey. A journey to intimacy with God begins with an awareness of our current spiritual location. Often, we approach prayer as an opportunity to tell God where we want to go, without the slightest idea of where we are. Join us for part one of the three-part series, “Prayer Journey,” in which we will learn the importance of deep, reflective prayer and how only God can show us our current location.

The opening section of the book of Acts ends with a disturbing picture of a discipleship. Stephen was one of the first leaders in the early church. He had all the characteristics and practiced all the habits of a fully devoted follower of Jesus and yet, he found himself the target of violent opposition from religious people. Join us for the final message in The Disciple’s Journey where we learn that true followers of Jesus must die to self to live for Him.

We are in a spiritual battle. Our enemy wants us to give up on our journey to a closer relationship with Jesus. As we continue to follow Jesus, He provides power for us through the Spirit, through our fellow travelers, and through our practice of the historic spiritual disciplines. As Richard Foster writes, these spiritual disciplines “allow us to place ourselves before God so that He can transform us.”

In an increasingly materialistic culture which offers multiple superficial solutions to our longing for a genuine relationship with God, the words of one of Christ’s first disciples calls us to a Deeper Journey with Christ. The apostle Peter called the early Christians to that journey which included sacrifice and discipline. We are called to that same obedience to Jesus and as we grow in our relationship with Him, we will have a greater impact upon the world around us as we grow in our love for Jesus and for others.

After we have surrendered to Jesus Christ and have begun our journey of faithfulness, there will be times of doubt and even failures – just review the apostle Peter’s own story. However, as Robert Mulholland notes, we are following the One whose grace can redeem our detours and can free us from the crippling bondages of our prior journey. God provides grace for the journey and He will restore us and remake us!

Jesus called the disciples to follow Him and then commissioned them to go and make other disciples. From Jesus’ first invitation to “come, follow me,” throughout the centuries and across the planet, there has been a continual succession of faithful disciples echoing Jesus’ invitation. Disciples make disciples. Join us for part five of The Disciple’s Journey where we discover how the first Church grew as the Disciples proclaimed the good news of Jesus throughout the city of Jerusalem.

Generosity was a defining characteristic of first century disciples. In his history of the early church, Luke describes how Christians shared their possessions so that there was no need among them. That kind of generosity attracted the attention and favor of the entire city. What would happen if believers today displayed that kind of generosity? Join us for part four of The Disciple’s Journey where we learn that generosity is an essential habit of discipleship.

The success and growth of the first church was not generated through extravagant programs held in state-of-the-art facilities. Their accomplishments were not the result of powerful, influential leaders. In fact, the early church had almost nothing we consider essential for the church today. All they had is all that Jesus promised them: power from the Holy Spirit. The disciples were dependent on God, and that dependence drove them to their knees in prayer. Join us for part three of The Disciple’s Journey where we discuss the importance of prayer in the life of a fully devoted follower of Jesus.

When the church was born, the first disciples didn't have copies of the Bible (the New Testament didn't even exist yet!) They didn't have buildings or programs, in fact, they had almost nothing that we would consider indispensable today. So how did they go from being a handful of rag tag fisherman to leaders of a global movement? The answer is through the Power of the Holy Spirit and a deep commitment to their community of believers. Join us for part two of The Disciple’s Journey and learn how disciples then and now still grow in community.

As Jesus was preparing to ascend to heaven, He instructed His disciples to wait on the Holy Spirit. At first, they took that direction literally as they passively stood around looking into the sky. But after reaching the upper room, they became impatient and began planning. Many of us vacillate between passivity and impatience when we are called to wait on the Lord. Join us for part on of the series The Disciple’s Journey where we will consider the first habit of a growing disciple.

Jesus’ invitation to discipleship is a call to follow Him. While believing in Jesus is important, following Him is always the standard for a true disciple. In fact, the Bible does not leave room for believing in Jesus apart from obediently following Him. That sounds simple, but it is not easy. Join us for the first message in our year long Journey to Discipleship. In this message, Pastor Gary Webber will share four responses to this simple invitation and cast vision for how we can all dedicate this year to a closer walk with Jesus on the Journey to Discipleship.

Every year we set aside December 25 to remember and celebrate the arrival of Jesus, the Son of God, Savior of the world. Even people who do not regularly attend church or read their Bibles find the familiarity of the Christmas story a source of joy each December. But what if the Christmas story was only the beginning of the story? What if Jesus’ arrival was only the first of many? Join us on Christmas Eve at 11 am or 6 pm as Pastor Gary Webber tells the Tale of Three Christmases and how they changed the world.

Christmas is the annual celebration of the birth of Jesus. But there is no evidence the early church ever celebrated Jesus’ birth. Instead, the early disciples lived in eager anticipation of His second coming. Every time the early church got together, it was with the expectation that today could be the day when Jesus returned. Advent is a season of reflecting on our need for a Savior and how God met that need through the gift of His Son, Jesus. And just as people longed and waited for the arrival of the promised Messiah, so the Church today waits with eager expectancy the day of our Savior’s return. Join us for part four of Arrival as we consider Jesus’ promise to return and what that means for us today.

When we think about the arrival of Jesus our thoughts turn to the past (Bethlehem) or the future (His return). There is, however, a present reality to consider. After Jesus was arrested and crucified, He was placed in a borrowed tomb. His followers and His detractors thought it was over. Clearly this was not the world’s long-awaited Messiah. But three days later, Jesus rose from the grave and appeared to more than 500 people. Since that arrival on the first Easter morning, millions of Christians have claimed and continue to claim that their lives have been impacted by the arrival of the resurrected Savior. Not only did He come and will He come, but He comes to us in our present reality. Join us for part three of Arrival as we explore the present reality of the Christmas story.

If you have lived your entire life expecting God to send a conquering king to overthrow the most powerful empire known to man, you would probably not look for a baby born to an unwed, homeless, teenage refugee. But that is exactly how God chose to make His entrance into our world. The arrival of the Messiah was not what anyone expected and so most people missed it. Join us for part two of Arrival where we will look at Jesus’ arrival in Bethlehem and consider how our expectations can sometimes cause us to miss the very thing for which we are longing.