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Episode 1 - Intro
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Come join as a we kick off our new podcast! Here we will be discussing our vision and purpose as we dig deep into God's word.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:09
Speaker
So welcome to Grove Hill, and our podcast that we are restarting after all this time. We've been excited about this opportunity. My name's Ridley Barron. I am the senior pastor at Grove Hill Church, and I got two of my very favorite people sitting
Purpose and Goals of the Podcast
00:00:23
Speaker
next to me. don't you introduce yourself, guys?
00:00:25
Speaker
My name's John Ballard. I'm the associate pastor at Grove Hill Church, and just excited to be here. I think this is going to offer some really, really good stuff for people who are looking to go deeper in their faith and
Topics and Listener Interaction
00:00:37
Speaker
gather some tools. So good stuff.
00:00:39
Speaker
And I'm Kyle Hess, the youth pastor at Grove Hill Church, and I've got a decent-sized group that I'm trying to figure out how to lead towards Jesus. so So what you got in front of you are three guys who very sincerely want to see the word of God spread in our community, to our families, to individuals who are looking for him, and maybe some who don't even know that's what they're looking for.
00:00:59
Speaker
And so these conversations week by week are an opportunity for us to take the gospel and try to help people apply it to real life, real situations. So we're going to talking about a lot of different things over the next couple weeks, right? Yep. A lot of different things, introductory week, but there's going to be a lot of fun stuff. I think directions we're going to go may be new to you, but I think it's going to be all a resource as we walk through day by day in our walk with Christ. So yeah really good stuff.
00:01:28
Speaker
Yeah, so whether we're recapping on ah a sermon that we recently heard or a current event that's come up or something that's just the Holy Spirit's been putting on our heart, um we want to be a resource to you to take God's Word and put it in an applicable way so you can directly apply it to your life. Yeah.
Personal Faith Journeys
00:01:43
Speaker
And although there's three minds sitting at this table working on this together and a couple other guys behind the scenes who are helping us out, we want your input because this thing only goes as effectively as... what you you enabled us to do for you, to help you.
00:01:57
Speaker
So if there's topics you want to talk about, if there's things you want to hear from time to time, we may bring in a guest who shares a testimony or we do a Q&A with them. But we want to make this as a valuable use of your time as possible.
00:02:09
Speaker
um While you're driving to work or you're sitting by the poolside or whatever, listen to this. We want to make sure that it's something that is effective for you. So help us out. Give us some feedback. Let us know where we're hitting the mark and where we might be able to adjust some things for Yeah, we've got a couple goals in mind. Obviously, there's different aspects to each one of us.
00:02:27
Speaker
We have our lead pastor here. and We have someone who's in charge of discipleship, life group, just small group. And then me would be like the next gen or youth or students.
00:02:38
Speaker
And so we just kind of want to give you a perspective from the three sides of that on how you and your family could walk through Scripture and apply it to your life. so john grew up going to church right did yep very very familiar grew up from the time i was born until i left the house i was in church okay when did you accept christ i accepted christ at the age of eight i i was going into third grade and my third grade teacher mrs rogers introduced me to christ i'd obviously been introduced but in the the reference of walking me through the plan of salvation and what that looked like to follow christ and
00:03:13
Speaker
ah Man, I didn't anticipate it being there. ah I'm sure you that ah God was going to use that moment. And man, I still look back on it to this day and I'm thinking, I still remember those conversations that we had in that classroom. So very, very cool.
00:03:30
Speaker
What about you, Kyle? Pretty much the same. I was born in the baptismal. Um, not really. Um, but, uh, grew up in church, very involved in church and, uh, gave my life to Jesus at six years old.
00:03:41
Speaker
Um, at that point it was in fear of hell. Uh, wanted to be saved and go to heaven. And that was the, the motivation behind that decision. And then later on in life, I had an event around 17 that made me made me realize I needed Jesus to be Lord of my life, just not my
Scriptural Transformation and Challenges
00:03:56
Speaker
savior. And so from that point on, just fully submitted to him and everything I can, uh, mess up a lot.
00:04:01
Speaker
Um, but try to get back on on track as quickly and as often as I can. So our stories are very similar. Cause I grew up in church as well. Like you was born in the nursery of the church. I was there every Sunday. If I wasn't there, I was on the verge of death.
00:04:13
Speaker
it wass going to yeah Got saved at age eight from vacation Bible school, but very much the same kind of story. It was more because I knew it was the right thing to do. it was what mom and dad expected.
00:04:23
Speaker
I still think it was legitimately me giving my life to Christ, but I didn't understand the the wealth of what it was opening up for me. Agreed. Agreed. So as I grew, got into a good youth group, had a lot of good people who mentored me from Sunday school teachers to football coaches all the way through. it was later in my high school years where I began to really unpack what it was to have a relationship with Jesus Christ.
00:04:43
Speaker
um So, you know, around 17 years old, God starts speaking to me about what ministry looks like. And I didn't have a clue what I was stepping into. But thankful that God has brought me to this place and given me this opportunity to be doing what I'm doing.
00:04:57
Speaker
So, so I want to start with a verse. We all look very spiritual up here with our Bible. So I thought we as well use them, right? Mine's closed, so I don't think I'm as holy as you got here. Let me open it. There we go.
00:05:09
Speaker
It's a familiar verse for all of us, but I'd love for us just to kind of unpack this because I think to me this is kind of part of my goal for this podcast, what I've always wanted to do. And by the way, just so you know, I've always dreamed since I was like in eighth grade that I would have a radio show someday. Didn't know there would be podcasts, so I guess this is the closest I'll ever get.
00:05:26
Speaker
We will not be spinning any disc for you or anything like that, but we may play a song every now and then. But Romans 12, 1 and 2, it says, Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true worship.
00:05:44
Speaker
Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. And I kind of just want us to talk for a second about that, that center portion of the passage there, do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
00:06:02
Speaker
How do you see a podcast like this, and and even go further into the ministries of our church, how do you see us working as a church to try to help the average John and Jane that come into our church with that transformation process of their minds?
00:06:16
Speaker
I think what we're doing and what you just mentioned is we're trying to take bite-sized portions. We know that we can't just add five years of spiritual maturity to somebody in a matter of moments, but we're looking to take these bite-sized things and bring you into closer proximity to say, Hey,
00:06:33
Speaker
this is how renewing happens. We're going to introduce scriptural concepts and how do you live out doctrine, biblical doctrine, and input it into those ways of how do you raise your kids? How do you act with that person you really don't like?
00:06:49
Speaker
All those ways we're hoping to introduce and renew your mind, not in the way that you desire sometimes, but in the way that God hopes that you will be renewed and transformed in the way that he has always intended for you.
00:07:02
Speaker
Yeah, this passage is incredibly important because ah the culture is constantly attacking our students. And so I see this, this is basically the fight that I fight every single week in that the the world's trying to take their identity, the world's trying to take their joy, their peace, their love,
00:07:17
Speaker
ah and skew it. And so um to have verses like this that just remind us that we're not conforming to the likeness of the world, but we're being transformed by scripture. That's what we want to help you do is we want to walk through scripture, help you apply it. So you as a parent, you as a student um can lead your household in a way that you're not conforming to the world like it wants so badly you to, but to transform you by the renewing of your mind. Yeah.
00:07:41
Speaker
So talk to me a little bit about the challenges to this process. what What do we face as people who are trying to follow a holy God in a very unholy world that that stops us or slows down our process of
Embracing Spiritual Transformation
00:07:55
Speaker
transformation? What are the obstacles we face? Distraction.
00:07:57
Speaker
a major A major thing is distraction. and There's so many that come into play, but the cell phone is probably the biggest one. We've seen it time and time again in our student ministry when we do a camp or a student life missions week.
00:08:10
Speaker
If we take the phone away from the student... imagine this, suddenly they start to hear from the Lord. yeah And so the Lord never stops wanting to engage with us. We're the one who set that aside and we disengage from him.
00:08:23
Speaker
And so if we could get on a constant habit of being connected with him and hearing from him, it's going to be a major change in my life, not just the student's life, not just you as parents, but in me personally, ah to be able to put distractions aside and hear from the Lord.
00:08:37
Speaker
And distractions don't just happen to teenagers, right, John? No, no. I think one of my own. So this is this is this is probably my own little downfall. but Busyness. yeah Busyness is a huge thing. And I think the culture all the way from where we have kids in high school, we're teaching them the things that you value.
00:08:56
Speaker
It's almost as if we see busyness as fruitful. That, hey, you're you're keeping all these things at the forefront of what you're doing. That you don't have any downtime. Man, you're just a hard worker. Yeah.
00:09:08
Speaker
It's really, you know, almost moving without a purpose. Right. And what I think we're trying to say is move with purpose in this very, very thing that you're doing and don't just move for the busyness. So yeah, it's, it's a hard concept to follow though.
00:09:24
Speaker
So I throw another one out there too, fear of letting go. Most humans, even though they don't want to admit it, are control freaks. Especially when it comes to their own
Actionable Faith
00:09:32
Speaker
life, their own future, because they got dreams, they got plans, they got desires.
00:09:35
Speaker
and And the very first thing that Jesus compels us to do when we come to Him is He says, you're gonna to lay down your life. um And that's a scary prospect, because He might ask me to do something that's not real comfortable. He might ask me to go places that I never would have picked for myself. He might ask me to sacrifice something that I've always wanted and and maybe even worked hard for.
00:09:54
Speaker
So that's a concept I think where ah we really have to come to terms with this whole idea of submission because until we submit, transformation can't really take place. yeah I think our reputation is a big one because we we worry about what people think of us and so we we hesitate to look like a Jesus freak. yeah But the song, ah Fool's Gold from Petra, back in the late Old school, baby. They said, some may call me foolish, some may call me odd. I'd rather be seen in as a fool in the eyes of man than be seen in the fool in the eyes of God. Our reputation with Christ is what really matters. And so um if we could just lay down the expectation of the world that they have on us and focus on what God has for us, our life's going to have a lot more love, joy, peace um that we're longing for.
00:10:41
Speaker
Yeah, this this podcast, I think most of you all, like us, we want to apply God's word to our life. And we want to look at these circumstances of, okay, this is how I use this.
00:10:52
Speaker
But there is no application, no good application if there is no submission. yeah And you're just submitting from your own source of brokenness, of past experiences that you've tried to build on. And most of the time you can do it maybe for a season, but if you're working out of the wrong source, the application is not going to be great. So...
00:11:13
Speaker
When I think about this, it takes me back to the scene from one of my favorite old movies. It's the the old Sean Connery, Kevin Costner movie, The Untouchables. y You ever seen that movie? No, sir. I've not seen it. I've not seen it. You've got go dig that one back up. It's about the story of Al Capone and how the G-Man went after him.
00:11:29
Speaker
Connery plays this tough Irish police officer in Chicago and Kevin Costner's the the Treasury Bureau guy that comes to to try to shut him down. And there's this horrible scene, obviously, where Sean Connery's been helping him go after him and most of the police department's corrupt, that kind of stuff, and they're trying to get some evidence to nail him.
00:11:46
Speaker
Well, Sean Connery gets shot by one of Capone's men. He's laying in his apartment, Kevin Costner comes in and Sean Connery's trying to give him a piece of evidence that's going to seal the deal on him. he he is He's ready to do this.
00:12:00
Speaker
And he he kind of harkens back to an earlier part in the movie, but he leans up and he whispers to Kevin Costner in his last breath, what are you prepared to do about it? Because in that original conversation, he said, you're you're wanting to go after one of the toughest guys there is on the street. You've got this incredible goal and it's worthy and I'm here for the fight.
00:12:16
Speaker
But if you're not prepared to do it, i don't I don't want to get involved. If you're not prepared to go the full length. So I think what this verse says, if you're going to follow Jesus Christ, what are you prepared to do about it? Are you willing to give up the things that are going to hold you back? And and as the Bible says, to throw off the sin that so easily entangles us.
00:12:32
Speaker
Are you really ready to take your entire family and say, I'm going to reorient my family around the person of Jesus Christ and around the cross? Are you willing to say, hey, I'll step away from my job if it doesn't honor God. I'll you know i'll i'll do things differently.
00:12:46
Speaker
And so I think a question that always comes to my mind as I'm reading passages like this is really, what are you prepared to do about it? You know the truth. The truth is there. It's been given to you ever since you were a kid, literally by your parents and teachers and that kind of stuff. So what are you going to do?
00:13:00
Speaker
I think Christians in general and myself included is we're really good at feeding. We feed, we feed, we feed, we feed. um But about putting into action is where we kind of get confused. And so I want to read James 1.22 and it says, do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves.
Community and Fellowship
00:13:17
Speaker
Do what it says, period. Right. um And so we we hear it. you You come to church, you're faithful. Come on Wednesday night, you do your Bible study. But are we putting it into action and are we being obedient in listening to the word.
00:13:31
Speaker
And so, um, I think that's at where we're headed with this podcast is to say, Hey, we're hearing the knowledge. We've got the education. Let's put the feet to the ground. Yeah. Yeah. The, the thing of worship and the very, very first person, first portion of that text that you just read, we're all worshiping something. That's right. Um, it's a matter of in the doing and that James talks about,
00:13:55
Speaker
doing for the Lord, but we're worshiping one thing or another. It's a matter of God directing our attention to worship. That is wholesome. That is a vertical versus horizontal because many of us get caught up in the horizontal and the busyness, the distractions, all those things pull at us for the renewing of something else.
00:14:17
Speaker
But no, I really believe that we do have to ask that question. What is our worship directed towards? Yeah. So the reason we wanted to do this podcast is because sitting next to me now are not only two of my favorite staff members, although I have like nine favorite staff members, but also two of my favorite people because they are brothers in arms and we see eye to on many things. But I think in our relationship here in this office and as we do life together, we have the ability to portray something that's really, really important for this journey of transformation.
00:14:49
Speaker
God never intended for you to do it on your own. you know The importance of community in your life cannot be overstated because man, Satan loves to pick off lone believers. He love loves to pick off those who try to, you know,
00:15:00
Speaker
pull up themselves up by their bootstraps and do it on their own. And God just never intended that. The very first thing that Jesus did when he started his ministry was surround himself by 12 normal guys who could walk life with him. So speak to the importance of that a little bit, Mr. Life Group Man.
00:15:15
Speaker
God never meant from Genesis to now that we were to ever be anything but around a group of people. The social aspect, ah very simply put, be fruitful and multiply. yeah God says it from the very beginning until now. And I think that that doesn't only go for the concept of...
00:15:36
Speaker
You know, there being more people in the world. Right. But join with your brothers and sisters. Look at Acts. The church was meant to be a gathering of people that were like-minded to go into the place to worship God.
00:15:50
Speaker
So this is another act of our worship as we... gather together as this is a time of like equipping resourcing and you're walking alongside of each other.
00:16:01
Speaker
ah it's together. It's not just a ah one person model. This is a multiple person model. And we want to join you really in this journey. And we want you to share with your friends, uh, not just for clicks, not just for likes, but because we know that we all need help and it's a joint effort in that.
00:16:20
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And it's not just ah not just the congregational aspect of it, like getting in a church is incredibly important. yeah yeah Um, but breaking it down even further as our student life grows, uh, we're constantly breaking into smaller, small groups, um, to keep that, that relational aspect on like a one to four ratio there, um, to where it's not, you know, the whole church congregation or the whole, whole of student life.
00:16:42
Speaker
um
Guidance and Participation
00:16:43
Speaker
And so being in a a discipleship group with a couple of other dudes or a couple of other women, um having prayer meetings, Bible studies outside of the Sunday, Wednesday congregation is incredibly important to our walk with Christ. One, for the accountability.
00:16:58
Speaker
When you meet with those people on a weekly basis, you know, not only do you have to answer to God, but you're going to have that conversation with someone here on earth. And it, it kind of heightens the, the standard of, of how you live your life. Yeah.
00:17:09
Speaker
So as you can imagine, you see us right here, we have Big Daddy Bible, Little Bitty Middle Bible, and then Little Bitty Bible over here, but we're always going to have the Bible as part of this, right? Yeah. The Bible is the central teaching that we believe God gives us for finding and knowing truth.
00:17:24
Speaker
And so we're going to bring that to bear in in every possible situation. In fact, I'm going to actually throw out a challenge first day. Here we go. You ready for this? Yes, sir. I would love for you to bring questions to us that you think the Bible can't answer.
00:17:35
Speaker
um Because we want to take those on for you. Because I think what we've got is a world where we we are constantly bombarded with false messages about God, about Jesus, about the Bible, about expectations.
00:17:47
Speaker
We're getting hammered all the time. Well, doesn't the Bible say this? And what you get is a little bit of twisted scripture that's thrown in there with some quote from Mark Twain or something. you know So we're going to have this thing open every week.
00:18:00
Speaker
We're gonna try to use it every week. We're gonna try to bring it to your life and apply it to your life. And most of all, we're gonna make sure that you're reading it and understanding it the way Scripture intends it to be. so Yeah. As we talked about earlier, the the world has thrown all the opinions at us.
00:18:13
Speaker
This cuts through all opinion. This is truth standing alone. The foundation of this book is truth, Jesus Christ. I am the way, the truth, and the life. And so we can cut through that conversation that the world is just bombarding your head with just by looking at Scripture and coming down to the basics of who God is and what He did for us. Right.
00:18:32
Speaker
Yeah. this This right here, for you business people out there, greatest proof of concept of anything you will ever encounter in your entire life. And people are always looking for an answer for those things. They're always doubting the sufficiency of what God's done or what's in the Bible. Is it true?
00:18:51
Speaker
But this has proven itself for thousands of years and will continue to stay that way. so you see And as I mentioned earlier on, we actually somewhere around here have a fourth microphone. So if you have somebody you know has a good story or somebody you'd like to hear from, maybe a perspective as a businessman, a housewife, student, somebody who would feel comfortable coming on here with these three guys and just sitting out having a dialogue and let's talk a little bit with them. We'd love to unpack that as well.
00:19:17
Speaker
We just as as we said and we will say it over and over again We really just love to see people grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ to become deeper stronger more mature disciples because in my mind, that's how the world becomes a better place. Yes, sir. True followers of Jesus Christ any final words I think we're wrapping up on time. I don't have a clue what kind of you know, we could just keep talking I think we did all
Conclusion and Invitation
00:19:38
Speaker
right. Yeah, so I'm wise I would just say come along with us have a friend say catch up uh join me in this journey because week by week we're going to be doing what these guys said we're going to be walking along with guests we're going be walking along with questions and topics so have somebody join you in the journey and talk about this even outside
00:20:03
Speaker
ah but Join us every week. Try to make it a pattern. I mentioned earlier about a pattern that you're starting because in those moments you're encountering God because we're encountering scripture. So sounds good to me. All right.
00:20:17
Speaker
So we want to invite you if you do not have a place to worship to come and join us at Grove Hill Church. Our goal is to impact everybody we meet with the gospel of Jesus Christ because we believe it has that much power to change lives.
00:20:29
Speaker
We have worship services at 8 o'clock, 9.30, and 11 a.m. every Sunday morning and a myriad of great ministries. If you want to just come and and stand with other brothers and sisters, get your hands dirty. We're always involved in our community around here, and we love that.
00:20:42
Speaker
So let us know if you have questions. We have a website. You can check us out there. And, of course, we would love for you to click and like and follow this podcast and join us every week as we talk about God, His world, and what He has for us.