Neighborhood Church Memphis Podcast

His Persistence

The Adventure of Belief

Walking with God requires faith. It's an adventure that is at times very risky. It involves believing in a God you can't see and who tells you to do things that often don't make sense. Do you trust this God?

Advent Conspiracy 2011

This is our fifth year to take part in Advent Conspiracy. Hear the counter-cultural message behind Advent Conspiracy and how our community is taking part.

Rest in the Midst of Trials

In this message Robert teaches on the topic of suffering and how it relates to our spiritual growth. Three questions are asked: 1. In light of the suffering all around us, is it possible for God to be both sovereign and good? 2. If God is both sovereign and good, then why do we experience suffering? 3. How can our hearts be at rest in the midst of suffering and trials?

Be Who You Are

One of the greatest indicators of spiritual growth is that we are more and more becoming who Christ has freed us to be. Through Christ's life, death and resurrection, God has given us new life, but every day we are in a battle against our old selves. Thanks be to God, though, that the Gospel not only gives us knowledge about this new life, but it also gives us the power to experience it!

Humility

In this message we look at the role of humility in our spiritual development.

The Benefits of Failing

In this message we look at the topic of failure. Failure has a way of paralyzing us in our journey, but it can also be a step forward.

A Habit of Wisdom and Peace

A Habit of Wisdom and Peace

Meredith teaches from James 3:13-18 as we seek to move from only having the hope of applying God's wisdom to our busy schedules and relationships to actually developing the habit of living it out.

Habits

In this message John shares practical thoughts and ideas about the habits of Jesus and how we can have and implement those in our lives.

Four Truths about God

Behind every sin and negative emotion is a lie about God. The solution is not to try harder not to sin, or to try to bolster our self-esteem. It's to go back to the truths of God to fight those lies. This recording is the entire worship gathering from 9/11/11. It includes Scripture readings, connecting thoughts, and songs. What you don't get in the recording are the slides that had different lies that we believe. That's pretty important, so you can download the entire slides we used here.

Jay and Anna

Jay and Anna share about what God is doing in Southeast Asia

The Pattern of this World

Our culture teaches us that happiness is the goal, and the route to happiness is having love, money, success and power. The Church is called to something different. We are a city on a hill, a counter-cultural people. The problem is that if we aren't careful, we too will be conformed to the pattern of this world...and we'll have no idea that it's happened. Our hope is two-fold. First, the Gospel reminds us of who God is, what He's done, who we are, and how we now get to live. It gives us...

Sanctification

In this message we introduce the series "Hope, Habits and Hunger." Just as Paul does in 1 Timothy 4, we will look at the similarities (and differences) between physical training and spiritual training.

A Man After God's Own Heart

As we close out our series on the life of David, we look at one final question: "What is it about David's life that makes him a man after God's own heart? Sometimes it's difficult for us to answer this, especially when we read about David's sins of adultery and murder. Or when we compare his sins with Saul's. In this message we'll look at one story from David's life, found in 2 Samuel 6, that helps us understand why God thought of David in this way.

Jewish Festivals and the Weekender

In two weeks NC will have it's second Weekender. In this message Rabbi Chad from Memphis' Messianic Synagogue Brit Hadash talks about three of the Jewish festivals, and how they are the inspiration for our Weekenders. As you listen you'll be amazed by how specific and strategic God's plan is. You'll also hear why rhythms are so important to our lives.

All Alone in a Cave

What happens when God doesn't come through in the way you thought He would? Or what about when He just seems distant? How do we respond? David faced difficult times like these, and in this teaching we get to see how he responded.

Submission

In this message we look at the relationship between David and Saul. How is it that David continued to come back to Saul even when Saul tried to kill him? And how is it that David did not kill Saul while he had the chance?

God's Heart for Urban Education

David Montague is the director of the Memphis Teacher Residency. David has a heart to see education reformed in our city, but more than that, he has heart to see God do what only He can do. Listen as David gives the history of education reform, the church's role throughout this history, and why he believes we're living in the city that is central to this reform movement.

Easter 2011

In this message we look at what the Gospel is and why it's such good news to us today. In Romans 1 Paul shows us how things were meant to be, what exactly went wrong, and why Jesus is our great hope.

Living the Text

Throughout the Bible the people of God lived out the text of God, but many customs are lost in our culture today. Understanding those customs throughout scripture teaches us more about Jesus and how he lived, thus giving us a clearer picture of how we can be like Jesus.

Trust

Last week we looked at 1 Samuel 16, at David's time with the sheep, in which God taught him how to trust and then rewarded him with a content heart. In this message we look at one of the most famous stories in the Bible: David and Goliath. But the main thing to remember is that chapter 17 happens because chapter 16 happened. No chapter 16, no chapter 17.

Contentment

Here is a summary of 1 Samuel 16: David spends his days with sheep. One day the prophet Samuel shows up and, to everyone's surprise, anoints young David as the next king of Israel. Samuel leaves and David returns to his sheep. Something doesn't add up. Surely sheep should no longer be a part of David's life. Right? In this message we look at how God used this time to form David into the man and leader that he would become. We see the three disciplines of solitude, obscurity, and monoto...

Mission

Last Sunday we looked at our identity as disciples. This week we look at our identity as missionaries. This identity is rooted in the Missio Dei (Mission of God), which is God's plan to redeem and restore everything that is lost and broken. In this message we look at some of the ways that we live this identity out.

Discipleship

Jesus calls us to be disciples, not merely believers. And as disciples, we are called to make other disciples. In this sermon we look at what discipleship looked like in the 1st century and what it should look like in the 21st century.

The Armor of God

Meredith wraps up our series on Ephesians by taking us through Paul's teaching on the armor of God. In this message she asks three questions: Why do we need the armor of God? What is the armor of God? How do we put it on?

Gospel-Centered Parenting

In this message we look at the tremendous responsibility of parenting. We will look at the general foundations for parenting, as well as take a specific look at what Paul wrote to those churches around Ephesus.

A Living Sacrifice

How does our culture of consumerism affect our worship? In this message John shares the Old Testament view of worship, and how it is contrasted with today's consumeristic culture.

Christmas 2010

Embracing Christmas means embracing a new King for your life.

Women and Ministry

In this message we dive into what the Bible says about a woman's role in the church. We look at creation, the fall, roles women played in the Old Testament, Jesus' interaction with women, the roles women played in the early church, and finally, some of the more difficult and sometimes confusing things that Paul said. And yes, it's one of the longest sermons we've ever had. Enjoy!

According to Paul: Men and Women

In this message we dive into the very controversial issue of men and women. This week we look at roles within the home and marriage, and next week we look the roles within the church. All are encouraged to study this vital issue on your own. You can download notes on our website.

Advent Conspiracy 2010

This is the fourth year for Neighborhood Church to participate in Advent Conspiracy. In this message we hear the vision behind AC, some ways to get involved, as well as a big challenge for us this year. (Technical difficulties - the first part of the sermon was not recorded)

Adoption

John and Ashleigh Carroll share their story of adoption, as well as their vision for the church's role in this issue.

According to Paul: Church

Our understanding of church shapes much of our Christianity. In this message we look at what Paul meant when he talked about church.

According to Paul: Pastoral Care

Paul says that one of the marks of a spiritually mature church is the ability to speak the truth in love. What does this mean? What does it look like in the context of ordinary life together?

According to Paul: Prayer

In this message we contrast our prayer lives with that of Paul. How does he pray for a group of people, many of whom he doesn't even know? What kinds of things does he pray for? How does this impact our prayer life?

You Can Change

God, through Christ's redeeming work, has set us free from the bondage of sin. But we choose every day, through the grace of God, whether we are going to live in that freedom or return to bondage. In this message we look at what Paul says about the old life and the new life.

A Primer on Sin

In this message we will seek to gain a deeper understanding of sin. At its root, sin is when we place other things or other people in the preeminent place of glory in our lives. In other words, we sin when we worship something or someone other than God.

Bad News/Good News

In this message we begin a three week series-within-a-series on the subject of sin. The premise of Paul's teaching here is this: Before we can understand how good the Gospel is (and "gospel" means "good news"), we need to understand how bad things were. In these ten verses we discover who were were, what God has done for us through Christ, and how this working affects our daily living.

Learning from the Early Church

Sometimes it takes someone from the outside to come in and remind us of who we are meant to be. In this message John Carroll does this in both an encouraging and challenging way.

How to Lose Your First Love

We said a few weeks ago that one of Paul's primary reasons for writing Ephesians was that knowing God would be our ultimate goal. It is so easy for us to have other primary goals, and most of the time these goals are good things. In this message we ask the question, "What happens when we make something other than knowing God our primary goal?

God's Plan/God's Glory - Pt.2

Predestination has always been a controversial subject. But because Paul talked about it, we should too. In this message we'll seek to take an objective look at both sides of the issue, and conclude what this means for us as followers of Jesus.

God's Plan/God's Glory - Pt.1

This week we dive into Ephesians. One of the major themes of Ephesians is that God desires to be known. Not just known about, but intimately known. In this first message we look at some of the amazing blessings that God has poured out on His people. These blessings should cause us to hunger and thirst after the Father, and should overflow into worshiping Him.

Intro to Ephesians

We kick off our series on Ephesians by looking at how Paul came to start the church in Ephesus. Paul went to Ephesus at the start of his third missionary journey, and ended up staying there longer than he had stayed just about anywhere. During his time there God did what only God could do, and Acts 19:10 says that "all the residents of Asia heard the world of the Lord." Five years later, under house arrest in Rome, Paul writes a beautiful letter to them. Over the next few months we're goi...

How to Study the Bible

As we prepare for our series on Ephesians, here are some practical principles for studying the Bible.

How Jesus Sends People

In our final message on our journey through Luke's Gospel, we go back to the mission of God and look at how Jesus sent His earliest followers and how He sends us today.

Living in God's Kingdom

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, what they got was far more than a prayer. Jesus was teaching them how to practically live out all that he had been teaching them about God's reign: the Kingdom of God.

Desperate Dependence

In this message Joe and Susan Currier share how the call to discipleship has been playing out in their lives over the last few months.

The "Costly/Totally Worth It" KOG

In this message we look at the fact that true discipleship is costly. Jesus tells his followers to consider that cost and then to make a choice as to whether or not we will follow him.

Suffering, Prayer & Solitude

Joe concludes our series on suffering by looking at Jesus' habit of getting alone with God. We see two spiritual disciplines at work in Jesus' life, and especially during Jesus' time in the wilderness in Luke 4. Those disciples are meditation on Scripture and solitude.