The Teaching Series (with Brad Gray and Brad Nelson) – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Human beings are natural builders, but the problem is many of us build our lives on unstable foundations—worldly success, self-reliance, or fleeting ambitions—that ultimately collapse under pressure. The solution is to build on Jesus, the master builder, who is the sure foundation and cornerstone of God's spiritual house. By trusting in him, aligning with his teachings, and allowing him to shape our lives, we gain stability and purpose. As a result, our lives remain steadfast even in uncertainty. What’s more, we’re called to join God in His work—building up others and participating in His mission to reunite heaven and earth. In the end, God is not just building something for us—He is building us into something lasting and eternal! 
 

Many people struggle to feel truly welcomed, accepted, and secure—especially in a world that often feels isolating and adversarial. But Scripture reveals a God who is not distant or indifferent; He is a gracious host, inviting us into His presence with the radical hospitality of a Bedouin patriarch. In Psalm 23, Isaiah 42, and the life of Jesus, we see a God who prepares a table, offers provision, and extends protection—even in the presence of our enemies. This episode explores how God’s hospitality redefines belonging and how Jesus models a love that welcomes without compromise. Discover how embracing this divine invitation can transform the way you see God, yourself, and the people around you. 

During the height of the Roman Empire, the world experienced an unprecedented era of stability that allowed people to travel freely. Most did so by land and sea, and few logged more miles than the apostle Paul. During his missionary journeys, the Apostle Paul traveled thousands of miles by land and sea! Along the way, he experienced fear repeatedly: beatings, robberies, imprisonments, shipwrecks. But he never allowed fear to become a barrier to his faith. This episode will inspire you to face your fears with greater courage and to live with dangerous faithfulness.

Too often, we live with divided hearts. On the one hand, our hearts are devoted to God. We want God’s best for our lives. We want God’s kingdom to come. On the other hand, we continue to allow places in our lives where evil and sin persist. This episode explores the life of King Asa and our deeply human tendency to be devoted to God without tearing down the high places in our lives. By the end of this episode, you’ll know how to identify the high places in your life and begin the process of demolishing them for good.

The idea that we don’t have enough permeates our lives. We don’t have enough money. We don’t have enough sleep. We don’t have enough time. We’re constantly looking for ways to acquire more. But “more” rarely delivers the contentment we’re looking for. And the wilderness is the place where God strips away the faulty distractions and excess that increasingly define our lives. In the wilderness, God recalibrates our understanding of what’s essential and what’s enough so we experience the contentment we were made for.

There are moments in life when the path ahead is unclear or downright scary, moments when everything in us wants out of the situation or circumstance we’re in. It’s only natural to ask God to rescue us or change things. That’s part of what prayer is about. But there’s another dimension of prayer we find in the Scriptures. It’s one we often fail to pray, making our prayers incomplete. It’s the prayer David prayed. It’s the prayer Habakkuk prayed. And it’s an astounding prayer of strength and trust that God will empower us no matter where our path leads. This teaching explores how to pray more completely in the wilderness seasons of life.

You’re not where you were, and you’re not where you’re going to be. You’re in between. Welcome to the wilderness. It’s in these ambiguous spaces where we either become who God is inviting us to be or we shrink into the smaller, more manageable stories we write for ourselves. Because it’s easier to be a slave in Egypt than to trust God in the desert. But no one aspires to be the person who shrinks. We want to learn to trust well and become all God intended for us to be. This teaching will give you practical ways to grow your trust in God in hard times.

The practice of grounding yourself in gratitude is essential to a life well-lived. But in the wilderness experiences of life, gratitude isn’t enough. In those times, we need to identify, name, and express our losses. The Psalms are a case in point. Filled with both songs and prayers of praise, they’re also packed full of songs of lament. Because being grounded in gratitude and lamenting the loss are deeply human and deeply biblical. This teaching will give you a new perspective on how to hold both the gratitude and the loss.

In Hebrew, the root word for midbar (desert) is the Hebrew word davar, which means to speak. While God is always speaking, we usually hear God best in the desert experiences of our lives. Why? Because in seasons of hardship and challenge, busyness and distraction are stripped away, and we become more present and open to God’s voice. When that happens, God often speaks exactly what we need to hear. What if the COVID-19 pandemic is a desert experience in which God is inviting us to pay attention and listen for His voice? If so, we might just receive a davar in the midbar that could change everything.

When things go wrong in life, one of the first things we feel is that we’re alone. And the social distancing and stay-at-home orders of the COVID-19 pandemic only amplify our sense of isolation. In the Hebrew Scriptures, the wilderness is the primary metaphor for challenging seasons of life. But what if the challenges and limitations of the wilderness actually call forth the richness of our creativity? This episode explores how creativity can help us overcome isolation so we can experience grapes in the desert.