Real Life Church Podcast

Since the beginning of time, man has wondered what is beyond death–do we just die and return to the earth, or is there something more? And, if there is something more, what is it like, who do we see, are we still ourselves? This week guest speaker, pastor and New York Times Bestselling Author John Burke gives us insight into what life is like after death. Having interviewed over 1,000 people that have had near death experiences (NDR), he found commonality, backed with scripture to support what he believes heaven will be like.

Throughout our lives, many of us have experiences that are unexplainable; from random help to a dark cloud of depression that never seems to go away. And with each experience, it seems there is an unseen world at play that is making decisions on our behalf. This week Rusty gives us insight into this unseen world. We see how there is a true enemy named Satan that wants nothing more than for us to be unhappy. But, we learn that there is hope in Christ Jesus for who (Jesus) is in us is greater than the one who is in the world.

It is wired deep within us the need for God to understand and save us from our circumstances, pain and troubles. And for many of us, we search for help by looking for "Christ-like" figures in stories, movies and our lives. This week Rusty shares a strange story with us. He shows us how Jesus left the presence of God so that we can relate to Him and find comfort in His sacrifice for our sins.

In society today, anxiety and depression are on the rise. Just like in the story of Jacob and Leah, we attach ourselves to temporary things of this world, and by doing this, we ultimately perish with them. This week guest teacher Jeff Vines from Christ's Church of the Valley talks about anxiety and how the only way to stop being anxious about life, is by attaching ourselves to Jesus and not earthly things.

You feel guilt because of something you did, but you feel shame because of something you are. Shame has the ability to keep us captive and away from the graces of God. When we allow shame to overtake our the decisions in our lives, we are not free to live the life that God has planned for us. This week teacher Mike Breaux talks about shame and how the grace of God allows us to feel freedom from that shame today.

One of the most often repeated commands in the Bible is to “fear not”. Throughout the Bible are stories of people doubting God’s power, worrying in fear that He would not provide. But instead of turning to fear, God tells us to stand firm and expect His help. This week guest teacher Gene Appel from Eastside Christian Church in Anaheim talks about fear in the story of Moses from Exodus 14:10-15.

With the advent of social media, we have the ability to look into other peoples lives like never before. And with each post, tweet, picture or in-person conversation, envy has the ability to take control of our lives and destroy the joy that Jesus has for us.

Slavery still exists. With more than 45 million slaves in the world today, it’s worse than ever. Which is why Real Life Church has partnered with International Justice Mission for Freedom Sunday, an initiative to bring this horrible problem to light. Join special guest speaker Pablo Villeda, Vice President of Regional Operations, Latin America for IJM as he talks about the problem and how we can help stop modern day slavery.

The quickest way to find happiness is to not seek it but to give it away. By giving of ourselves we can find happiness in our selflessness. The best way to fill ourselves up is to pour ourselves out.

In John 10:10-11 we read about a thief that is out to kill, steal and destroy. And just like that thief, we have the ability to destroy our own happiness. When we seek momentary pleasure rather than the principles of happiness, we steal everlasting happiness from ourselves. But, if we begin to choose happiness with God, rather than momentary pleasure, we will stop chasing happiness, and find that happiness was with us all along.

Mike Breaux continues the “Chasing Happy” series talking about “The Most Important Piece of Peace.” While many chase the security of hiding behind rules, laws, doctrines, or other binding institutions that exploit and exclude, Jesus’ way focuses on grace and forgiveness. When we stop chasing the former, the latter brings us peace.

For week two of our series entitled “Chasing Happy,” Rusty talks about the “Farmer’s Approach” to happiness by walking through the Beatitudes of Matthew 5 one-by-one and applying them to the concept of reaping and sowing. Through this, he shows that happiness is not just a feeling, but is instead an outcome.

All of us want to be “happy.” But what does happiness truly look like? You think we would have found it by now, but we haven’t. So what if happiness was more about who than what? What if it was more about people than things? In our first week of our new series “Chasing Happy,” Rusty describes a truly happy person as someone “at peace” with themselves, others, and God. Anything that undermines this peace threatens our happiness and affects all of our life.

In this message, Rusty discusses what it means to be “All In” with Real Life Church. When you are a follower of Jesus, you don’t just intake knowledge, you use that knowledge and experience in order to act and serve. Without action, your faith will never grow and God is always challenging us to go deeper and put our faith into action in community with one another.

As we close out Running with Giants, we look at the life of Joseph. Having favor above all his brothers, Joseph grew up very cocky and arrogant. And because of that arrogance, Joseph goes through a 13-year journey of trials that forces him to trust in the Lord and walk by faith, which ultimately ends with him being second in command over all of Egypt.

Mike Breaux does a “binge watch” through the story of Gideon as told by Judges 6-8 continuing our series “Running with Giants” as we examine the heroes of Hebrews 11. Gideon’s story is one where the odds are stacked against his favor. We are encouraged to “join the cast” and make Gideon’s story of trust and obedience our own, whatever battle we may be facing.

Anyone can be rescued and used by God to do wonderful things. Mike Breaux reminds us of this in our sixth week of Running with Giants by unpacking the story of Rahab. Though Rahab was an unlikely “hero” of faith, she nonetheless exhibits a magnificent example of God’s unconditional love and how God can use anybody despite his or her labels or past mistakes. This raises the question: What’s keeping you from living by faith?

Dave Dummit takes the reigns for our fifth week of “Running with Giants” referring to the heroes of the faith mentioned in Hebrews 11. Parenting takes boundaries, purpose, time, and prayer. Dave breaks down each of these through looking back at the story of Samson and his parents in order to look forward to “raising giants” of the faith through our children and the impact they’ll have on the world.

Our friend Shane Philip from The Crossing Church in Las Vegas joins us as we take a look at Jacob in our fourth week of “Running with Giants,” looking at the list of heroes in Hebrews 11. Shane covers three aspects of Jacob’s story that helps us respond when life doesn’t turn out the way we hope. Like Jacob, we try to control our lives and manipulate circumstances, and this can get us into a lot of trouble. However, God doesn’t love us for who we were, but who we are and who we can become, and Jacob teaches us to trust God with the outcomes.

What does it take to be a person of faith? In this triple-tag-team between Jim, Brennan, and Rusty, they tackle that question for our third week of “Running with Giants” by examining the life of Moses, his parents and those who followed him.