Does anyone really love change? It’s uncomfortable and often hard but necessary for growth. Churches especially can struggle with it. The world is always shifting, so how can the church stay anchored in truth while adapting to culture?

Steve emphasizes that churches must stay mission-minded, and Rich puts it this way: if every Christian is a missionary, then every Christian should also be a student of culture. And when you study culture, you can’t miss change.

The longer a church exists, the stronger the pull to turn inward but that must be resisted. Sometimes evaluation needs to be ruthless: What’s working? What’s not?

The gospel, the Great Commission, and the truth never change but how we live them out often must. May this conversation challenge you to embrace change where needed and follow Jesus more fully!

Learn how to read & study the Bible this fall with Rich Holland

Sign up for the Resident Strangers email list

Questions or comments? Email residentstrangers@dscchurch.com

If you’ve enjoyed today’s episode, we’d be so grateful if you’d subscribe and leave a review as it really helps us reach more people with this message. We’d also love it if you’d share the podcast with your friends, on social media, or anywhere you connect with others. Join us next Tuesday as we continue the discussion on how to think like a Christian in this foreign world.

Just like people, churches go through life cycles and if you’re part of a church, you’re living in one right now. Steve shares a sobering statistic: in the U.S., 8,000–10,000 churches close every year. Drawing from his work as an executive on the board of Venture Church Network, he takes us behind the scenes to explore why churches close and how understanding a church’s life cycle can reveal its overall health.

One key factor stands out above the rest: vision. A church with a clear, Christ-centered vision will thrive. But when vision drifts out of focus, things can quickly unravel. True vision isn’t about “preserving and protecting”, it’s about making disciples for Christ.

Rich asks pointed, thought-provoking questions that shed light on why vision is the driving force in every church’s life cycle. This conversation might just change the way you think about vision and about the church you call home.

Learn to read & study the Bible with Rich Holland this fall

Watch Resident Strangers on YouTube 🎥

Sign up for the Resident Strangers email list

Questions or comments?

Email residentstrangers@dscchurch.com

If you’ve enjoyed today’s episode, we’d be so grateful if you’d subscribe and leave a review as it really helps us reach more people with this message. We’d also love it if you’d share the podcast with your friends, on social media, or anywhere you connect with others. Join us next Tuesday as we continue the discussion on how to think like a Christian in this foreign world.

It’s Tuesday, and that means another great conversation is ready for you! Today, Hailey, Steve, and Rich dive into the topic of churches and their philosophy of ministry, the driving force behind a church’s health and longevity. The church doesn’t belong to “us”; it belongs to Jesus. When that focus shifts, things can quickly go off track.

They explore the many different approaches churches can take (there’s not always a clear right or wrong), but one thing is certain: a solid, Christ-centered focus is essential. Steve points out that too often, churches build their philosophy around comfort rather than mobilization and if comfort is the main goal, how can we truly live on mission?

In this episode, you’ll hear different ministry models discussed, along with a strong encouragement to stay on mission no matter your approach. As you listen, take time to evaluate your own church environment; does it challenge you to grow and inspire you to live out the mission of Jesus?

Episode 110 on Oikos

Watch Resident Strangers on YouTube 🎥

Sign up for the Resident Strangers email list

Questions or comments? Email residentstrangers@dscchurch.com

If you’ve enjoyed today’s episode, we’d be so grateful if you’d subscribe and leave a review as it really helps us reach more people with this message. We’d also love it if you’d share the podcast with your friends, on social media, or anywhere you connect with others. Join us next Tuesday as we continue the discussion on how to think like a Christian in this foreign world.

It’s a new episode of Resident Strangers! Be honest — have you ever withheld the truth from someone because you didn’t think they could handle it? Or have you joked around with your friends but made one sarcastic comment that went too far? Maybe you’ve been caught up in gossiping. Whatever the case may be, we all have misused the power of our words. What we say has the power to affect people. God knows this, and He knows our sinful nature can corrupt that. Today we dive into a passage in Ephesians 4, which warns against degrading, unwholesome, inappropriate, untruthful speech. As Christians, we need to take stock of what we say, even to each other. What we say must be truth in love spoken at the appropriate time. Steve and Rich explain the power of the tongue and the importance of speaking truth in a loving manner. If this episode convicts you or challenges you like it does for us, ask God to grow you in those areas! Tune in for this powerful episode!

Watch Resident Strangers on YouTube 🎥 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5zN34EnMKLqzHCct_ijPFQbhlrQApKgO

Sign up for the Resident Strangers email list - http://eepurl.com/iwv3Ug

Questions or comments? Email residentstrangers@dscchurch.com

Would you please subscribe and leave us a review? This will help our podcast reach more people! We’d love it if you’d share this podcast with your friends on social media and beyond. Join us next Tuesday as we continue the discussion on how to think like a Christian in this foreign world.

Welcome back to Resident Strangers! This episode covers how to read and interpret the Old Testament and the New Testament. We should read both parts of the Bible a bit differently since they have different purposes. The team explains these purposes and the nuances with how we should interpret and apply certain scripture to our lives. In the Sabbath episode (linked below), we mentioned the Old Covenant or the law, so we further discuss this. Do the Old Testament laws still apply to us as Christians today? If not, then what is the point of the Old Testament? We cover all of this, so be sure to listen to the full episode!

Watch Resident Strangers on YouTube 🎥 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5zN34EnMKLqzHCct_ijPFQbhlrQApKgO

Oikos episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/33jDczwq0FMJzTBZtBJjxe?si=9fe9fd2ec91049cc

Interested in studying Greek with Rich? Email residentstrangers@dscchurch.com.

Interested in Rich's course on studying the Bible? Go to events@dscchurch.com.

Sign up for the Resident Strangers email list - http://eepurl.com/iwv3Ug

Questions or comments? Email residentstrangers@dscchurch.com

Would you please subscribe and leave us a review? This will help our podcast reach more people! We’d love it if you’d share this podcast with your friends on social media and beyond. Join us next Tuesday as we continue the discussion on how to think like a Christian in this foreign world.

Welcome back to Resident Strangers! Today, we are expanding on a topic we’ve mentioned a lot on this podcast, and that is taking verses out of context. We dive into some of the most-used verses out of context and break them down to understand what they actually mean. As Steve says, context is king when it comes to understanding scripture. It’s important to study the context and original audience of bible passages so we aren’t misunderstanding God’s Word or applying something to our own life that isn’t necessarily meant for us. Stay tuned for next week’s episode that continues this conversation about how we should read and interpret the Old Testament compared to the New Testament.

Watch Resident Strangers on YouTube 🎥 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5zN34EnMKLqzHCct_ijPFQbhlrQApKgO

Interested in studying Greek with Rich? Email residentstrangers@dscchurch.com.

Interested in Rich's course on studying the Bible? Go to events@dscchurch.com.

Sign up for the Resident Strangers email list - http://eepurl.com/iwv3Ug

Questions or comments? Email residentstrangers@dscchurch.com

Would you please subscribe and leave us a review? This will help our podcast reach more people! We’d love it if you’d share this podcast with your friends on social media and beyond. Join us next Tuesday as we continue the discussion on how to think like a Christian in this foreign world.

Welcome back to Resident Strangers! This episode is all about living on mission! How do we obey the Great Commission? What does it mean to be a missionary? Living on mission means sharing the gospel and making disciples, which is living like Jesus. When we think of living on mission or being a missionary, we typically think of being a missionary overseas. These trips are important and effective, but we are also called to live on mission in our own communities. This can look like sharing the gospel with your neighbor or discipling a new believer. Both literal missionaries and people serving in their community are equally important to the Christian life. The team discusses the benefits of going on a short-term mission trip, as well as how to support missionaries or ministries that are already further advancing the gospel. They give realistic ways that we can live on mission right at home. What is your mission field right now, and how can you live like Jesus?

Watch Resident Strangers on YouTube 🎥 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5zN34EnMKLqzHCct_ijPFQbhlrQApKgO

Interested in studying Greek with Rich? Email residentstrangers@dscchurch.com.

Sign up for the Resident Strangers email list - http://eepurl.com/iwv3Ug

Questions or comments? Email residentstrangers@dscchurch.com

Would you please subscribe and leave us a review? This will help our podcast reach more people! We’d love it if you’d share this podcast with your friends on social media and beyond. Join us next Tuesday as we continue the discussion on how to think like a Christian in this foreign world.

Today’s episode of Resident Strangers is all about evangelism! Evangelism is the act of sharing the gospel with people who aren’t Christians. We as Christians are called to share Jesus through the way we live AND through verbally sharing the gospel. If we do one but not the other, it can be an ineffective witness and confuse non-believers. With whatever we do or say, we should always point back to Jesus. The team shares useful tips to have conversations about the gospel, like asking what they believe about God and an afterlife, and why they think that. Ask personal and intentional questions to get to know them and understand their beliefs. Then, based on their answers, you can shift the conversation to explaining what the gospel is. You can even share your testimony of what God did in your life. People may not initially be receptive to having a spiritual conversation, but the point is to plant seeds and get them thinking. You never know how God will use that conversation in that person’s life later. If you are timid about sharing the gospel – or just need a refresher – this episode is for you!

Links Mentioned:

Evangelism Explosion

Share Jesus Without Fear Book by William Fay

Watch Resident Strangers on YouTube 🎥 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5zN34EnMKLqzHCct_ijPFQbhlrQApKgO

Interested in studying Greek with Rich? Email residentstrangers@dscchurch.com.

Sign up for the Resident Strangers email list - http://eepurl.com/iwv3Ug

Questions or comments? Email residentstrangers@dscchurch.com

Would you please subscribe and leave us a review? This will help our podcast reach more people! We’d love it if you’d share this podcast with your friends on social media and beyond. Join us next Tuesday as we continue the discussion on how to think like a Christian in this foreign world.