March 14, 2025 • 21 mins
Discipleship isn’t complicated, but it transforms every part of life. In Nuts and Bolts, King of Kings’ sermon series, we explore how following Jesus—from building our lives on His teachings to embracing authentic community—leads to lasting joy, purpose, and unshakable faith.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dina Newsom (00:04):
Hello, hello, welcome to Beyond Sunday, the
podcast from King of Kings thatdiscusses what we take from
Beyond Sunday, our sermonmessages.
So my name is Dena Newsom andI'm so happy to be with you here
today, and our guests today areWell, I'm Roger Timer, one of
(00:25):
the pastors at King of Kings.
Julie Eesley (00:27):
Yep, and I'm Julie Easley, the executive director
here at King of Kings.
Dina Newsom (00:30):
I'm so glad to have you guys here today, and we are
too.
Good, this week is NationalBubblegum Week.
Roger Theimer (00:37):
Did you know this .
Dina Newsom (00:38):
I know it's a highly overrated holiday.
Roger Theimer (00:41):
Let me check the bottom of my shoe and I'll tell
you.
Dina Newsom (00:45):
So my question was what is your favorite type of
gum Like?
What really does it for you?
A brand or a type of flavorMemory?
Roger Theimer (00:52):
food Memory food Third grade.
Baseball Double bubble.
Double bubble With the comicstrip right before the game.
Julie Eesley (01:02):
yeah, I love gum.
I mean now my adult gum is likeSpearmint Extra, but I loved
like Big League Chew.
I liked Bazooka, I liked HubbaBubba.
There was not a gum that Ididn't like.
Roger Theimer (01:16):
Did you ever smoke the cigar?
Yes, the banana one yeah.
I'm going to go get one today.
I haven't thought of it in ahundred years, so good.
Dina Newsom (01:26):
My favorite gum was what was inside of a blow pop.
Oh, it only lasted.
The flavor only lasted 10seconds.
Julie Eesley (01:33):
Totally.
Roger Theimer (01:35):
But for that 10 seconds it was glorious.
Julie Eesley (01:36):
It was so good With the crunch of the lollipop
in it.
Yeah, so good.
Dina Newsom (01:41):
All right.
So we have started a newmessage series here at King of
Kings, and so for two weeks nowwe've been hearing from Pastor
Zach Zender about nuts and boltsthis is how to build the modern
day disciple and so week onewas talking about the foundation
.
What did you guys take away,beyond Sunday, from that message
(02:03):
?
Julie Eesley (02:04):
Yeah, so I think the first thing that stood out
to me was discipleship isn'teasy, but it's not complicated,
which I think is really true.
Discipleship really just boilsdown to are we becoming like
Jesus from the inside out byactively choosing to follow him
(02:28):
and learning from him how tolive in the kingdom of God?
And so I'll unpack that alittle bit more later, but it's
simply like modeling yourselfafter Jesus and opening up space
in your life for Jesus totransform you.
Roger Theimer (02:44):
I like what you said about the practical and
simple.
I think what was captivatingwhat Pastor Zach did is he went
to the very back end of theSermon on the Mount and he
picked up the metaphor offoundation.
He said, well, we'll just usethat as a foundation, and it's
(03:07):
the building that lasts is theone that not just hears it but
does it.
So it's kind of very practicalwrite-up and you can take that
as a foundation.
Okay, what do I need to hear?
What do I need to do?
Yep, Love it.
Dina Newsom (03:21):
Yeah, I really like that how he talked about.
He'll be talking about thewhole Sermon on the Mount, but
starting with the end.
This is where we're going.
This is what you need to buildon.
I really appreciated that.
So now this whole thing istalking about discipleship, and
I think that sounds veryintimidating to a lot of people.
I don't know how to disciplepeople.
That's a big job, but I reallyliked Zach's definition of
(03:44):
disciple.
That he gave is one who is inthe process of being and doing
like their leader.
What do you guys think aboutthat?
Why is that hard for us today?
Why is that intimidating tosome people?
Roger Theimer (03:59):
Well, okay.
So these words are so packedfor me because I'm a pastor and
when I hear that word I thinkwhen is it used and in what
context?
(04:24):
And because the whole idea ofdisciple come follow me.
The message that was filteredthrough the whole Sermon on the
Mount is okay, the kingdom ofGod's at hand Now.
The kingdom of the God is goingto ultimately be revealed by
Jesus.
When he fulfills it, when hegives his life for us and
through his life and death andresurrection in our place,
that's when we experience thetransformation that's bigger
(04:46):
than what we can do.
So, in that sense, followinghim has something along the way
for those disciples, but it's awhole different game by the time
they got to see the fulfillmentthat he did to make it possible
for them to truly follow him.
Dina Newsom (05:02):
Yes, for them to truly follow him.
Julie Eesley (05:04):
Yeah, when I think about discipleship, there's an
author I love.
He's written a lot of books andhis name is Dallas Willard and
he said when you think aboutdiscipleship, you can think
about like what would Jesus doif he were dropped into your
life?
So how would Jesus start hisday?
(05:26):
How would Jesus make choices?
How would Jesus interact withpeople?
How would Jesus prioritize hisrelationship with his Father?
And if I think about If Iwanted to model what Christ did
and open up space for him to beat work in my life, what would
(05:47):
my life start to look like if Iwere following him closely?
And you know when Pastor Zachtalked about like being squeezed
, options start to be eliminatedfor me when I'm thinking about
how would I want to prioritizefollowing Christ in my life.
What would look different aboutmy morning?
(06:08):
Would it be waking up andhopping on my phone and looking
at the news, or would it just belying in bed quietly for a
moment and offering my day to myHeavenly Father?
If I really want to followJesus closely and please hear me
when I say this really want tofollow Jesus closely, and please
hear me when I say this, I'mnot doing it to earn points or
(06:28):
to get to heaven.
I want to create space in mylife for God to speak to me and
to work in my life.
So if I wanted to do that, whatare the practical choices I'm
going to be making moment bymoment during my day?
And so that's when I thinkabout discipleship.
I think a lot about that.
Dina Newsom (06:46):
That is really amazing.
There's a lot of talk aboutbeing busy.
We're too busy in our lives,but what are the choices that we
make to be that way and whatare the choices that we let
happen?
How can we create that room?
That's really good, julie,thanks.
Yeah, so Zach moved on in hisfirst message to talk about
(07:06):
there are two paths, there aretwo types and two places that he
highlighted from the sermon.
Did you guys have some thoughtson that?
What were your takeaways?
Kind of of there are two pathsthat people can choose.
There are two types of people,that voices that shape our
choices, and there are twoplaces that we can build.
Any of those stand out to you.
Roger Theimer (07:28):
I was intrigued by as I considered that again
and then I was reminded, kind ofwhere they were placed in the
entire Sermon on the Mount, kindof towards the end and right,
by this very practical the wholecontext of the Sermon on the
Mount is given to contrast,those people who were not
(07:52):
followers.
They were actuallyself-righteous Jews, and Jesus
is beginning to define what thekingdom of God is looking like,
what the kingdom of God'slooking like, and it had to be
(08:12):
heard by them as something thatwas really remarkable, because
they've always countedthemselves in according to their
self-righteousness.
Yeah, and that's stunning.
Well, was it stunning for ustoo?
You know what?
That is something that weshould pay attention to and say
well, I need to be aware of justwhat path I'm on and you know
(08:38):
what?
It's okay being on the narrowpath, it's okay checking that
fruit.
That's something that should bepart of this life, and I'm
going to a little bit on and on.
It becomes a position ofhumility and that I saw is to be
a common thread.
Julie Eesley (08:56):
Yeah, and I think one of the things that when Zach
talked about like two people,like the two different people
that you may affiliate yourselfwith, the two different types,
and he said do you have someonein your life that you can be
really honest with about yourstruggles?
So right, discipleship.
Like Zach said, it's notcomplicated but it's not easy,
(09:19):
and I think it's easy for us tojust move through life in an
unexamined way.
And when you have a prayerpartner that you're sharing
stuff of your life with, itforces you to slow down and
become more intentional aboutthinking about your every day,
Like where are my hangups, whenare my struggles, when are my
sin patterns that really seem tohave a grip on me?
(09:39):
We can't begin to shape ourlives and create more space in
our lives for Jesus to work init if we're not slowing down and
looking like where are mychallenges?
Where do I need to be openingmyself up more to God's power?
And so I think that that kindof accountability works great if
(10:02):
you have someone you can betotally honest with.
Dina Newsom (10:04):
Yeah, and I liked the last little part of what he
said.
There was do you have someonein your life that truly knows
you and still fully loves you?
So there's not the judgmentthat we have too much of.
Oh, I can't tell people thosedeep, dark sides of me, or I
can't show that weakness thatthey're still going to love us.
The other thing I really lovedabout this was when Zach pointed
(10:26):
out that what's the first thingthat Jesus does?
He gets a group of guys aroundhim so that they can do this
together, that they can discipletogether and do life together.
And that just reminds me somuch of our connect groups here
at King of Kings that weencourage people to be in.
You have to have your people,and sometimes that's your work
(10:46):
people or your family or yourconnect group at church that is
really pouring into that.
Yeah.
Julie Eesley (10:53):
Yeah, and I just would say hey, if you're in a
connect group, step into deeperlevels of authenticity.
Be that first person who sharesright?
Somebody has got to alwaysbreak the ice in those
circumstances and start to havethe deeper conversation.
And so you know, try to find aperson that you feel like could
(11:13):
be trustworthy and just start toopen up your life more.
Sometimes it's a process, butit's worthwhile to pursue.
Roger Theimer (11:21):
Yeah, and what moves us beyond just becoming a
religion, you know, and for someit's worthwhile to pursue, yeah
, and what moves us beyond itjust becoming a religion, you
know, and, and for some it'sjust intimidating because how
can I do that?
And it seems too religious.
Now, this really isn't areligion thing.
What makes it a relationship isa simple question of asking so
what?
What is God doing in your world?
(11:41):
And that's the person orpersons that we need to have a
normal conversation like that.
Now, it's a spiritualconversation, but it's normal.
And if we don't have them, we'renot going to have the freedom
and the space I love that wordto dig down and ask okay, well,
(12:02):
lord, really, what are you doinghere?
Help me pay attention to it.
Julie Eesley (12:07):
Yeah, and your faith is connected to your real
life.
Yeah, who knew?
Yeah, right.
And so you're just talking to aperson about your real life and
where Jesus intersects withthat, right yeah, which is, by
the way, everywhere.
But you slowly discover thatmore and more, yeah.
Dina Newsom (12:29):
So in week two of this series, zach kind of moved
on to talk about the design, andhis focus of this was a lot of
the Beatitudes.
What did you guys take away,roger, I'm sure the Beatitudes
is something you've studied timeand time again.
What was your takeaway?
Roger Theimer (12:46):
Well, I love how he redeemed the word happy and
he put it back into the Biblewhere it needs to be, and we're
not making a God of happy,because it's not our God, but it
is held in contrast.
But it is held in contrast.
It catches your attention thatthe other half of that equation
(13:09):
are things that the world wouldnot call happy.
You know poor in spirit, meek,yeah, persecuted, what I didn't
sign up for that.
And that is such a sense ofwhat the kingdom of God looks
like.
It does not look like thisworld.
(13:34):
That's not this world'sstandards, that's not how we
pursue happiness.
But we also get happiness notby pursuing happiness, but by
pursuing the poor in spirit.
Let's pursue poor in spirit andwatch happiness come out of it.
Julie Eesley (13:50):
Yeah, I love that too.
I mean just Zach saying Jesusis greatly interested in your
happiness.
It's the thing that he tacklesat the top of the Sermon on the
Mount.
And what I love is that Jesusknows best about how to have a
life that's full of flourishing.
Oftentimes we think about Jesusin a certain way.
(14:13):
I know personally for me I waschallenged in this I read this
Jesus is the smartest person whoever lived, right, you think?
Oh, he's wise and he's full ofpeace and all of these things.
He knows best what will makeyou happy.
And in order to have a life ofpurpose and joy and flourishing,
(14:34):
jesus says here's the way toget that.
Let me just lay it out for you.
I'm not going to make it hardto figure out.
It may look countercultural,but these are the things that
actually will bring you truehappiness, and we're wise to
listen to him.
Dina Newsom (14:48):
I think there's a lot of times that I come across
people, or even feel that waymyself, that hey, give me some
clear directions here.
God, like I'm struggling withwhatever it is, give me some
clear directions.
He kind of does in the Bible ifwe remember and turn to it.
Julie Eesley (15:05):
Yes, yeah, absolutely.
Dina Newsom (15:07):
Yeah, I really liked how Zach talked about
being a peacemaker and not apeacekeeper, about being a
peacemaker, and not apeacekeeper but a peacemaker,
and I really that stuck out tome because I feel like a lot of
times we're trying to keep thepeace or not ruffle feathers or
stuff, and this is an active wayof keeping the peace, like to
(15:29):
think of things, that that's ourresponsibility, our action, to
try to keep the peace.
Julie Eesley (15:35):
Yeah, Thoughts about that, Raj.
Roger Theimer (15:37):
Well, there's an underlying, current in all of
Jesus' teaching and it comeshand in glove with the kingdom
of God.
And that's loving well, it'sbeing loved well and then
sharing loving well with others.
And you love well when youdon't just placate, you help
(16:03):
them get through some of theconflict that's standing in the
way.
Let's be peacemakers.
Dina Newsom (16:18):
Right, it's really an active kind of thing.
Julie Eesley (16:18):
Peacekeeping usually is like let's just do as
little as possible and hopethis all goes away.
Peacemaking is much more activeand will probably, because
right any kind of conflict thatyou have.
It's not just one person who'sall wrong and the other person's
all right.
There are always things that wewill need to own in a
relationship that's going south,and so really humbling yourself
and admitting and saying I'msorry, asking for forgiveness,
(16:40):
that's all really activepeacemaking.
Peacekeeping sometimes avoidsthat tough stuff.
Roger Theimer (16:47):
The whole refrain behind those Beatitudes is a
sense of humility, beginning toend.
That lets you go through thoseand it's interesting that you
can go through.
Because of humility, you can gothrough boldly.
Julie Eesley (17:03):
Right, it's a little bit paradoxical.
I know yes, because you reallydon't have that much to lose.
If you have your entirereputation to protect.
Wow, that's going to be tough,but if you're laying that down,
things become easier.
Dina Newsom (17:19):
Okay, what about salt and light that?
Was kind of one of the lastthings that Zach really hit on
was dimensions.
Roger Theimer (17:24):
I never knew the salt and covenant thing Because
he said salt was one of thesigns of the covenant and they
would seal covenant with salt.
Salt was one of the signs ofthe covenant and they would seal
covenant with salt.
But covenant is so vital tounderstanding how God sees us in
relationship with him becausehe's making these agreements
that draws into thelife-fulfilling relationship
(17:46):
with him Well, and because ofthat we take that same covenant
relationship out to the world.
Both salt and light aredesigned to penetrate.
That's one of their primarypurposes and you can say that
covenant relationship ceiling isdesigned to penetrate to the
(18:07):
world as well.
Julie Eesley (18:08):
Mm-hmm.
I really loved when he saidsalt never gets the glory when
you're eating.
It's not like the salt isamazing, right, nobody ever says
that, but if salt is lackingfrom well.
Salt glorifies a dish, right,it brings out the amazingness of
meat or whatever it is thatyour vegetables right, it just
(18:29):
enhances that thing, bringsglory to that dish.
And when the salt is missing,you really notice it.
And I think, as believers, ifwe're not right, we're just
trying to reflect glory to Jesus, and when we're not doing that,
the world is worse off for it.
Dina Newsom (18:51):
Yes, it is so.
Zach talked in both of theseweeks about how the Sermon on
the Mount is not about how toget to heaven.
It's about how to bring heavendown here.
So any final points on thatbefore we wrap up.
Roger Theimer (19:05):
Yes, you will not find in the Sermon on the Mount
the plan for salvation.
However, it's part of Jesusunfolding the plan of salvation.
However, it's part of Jesusunfolding the plan of salvation.
It's just that it starts with avery practical sense of how
(19:37):
God's working in our lives, inthe heart of doing until they
saw the fulfillment of thatkingdom come through Jesus'
final victory in His death andresurrection.
So, yeah, anyway, that was ahelpful perspective for me to
see once again that God'sunfolding His story and the
Sermon on the Mount was such akey part of that story, showing
(20:00):
what this kingdom of God andthis life of repentance looks
like.
Julie Eesley (20:04):
Yeah, and I just think I loved how he talked
about you know, kind of thatmoney that was left unclaimed.
And if we're just saying, jesus, I'm viewing you as my ticket
to heaven, but I'm just going tomuddle through life on my own
until I get there.
We are leaving so much on thetable.
(20:25):
We're leaving so much wisdom,peace, joy, love, purpose,
encouragement, just the personalrelationship with Christ that
brings so much consolation inthe right here and now.
And so God has so much for usin our journey here on earth,
and are we really mining it forall it's worth?
Roger Theimer (20:49):
Well said, julie, yeah.
Dina Newsom (20:50):
Yes, thank you so much for being here today with
us.
We'll look forward todiscussing more in future weeks
of this.
Nuts and Volts, and so, forright now, let's keep living our
lives beyond Sunday.
Roger Theimer (21:03):
But where's the bubble gum?
Julie Eesley (21:06):
Thank you.
Hello, hello, welcome to Beyond Sunday, the
podcast from King of Kings thatdiscusses what we take from
Beyond Sunday, our sermonmessages.
So my name is Dena Newsom andI'm so happy to be with you here
today, and our guests today areWell, I'm Roger Timer, one of
(00:25):
the pastors at King of Kings.
Julie Eesley (00:27):
Yep, and I'm Julie Easley, the executive director
here at King of Kings.
Dina Newsom (00:30):
I'm so glad to have you guys here today, and we are
too.
Good, this week is NationalBubblegum Week.
Roger Theimer (00:37):
Did you know this .
Dina Newsom (00:38):
I know it's a highly overrated holiday.
Roger Theimer (00:41):
Let me check the bottom of my shoe and I'll tell
you.
Dina Newsom (00:45):
So my question was what is your favorite type of
gum Like?
What really does it for you?
A brand or a type of flavorMemory?
Roger Theimer (00:52):
food Memory food Third grade.
Baseball Double bubble.
Double bubble With the comicstrip right before the game.
Julie Eesley (01:02):
yeah, I love gum.
I mean now my adult gum is likeSpearmint Extra, but I loved
like Big League Chew.
I liked Bazooka, I liked HubbaBubba.
There was not a gum that Ididn't like.
Roger Theimer (01:16):
Did you ever smoke the cigar?
Yes, the banana one yeah.
I'm going to go get one today.
I haven't thought of it in ahundred years, so good.
Dina Newsom (01:26):
My favorite gum was what was inside of a blow pop.
Oh, it only lasted.
The flavor only lasted 10seconds.
Julie Eesley (01:33):
Totally.
Roger Theimer (01:35):
But for that 10 seconds it was glorious.
Julie Eesley (01:36):
It was so good With the crunch of the lollipop
in it.
Yeah, so good.
Dina Newsom (01:41):
All right.
So we have started a newmessage series here at King of
Kings, and so for two weeks nowwe've been hearing from Pastor
Zach Zender about nuts and boltsthis is how to build the modern
day disciple and so week onewas talking about the foundation
.
What did you guys take away,beyond Sunday, from that message
(02:03):
?
Julie Eesley (02:04):
Yeah, so I think the first thing that stood out
to me was discipleship isn'teasy, but it's not complicated,
which I think is really true.
Discipleship really just boilsdown to are we becoming like
Jesus from the inside out byactively choosing to follow him
(02:28):
and learning from him how tolive in the kingdom of God?
And so I'll unpack that alittle bit more later, but it's
simply like modeling yourselfafter Jesus and opening up space
in your life for Jesus totransform you.
Roger Theimer (02:44):
I like what you said about the practical and
simple.
I think what was captivatingwhat Pastor Zach did is he went
to the very back end of theSermon on the Mount and he
picked up the metaphor offoundation.
He said, well, we'll just usethat as a foundation, and it's
(03:07):
the building that lasts is theone that not just hears it but
does it.
So it's kind of very practicalwrite-up and you can take that
as a foundation.
Okay, what do I need to hear?
What do I need to do?
Yep, Love it.
Dina Newsom (03:21):
Yeah, I really like that how he talked about.
He'll be talking about thewhole Sermon on the Mount, but
starting with the end.
This is where we're going.
This is what you need to buildon.
I really appreciated that.
So now this whole thing istalking about discipleship, and
I think that sounds veryintimidating to a lot of people.
I don't know how to disciplepeople.
That's a big job, but I reallyliked Zach's definition of
(03:44):
disciple.
That he gave is one who is inthe process of being and doing
like their leader.
What do you guys think aboutthat?
Why is that hard for us today?
Why is that intimidating tosome people?
Roger Theimer (03:59):
Well, okay.
So these words are so packedfor me because I'm a pastor and
when I hear that word I thinkwhen is it used and in what
context?
(04:24):
And because the whole idea ofdisciple come follow me.
The message that was filteredthrough the whole Sermon on the
Mount is okay, the kingdom ofGod's at hand Now.
The kingdom of the God is goingto ultimately be revealed by
Jesus.
When he fulfills it, when hegives his life for us and
through his life and death andresurrection in our place,
that's when we experience thetransformation that's bigger
(04:46):
than what we can do.
So, in that sense, followinghim has something along the way
for those disciples, but it's awhole different game by the time
they got to see the fulfillmentthat he did to make it possible
for them to truly follow him.
Dina Newsom (05:02):
Yes, for them to truly follow him.
Julie Eesley (05:04):
Yeah, when I think about discipleship, there's an
author I love.
He's written a lot of books andhis name is Dallas Willard and
he said when you think aboutdiscipleship, you can think
about like what would Jesus doif he were dropped into your
life?
So how would Jesus start hisday?
(05:26):
How would Jesus make choices?
How would Jesus interact withpeople?
How would Jesus prioritize hisrelationship with his Father?
And if I think about If Iwanted to model what Christ did
and open up space for him to beat work in my life, what would
(05:47):
my life start to look like if Iwere following him closely?
And you know when Pastor Zachtalked about like being squeezed
, options start to be eliminatedfor me when I'm thinking about
how would I want to prioritizefollowing Christ in my life.
What would look different aboutmy morning?
(06:08):
Would it be waking up andhopping on my phone and looking
at the news, or would it just belying in bed quietly for a
moment and offering my day to myHeavenly Father?
If I really want to followJesus closely and please hear me
when I say this really want tofollow Jesus closely, and please
hear me when I say this, I'mnot doing it to earn points or
(06:28):
to get to heaven.
I want to create space in mylife for God to speak to me and
to work in my life.
So if I wanted to do that, whatare the practical choices I'm
going to be making moment bymoment during my day?
And so that's when I thinkabout discipleship.
I think a lot about that.
Dina Newsom (06:46):
That is really amazing.
There's a lot of talk aboutbeing busy.
We're too busy in our lives,but what are the choices that we
make to be that way and whatare the choices that we let
happen?
How can we create that room?
That's really good, julie,thanks.
Yeah, so Zach moved on in hisfirst message to talk about
(07:06):
there are two paths, there aretwo types and two places that he
highlighted from the sermon.
Did you guys have some thoughtson that?
What were your takeaways?
Kind of of there are two pathsthat people can choose.
There are two types of people,that voices that shape our
choices, and there are twoplaces that we can build.
Any of those stand out to you.
Roger Theimer (07:28):
I was intrigued by as I considered that again
and then I was reminded, kind ofwhere they were placed in the
entire Sermon on the Mount, kindof towards the end and right,
by this very practical the wholecontext of the Sermon on the
Mount is given to contrast,those people who were not
(07:52):
followers.
They were actuallyself-righteous Jews, and Jesus
is beginning to define what thekingdom of God is looking like,
what the kingdom of God'slooking like, and it had to be
(08:12):
heard by them as something thatwas really remarkable, because
they've always countedthemselves in according to their
self-righteousness.
Yeah, and that's stunning.
Well, was it stunning for ustoo?
You know what?
That is something that weshould pay attention to and say
well, I need to be aware of justwhat path I'm on and you know
(08:38):
what?
It's okay being on the narrowpath, it's okay checking that
fruit.
That's something that should bepart of this life, and I'm
going to a little bit on and on.
It becomes a position ofhumility and that I saw is to be
a common thread.
Julie Eesley (08:56):
Yeah, and I think one of the things that when Zach
talked about like two people,like the two different people
that you may affiliate yourselfwith, the two different types,
and he said do you have someonein your life that you can be
really honest with about yourstruggles?
So right, discipleship.
Like Zach said, it's notcomplicated but it's not easy,
(09:19):
and I think it's easy for us tojust move through life in an
unexamined way.
And when you have a prayerpartner that you're sharing
stuff of your life with, itforces you to slow down and
become more intentional aboutthinking about your every day,
Like where are my hangups, whenare my struggles, when are my
sin patterns that really seem tohave a grip on me?
(09:39):
We can't begin to shape ourlives and create more space in
our lives for Jesus to work init if we're not slowing down and
looking like where are mychallenges?
Where do I need to be openingmyself up more to God's power?
And so I think that that kindof accountability works great if
(10:02):
you have someone you can betotally honest with.
Dina Newsom (10:04):
Yeah, and I liked the last little part of what he
said.
There was do you have someonein your life that truly knows
you and still fully loves you?
So there's not the judgmentthat we have too much of.
Oh, I can't tell people thosedeep, dark sides of me, or I
can't show that weakness thatthey're still going to love us.
The other thing I really lovedabout this was when Zach pointed
(10:26):
out that what's the first thingthat Jesus does?
He gets a group of guys aroundhim so that they can do this
together, that they can discipletogether and do life together.
And that just reminds me somuch of our connect groups here
at King of Kings that weencourage people to be in.
You have to have your people,and sometimes that's your work
(10:46):
people or your family or yourconnect group at church that is
really pouring into that.
Yeah.
Julie Eesley (10:53):
Yeah, and I just would say hey, if you're in a
connect group, step into deeperlevels of authenticity.
Be that first person who sharesright?
Somebody has got to alwaysbreak the ice in those
circumstances and start to havethe deeper conversation.
And so you know, try to find aperson that you feel like could
(11:13):
be trustworthy and just start toopen up your life more.
Sometimes it's a process, butit's worthwhile to pursue.
Roger Theimer (11:21):
Yeah, and what moves us beyond just becoming a
religion, you know, and for someit's worthwhile to pursue, yeah
, and what moves us beyond itjust becoming a religion, you
know, and, and for some it'sjust intimidating because how
can I do that?
And it seems too religious.
Now, this really isn't areligion thing.
What makes it a relationship isa simple question of asking so
what?
What is God doing in your world?
(11:41):
And that's the person orpersons that we need to have a
normal conversation like that.
Now, it's a spiritualconversation, but it's normal.
And if we don't have them, we'renot going to have the freedom
and the space I love that wordto dig down and ask okay, well,
(12:02):
lord, really, what are you doinghere?
Help me pay attention to it.
Julie Eesley (12:07):
Yeah, and your faith is connected to your real
life.
Yeah, who knew?
Yeah, right.
And so you're just talking to aperson about your real life and
where Jesus intersects withthat, right yeah, which is, by
the way, everywhere.
But you slowly discover thatmore and more, yeah.
Dina Newsom (12:29):
So in week two of this series, zach kind of moved
on to talk about the design, andhis focus of this was a lot of
the Beatitudes.
What did you guys take away,roger, I'm sure the Beatitudes
is something you've studied timeand time again.
What was your takeaway?
Roger Theimer (12:46):
Well, I love how he redeemed the word happy and
he put it back into the Biblewhere it needs to be, and we're
not making a God of happy,because it's not our God, but it
is held in contrast.
But it is held in contrast.
It catches your attention thatthe other half of that equation
(13:09):
are things that the world wouldnot call happy.
You know poor in spirit, meek,yeah, persecuted, what I didn't
sign up for that.
And that is such a sense ofwhat the kingdom of God looks
like.
It does not look like thisworld.
(13:34):
That's not this world'sstandards, that's not how we
pursue happiness.
But we also get happiness notby pursuing happiness, but by
pursuing the poor in spirit.
Let's pursue poor in spirit andwatch happiness come out of it.
Julie Eesley (13:50):
Yeah, I love that too.
I mean just Zach saying Jesusis greatly interested in your
happiness.
It's the thing that he tacklesat the top of the Sermon on the
Mount.
And what I love is that Jesusknows best about how to have a
life that's full of flourishing.
Oftentimes we think about Jesusin a certain way.
(14:13):
I know personally for me I waschallenged in this I read this
Jesus is the smartest person whoever lived, right, you think?
Oh, he's wise and he's full ofpeace and all of these things.
He knows best what will makeyou happy.
And in order to have a life ofpurpose and joy and flourishing,
(14:34):
jesus says here's the way toget that.
Let me just lay it out for you.
I'm not going to make it hardto figure out.
It may look countercultural,but these are the things that
actually will bring you truehappiness, and we're wise to
listen to him.
Dina Newsom (14:48):
I think there's a lot of times that I come across
people, or even feel that waymyself, that hey, give me some
clear directions here.
God, like I'm struggling withwhatever it is, give me some
clear directions.
He kind of does in the Bible ifwe remember and turn to it.
Julie Eesley (15:05):
Yes, yeah, absolutely.
Dina Newsom (15:07):
Yeah, I really liked how Zach talked about
being a peacemaker and not apeacekeeper, about being a
peacemaker, and not apeacekeeper but a peacemaker,
and I really that stuck out tome because I feel like a lot of
times we're trying to keep thepeace or not ruffle feathers or
stuff, and this is an active wayof keeping the peace, like to
(15:29):
think of things, that that's ourresponsibility, our action, to
try to keep the peace.
Julie Eesley (15:35):
Yeah, Thoughts about that, Raj.
Roger Theimer (15:37):
Well, there's an underlying, current in all of
Jesus' teaching and it comeshand in glove with the kingdom
of God.
And that's loving well, it'sbeing loved well and then
sharing loving well with others.
And you love well when youdon't just placate, you help
(16:03):
them get through some of theconflict that's standing in the
way.
Let's be peacemakers.
Dina Newsom (16:18):
Right, it's really an active kind of thing.
Julie Eesley (16:18):
Peacekeeping usually is like let's just do as
little as possible and hopethis all goes away.
Peacemaking is much more activeand will probably, because
right any kind of conflict thatyou have.
It's not just one person who'sall wrong and the other person's
all right.
There are always things that wewill need to own in a
relationship that's going south,and so really humbling yourself
and admitting and saying I'msorry, asking for forgiveness,
(16:40):
that's all really activepeacemaking.
Peacekeeping sometimes avoidsthat tough stuff.
Roger Theimer (16:47):
The whole refrain behind those Beatitudes is a
sense of humility, beginning toend.
That lets you go through thoseand it's interesting that you
can go through.
Because of humility, you can gothrough boldly.
Julie Eesley (17:03):
Right, it's a little bit paradoxical.
I know yes, because you reallydon't have that much to lose.
If you have your entirereputation to protect.
Wow, that's going to be tough,but if you're laying that down,
things become easier.
Dina Newsom (17:19):
Okay, what about salt and light that?
Was kind of one of the lastthings that Zach really hit on
was dimensions.
Roger Theimer (17:24):
I never knew the salt and covenant thing Because
he said salt was one of thesigns of the covenant and they
would seal covenant with salt.
Salt was one of the signs ofthe covenant and they would seal
covenant with salt.
But covenant is so vital tounderstanding how God sees us in
relationship with him becausehe's making these agreements
that draws into thelife-fulfilling relationship
(17:46):
with him Well, and because ofthat we take that same covenant
relationship out to the world.
Both salt and light aredesigned to penetrate.
That's one of their primarypurposes and you can say that
covenant relationship ceiling isdesigned to penetrate to the
(18:07):
world as well.
Julie Eesley (18:08):
Mm-hmm.
I really loved when he saidsalt never gets the glory when
you're eating.
It's not like the salt isamazing, right, nobody ever says
that, but if salt is lackingfrom well.
Salt glorifies a dish, right,it brings out the amazingness of
meat or whatever it is thatyour vegetables right, it just
(18:29):
enhances that thing, bringsglory to that dish.
And when the salt is missing,you really notice it.
And I think, as believers, ifwe're not right, we're just
trying to reflect glory to Jesus, and when we're not doing that,
the world is worse off for it.
Dina Newsom (18:51):
Yes, it is so.
Zach talked in both of theseweeks about how the Sermon on
the Mount is not about how toget to heaven.
It's about how to bring heavendown here.
So any final points on thatbefore we wrap up.
Roger Theimer (19:05):
Yes, you will not find in the Sermon on the Mount
the plan for salvation.
However, it's part of Jesusunfolding the plan of salvation.
However, it's part of Jesusunfolding the plan of salvation.
It's just that it starts with avery practical sense of how
(19:37):
God's working in our lives, inthe heart of doing until they
saw the fulfillment of thatkingdom come through Jesus'
final victory in His death andresurrection.
So, yeah, anyway, that was ahelpful perspective for me to
see once again that God'sunfolding His story and the
Sermon on the Mount was such akey part of that story, showing
(20:00):
what this kingdom of God andthis life of repentance looks
like.
Julie Eesley (20:04):
Yeah, and I just think I loved how he talked
about you know, kind of thatmoney that was left unclaimed.
And if we're just saying, jesus, I'm viewing you as my ticket
to heaven, but I'm just going tomuddle through life on my own
until I get there.
We are leaving so much on thetable.
(20:25):
We're leaving so much wisdom,peace, joy, love, purpose,
encouragement, just the personalrelationship with Christ that
brings so much consolation inthe right here and now.
And so God has so much for usin our journey here on earth,
and are we really mining it forall it's worth?
Roger Theimer (20:49):
Well said, julie, yeah.
Dina Newsom (20:50):
Yes, thank you so much for being here today with
us.
We'll look forward todiscussing more in future weeks
of this.
Nuts and Volts, and so, forright now, let's keep living our
lives beyond Sunday.
Roger Theimer (21:03):
But where's the bubble gum?
Julie Eesley (21:06):
Thank you.
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