Resident Strangers

Steve and Rich are continuing in the Desert Springs doctrinal statement today talking about something very near and dear to their hearts; that is the church. What exactly is the church? Is it a specific building or place? How much do the people in the church matter? Does the church exist to merely provide "religious services"? What does it mean to be a member of a church? Rich encourages us to start with Jesus when thinki...

This week on Resident Strangers Steve and Rich are continuing their discussion on the future bodily resurrection. Everything about the future bodily resurrection has to do with the resurrection of Jesus. Rich points out that Paul really frames this as something to bring believers hope. What exactly does it mean that bodies will be raised and restored? Paul again focuses on it being a spiritual body and not necessarily a physical bo...

The whole gang is back together on Resident Strangers! Rich is back from his break and is once again joining Steve and Sarah in the studio. They're jumping right back into the doctrinal statement held at Desert Springs, talking about the future bodily resurrection. This is a concept that brought hope to people who heard it then and continues to bring hope to believers now. Eternal life is truly brought through Jesus. The physi...

Our beloved co-host Rich will be joining back in again next week so this episode will just be a conversation with Steve and Sarah. If you've been a regular listener, you know that Steve and Rich have been working through the doctrinal statement that our church (Desert Springs Community Church) holds. Since August of last year, they have been breaking down each element of the doctrinal statement week to week with a few one-off ...

Shawn Jones once again joins Steve and Sarah in the studio to continue the discussion on witnessing, specifically diving into the concept of oikos. Many might be familiar with Oikos the yogurt brand, but did you know that oikos is an important word to know for a Christian wanting to make a difference in Jesus' name? If you attend Desert Springs, you're hopefully already familiar with this word but if you're not it is...

We hope you enjoyed the Passion Week devotionals and had a wonderful Easter weekend! It's back to business as usual this week; well, kind of. Rich is taking a little break for the next few weeks and with that Steve and Sarah decided to invite a special guest host to join in for this discussion on witnessing and evangelism. There was not a better person to join in than Shawn Jones! Shawn works at Desert Springs as the Evangelis...

Happy Easter! Or should we say, Resurrection Day! Today we are sharing with you a conversation we had back in November on the incredible value of the resurrection. You've heard this conversation before, but it is a great listen for this resurrection Sunday!

Steve and Rich specifically highlight the incredible value the resurrection has in this episode. The latter part of 1 Corinthians 15 is referenced throughout this episo...

This episode focuses on silent Saturday, the day between Good Friday and Easter. It's not a day that is typically recognized. Have you ever stopped to think about what that day might have been like? We know the end of the story but those that were there in that time had to face whether what they had been told about the resurrection was true. What we can gather from scripture is that those who had followed Jesus were huddled to...

This episode focuses on the events of Good Friday. Steve walks us through a timeline of that day, starting very early in the morning on Friday. The episode ends with a reading of John 20:30-31. John recorded the events in this book to persuade us to believe that Jesus truly is the Messiah. We hope this helps you to reflect on your belief in Jesus and the magnitude of the cross. 

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Today's episode focuses on John 13:1-14 (NIV). Rich gives us some background on what some know as Maundy Thursday. This is a remembrance of the night that Jesus spent with His disciples. An amazing thing to draw out from this passage is that Jesus washed His disciples' feet. His care for His disciples was so evident, He loved them until the very end. He even washed Judas' feet knowing that he would betray Him. This i...

Today's episode focuses on Luke 21:1-13 (NIV). It is Wednesday of Passion Week and in a little over 24 hours Jesus will be betrayed. In a little over 48 hours, He will be on the cross. We see Jesus' care and compassion for others as He tells this story of the widow. There is nothing small in the eyes of God when it is done in a heart of faith. As Jesus talks of His second coming, He is reminding those then and us now that...

Today's episode focuses on Matthew 22:15-40 (NIV). The people bringing the questions in this passage were trying to trick Jesus and yet He handles this masterfully. He answers the questions in a way that conveys the truth to not only His audience then but to us living now. This is a passage that has been referenced in many episodes of Resident Strangers. In these answers we see that Jesus is most concerned about our hearts. We...

Today's episode focuses on Mark 11:11-17 (NIV). There should have been fruits of repentance; the fruit of embracing Jesus as Messiah but there wasn't. Jesus knew where this was going as He saw the lack of fruit. In a lot of ways Jesus was giving last warnings to Israel to repent in the days leading up to the cross. We cannot allow things in our lives to become more important than the worship and devotion of Jesus. Engagin...

Happy Palm Sunday! Today's episode focuses on Matthew 21:1-9 (NIV). Jesus came on a lowly donkey knowing that what was ahead of Him was a very humiliating death. It's also interesting to stop and consider that those who praised Him so greatly on this day were the same ones who would shout "crucify Him" just five days later. 

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With Passion Week approaching Steve and Rich wanted to share some special devotionals on the Resident Strangers podcast as we prepare our hearts for Easter weekend. Starting today short 5-10 minute episodes will be released every day until Sunday, March 31st to help center your heart on scripture and gratitude for Jesus and His sacrifice. Today's episode focuses on John 12:1-3 (NASB).

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Baptism is the topic of discussion on Resident Strangers today! Sarah, Steve and Rich all share about their baptisms and particularly focus on Rich's story as he was baptized twice, once as an infant and then later in his teen years after receiving salvation. What does infant baptism mean? Can it be considered believer's baptism? Steve brings up how infant baptism can often bring a lot of confusion, sometimes even about s...

Rich and Steve jump right back into the conversation of eternal security. If you did not listen to last week's episode you should catch up before joining in on this one. Rich brings some clarity to some passages that some might use to argue the idea of losing salvation. Steve brings clarity as well getting into some specific contexts certain passages were written in (you may want to take notes on the specific passages mentione...

In this week's episode Steve and Rich cover something that is crucial for believers to understand. It has a lot to do with our identity and our security in Christ. It is also something that is heavily debated amongst Christians even to this day. Eternal security is what is being discussed and if you haven't listened to the last two episodes on salvation, we would highly encourage you to do that. Rich asks the question, if...

On Resident Strangers this week Steve and Rich pick up discussing the question Sarah threw in last week; what happens to babies when they die? Since we're born alienated from God how do we process things like infant death and those who die with severe mental handicaps? We think this part of the conversation will fill you with hope and a better understanding of God's grace. They then shift into talking about how works fit ...