December 20, 2024 • 21 mins
Ready to embark on a transformative spiritual adventure? Discover how 2025 could be the year you deepen your faith, align your actions with your beliefs, and overcome challenges like fear and anxiety.
We're back on the Sojo Show after a long hiatus and are excited to share our journey, insights, and the ambitious plans we've laid out for this season.
Join us as we candidly talk about the highs and lows of running a podcast driven by passion, not profit. Our return episode is packed with reflections and revelations from our seven-year journey with the Sojo Academy, and we're eager to explore biblical wisdom that translates into actionable steps for spiritual growth.
This year, we're diving deep into themes of trust, faith, and transformation. As we journey together, we will also focus on purpose-driven living, bold leadership, and, eventually, leaving a meaningful legacy.
We’re so excited to grow alongside you in 2025. Whether you’ve been listening for quite some time or just discovering The Sojo Show, welcome to the journey! Let’s make this year one of deep spiritual growth and bold action for Christ.
Connect with us: www.instagram.com/sojosociety
Become a member: www.sojoacademy.com
Sojo Academy is an ongoing membership for Christian women that provides a practical, streamlined, spiritual growth plan for every woman.
Support the Podcast: www.sojohub.com/support
Help us continue making great content for listeners everywhere.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
hello, welcome to the sojo show.
How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I'm here with I kind of feel like we should have
something special to say afterbeing gone for like months we're
back.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Well, we're back.
Our next season coming up andwe wanted to chat with you guys
before that happens absolutelyyay.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
So it kind of feels like we should say happy
december, happy almost 2025, andwelcome back to the sojo show.
We basically we want to giveyou an overview of where we're
headed, but first let to let youofficially that we are back and
we will be kicking up our nextseason, the first season of 2025
(00:51):
, on January 7th.
Is that the right date, did Iget?
Speaker 1 (00:55):
that right.
7th yes, that will be our firstepisode Exciting.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Yay, so if you are like diehard fans like there may
be one or two of you out there,diehard, you can.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
You can write it down on your calendar, I know you
all been waiting with batedbreath to hear our voices again
in your ears.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I know Right, I'm.
I'm hoping somebody, somebodydoes want to hear from us.
I don't know about debatedbreakfast.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Somebody comment on the Apple podcast.
Is that what it's called now?
I don't know.
But go ahead and comment thatyou're excited to have us back.
Let us know that somebody islooking forward to yes, yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Because if it's crickets, we're going to be like
, okay, we just made it idiotourselves.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
It's fun.
Well, we enjoy doing this.
We've.
So AJ and I in the in the offseason quote unquote have been
really trying to decide whatnext year is going to look like
for our podcast and whetherwe're going to continue it.
Whether you know, it's becauseit's a labor of love.
I got to be honest with youit's purely a labor of love.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
It is.
Yeah, can we just be honestabout that for just a second?
Because, guys, if you, if youhave a podcast, if you've ever
like tried to record one, youknow that it's a lot of work.
It's a lot of work, it takes aton of time because you have to
record and money, yeah, yeah, itcosts.
(02:28):
It costs us money.
And here's the thing like weget no money from it, none like
zero, zero pennies, zero pennies.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
You have a podcast that you aren't able to support
financially?
Speaker 2 (02:38):
let us know how right , yes, please do, because we we
would really like to cover ourexpenses for this but regardless
.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Regardless.
We're not whining because, aswe're thinking through this, we
decided that this is one of ourfavorite things to do.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
We just yeah, it is.
We love it.
We love the back and forthdiscussion and, honestly, we get
comments from people all thetime.
When we don't do a podcastepisode, we get people in real
life asking us where we're at,and we get people in our inboxes
asking us where we're at whenthe podcast is coming back, and
so we see this as a ministry.
(03:18):
So, for the one or two of youwho do listen, this is for you.
So for the one or two of youwho do listen, this is for you.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
I was going to say, hey, mom, but my mom doesn't
even listen.
Mine doesn't either.
That's okay.
That's okay, we want to hear.
If you're listening, please letus know.
Leave us a comment, let us know, okay no-transcript.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
This is our clarity session.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Yeah, what you guys don't realize is that we're
working things out in thebackground together.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
We are we're?
Speaker 1 (04:14):
always hot messes.
So with that really amazingintroduction, everyone's so
excited.
Now.
We really did not do a good jobintroducing that.
But you know what, if you'renew to the podcast, I'm Jen, my
voice is Jen and I'm AJ and Isay J, and we are not physically
together today.
(04:35):
You can usually tell when we'rephysically together, because
the flow is much easier whenwe're together, but we are
virtually together much easierwhen we're together, but we are
virtually together and we wantto tell you what we're going to
be doing next year because wehave like we actually have a
plan, which we do have a plan.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
This guys y'all should like be celebrating right
now, because we normally, Imean, we do plan, we do plan we
don't plan for a whole year atonce, like that is really kind
of crazy.
This is the first time we'veever done that.
Yes, so and we've been doingthis for now we're going into
our is it into our seventh yearor into our eighth year?
Speaker 1 (05:17):
We're going into our seventh year with Sojo Academy.
This is our third year with thepodcast, but seventh year with
Sojo.
Yes, so we co-run Sojo Academyagain for those of you who are
new and it is a membership forChristian women where we go
through different aspects ofspiritual growth with women, and
this is our seventh year.
We're starting our seventh year.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Yeah, yeah, that's a pretty big deal.
So I mean, obviously we've donea lot of planning in those
seven years.
Some of it has had to do withpodcasts over the past three,
but we've never done this wherewe've actually planned an entire
year's worth of like aspiritual development path.
That's what we have planned forthis year and the podcast is
(06:00):
going to reflect that and we'resuper excited about it.
And, honestly, this is one ofthe reasons why we're bringing
back the podcast, because itdoes give us clarity as we go
through this spiritualdevelopment path we have for
2025.
It gives us clarity and it'sjust like okay, what is the most
important things?
It helps us to zone in and kindof dial in on what is most
(06:25):
important and then try to putthose things into practice in
our lives.
Because, as we all know, it'snot just knowing the Bible.
That's important, it's actuallytaking action on it, it's doing
it, and that's what ourcommunity is all about.
We're not just a Bible studycommunity, we're like a take
action community, and so thispodcast is going to help us.
(06:48):
Just, jen and I, really naildown okay, out of all of the
scripture we're consuming thismonth, what are the most
important things Like what arethe things we need to take
action on, what are the thingswe need to hide in our hearts
and so we're excited about?
Speaker 1 (07:03):
this.
What are the things we need tohide in our hearts and so we're
excited about this?
Okay, so are we going to like,like, bear our own reflection on
the podcast.
Like, are we going to.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
We will.
I mean, we're always like TMI,so you know we're going to.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
So you're going to get the down and dirty with how
we need to grow spiritually andhow we're failing Probably will
be better.
Dirty with how we need to growspiritually and how we're
failing Probably will be better.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
I mean there might be , there may be some of that, you
know, there will probably besome, like self-reflection, I'm
sure.
But I mean just knowing, likeknowing where we're headed this
year and, spoiler alert, for thefirst month.
We're looking at the characterof God, the attributes of God.
Like that is an awe inspiringview when you just look at his
(07:53):
glory, you look at hisfaithfulness, you look at his
compassion I was just thinkingabout this over the past 24
hours just how compassionate andslow to anger.
You know, the verse that I wasmeditating on yesterday comes
from Joel, where it says he'swilling to relent.
You know, even now it said he'swilling to relent if you just
repent and turn from your ways,like just thinking about the
(08:16):
glory of God in his compassion,that's enough to change your
life, you know.
And so I I'm really excitedabout where we're going in this
new year and how we're kind ofsetting it up the right way, I
think, in in the very beginning,in January, by focusing our
(08:38):
hearts and our eyes on God.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Yeah, so we're calling this, I think.
I don't know if we'veofficially decided to call it
this or not, but we've sort oftemporarily been calling this
Foundations to Finish Line.
That is sort of the workingtitle for the year.
But, regardless, we did want toshare with you kind of what
like the path, the path thatwe're taking.
(09:02):
Yeah, let they do it.
We're starting with the bedrock, with the foundation, and so
the so, yeah, so the first pathis indeed foundations.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Yeah, the foundations of everything, of everything,
everything of our, of our lives,yeah, the foundations for the
Christian living.
Well, and I think it'simportant to note, cause I don't
think we spelled this out superclearly but what our approach
for the, for the year, is goingto, we're going to have like a
quarterly approach.
So maybe, you know, you cancall it a quarterly sprint or
(09:36):
whatever.
So each quarter we're going tofocus on one thing, one topic,
and then, within that topic,each month we're going to have
like a sub focus.
So it's all very organized.
I mean, I'm really excitedabout that.
It's.
It's like so I don't know, isthat right brain or left brain?
I don't know, it's definitelynot the creative brain.
(09:57):
So whichever one is opposite ofcreative, but there is
creativity within the structuretoo.
But so the first quarter is ourfocus on foundations, because I
think without this you have, youknow, it's like a house without
the foundation, you havenothing to build on.
(10:17):
And, honestly, this issomething that we can sometimes
relegate to new beginners, newbelievers, you know, and
beginners in their faith.
But it's something we need tocome back to over and over and
over and over again.
It's like when we talked aboutin the spiritual growth
accelerator, where, Jen, yougave the illustration of the,
(10:38):
the, the football story.
I can't remember who it was.
I was like back to the basics.
You know, it's like we're,we're gonna, we're gonna do
drills on, like throwing theball and like doing the basics
that make up the sport.
And and there are certainthings in the Christian life
that we just need to have as ourfoundations, and knowing the
(11:03):
character of God is one of those.
Knowing the word of God isreliable and trustworthy In a
world that is shifting, in aworld that tells us XYZ is right
today and ABC is right tomorrow.
The Bible is what tells uswhat's true, and these are
(11:27):
foundations that we have tostick to.
So this first quarter we aregoing to talk about our
foundations and, yeah, I don'tknow if you want to give any
more detail on that or not, jen.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
Yeah Well, I can just briefly say that in January you
will hear about, as AJ alreadymentioned, knowing God,
understanding who he is, and Iknow that, for those of you
listening, you will hear about,as AJ already mentioned, knowing
God, understanding who he is,and I know that, for those of
you listening, you probablyalready kind of know these
characteristics of God.
But I think that it is socritical for us to be reminded
(11:58):
over and over again Because Imean I don't know about you, but
I have been a believer for avery long time.
I mean I don't know about you,but I have been a believer for a
very long time and yet I findmyself like almost forgetting on
a daily basis of some of thesereally important truths because
I get so overwhelmed by my owncircumstances.
(12:20):
So we're going to talk aboutGod's characteristics, his
holiness, his sovereignty, hislove, his mercy, his
faithfulness, all these thingsthat will ground us and, as we
discuss it on the podcast and inour membership, we're going to
really be reminded of thosetruths.
And then we're going to shift.
We're going to go through theGospel of Mark, we're going to
(12:51):
encounter Jesus in a real wayand really look at the life and
the truth of the Son, of the Son, and so that's going to be
really important and who we arein Christ, right.
And then we're going to talkabout our faith in March as far
as understanding what this means, what does this word mean, what
does this whole mean?
So these are just sort offoundational concepts that you
know as a believer.
You know them, but if you arenot constantly reminded of them,
(13:16):
then it's really easy to allowour circumstances and our
everyday lives sort of swallowus up a little bit, and I say
that from experience.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, it's always good to be reminded
of who God is.
That's one of the questionsthat Jesus asked.
You know, he's like who do yousay that I am, and then who do
others say that I am?
And it's like that is a corequestion that we have to remind
our hearts of.
That is a core question that wehave to remind our hearts of.
Who am I acting like?
Jesus is right now.
(13:47):
Who am I believing him to be?
What do my actions say aboutwhat I believe about God?
Is it?
Do they say, that he'strustworthy, that he's a good
shepherd, that he's a father whotakes care of his own, that
he's a redeemer?
You know, even when I fall tothe pit of the earth, like, do
my actions reflect that?
(14:08):
And those are the kinds ofquestions that we need to
constantly be asking ourselves,and so I'm really excited about
this first quarter of the newyear.
I just have to say you guysknow I'm a really big trust
person, because I struggle withthat.
I struggle with trusting God, Istruggle with trusting people,
(14:29):
and it's something that I'vestudied a lot on in God's word.
So when we get to March, I'mreally, really looking forward
to that we will be looking at.
Hebrews 11 is one of thepassages we'll be diving into,
looking at others who exercisefaith in scripture, and so I'm
really excited.
That's probably the highlightof the quarter for me.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Yeah, yeah.
So we're going to transition atthat point from the foundations
which obviously we're nevergoing to really transition out
of that completely because we'llcontinue to focus on those
things but in the next quarter,we're going to start looking at
transformation.
So, basically, growth, oursanctification and how our
(15:14):
sanctification prepares us, andthis is what AJ was talking
about as far as our knowledge issuper important, but our
knowledge has to translate intoaction and this is where we're
continuing to gain knowledge ofwho we are, in Christ, for
example.
That's happening in May, butwe're also going to turn that
(15:36):
into what that means for usgoing forward and what we need
to be doing as we prepare foraction.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Yeah, I really love this quarter as well, because we
talk about God's promises to usin times of fear and
uncertainty.
We're going to hit on anxietyand replacing that with prayer,
battling our fears withscripture, so there's just so
much.
In here, again, we'll touch onidentity in Christ and we have a
(16:06):
biographical study A good one,yes, yes, a really really good
biographical study.
So you guys are going to get inon that on the podcast that
will be in June.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Yes, yes, that's going to be good.
All right, so you want to talkabout what's next, because we
got two more quarters after that.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Yeah.
So then, third quarter, we'relooking at mission and really
focusing in on what God hascalled us to do, like we're.
We're called for a purpose.
We're not called to just sitand and make the best of our
lives and now go out and, youknow, find our best selves.
You know we are called for apurpose, and so this is going to
(16:48):
be the quarter of living outour faith with bold action
within authentic community andalso empowered leadership.
How are we going to take what wehave learned and lead others?
We'll talk about living in ahostile world with hope and
holiness.
We'll look at Peter a littlebit during that section of the
(17:10):
quarter and his personal journeyfrom fear and failure to bold
leadership.
Because I mean, just thinkabout that, peter royally failed
and yet he was one of thepillars of church growth, and so
, no matter what failure we havein our past or even in our
future, god's not done with us,like if we're breathing air
(17:34):
right now.
It means he still has a purposefor us to fulfill, and so
that's kind of going to be oneof our, one of our topics during
the third quarter.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Yeah, this is a quarter that's going to focus a
little bit as well ondiscipleship and multiplication
of ourselves, sort of in the inthe, in the matter of like.
So we've looked at thefoundations, we've looked at how
we're going to grow ourselvesand then now we're going to see
how we can grow others Not we,but how we can encourage others
in their faith.
(18:04):
So I think this is a verypractical quarter and hopefully
you guys will stick around forit as we discuss it on the
podcast.
And AJ and I both have a lot ofpersonal experience in
quote-unquote ministry.
But it's really important tonote that these commands for
(18:25):
discipleship of others andteaching and encouraging others
in the Word are for all of us,it's for you as well, and so
kind of knowing that and beingempowered to do that is it is
transformational.
It really is.
Even though this is our missionquarter, it will continue to
transform.
(18:46):
So I love that.
And then we're going to end theyear on with the we're calling
the quarter perseverance andbasically this is just again,
this is that finishing strongpart and that is going to be
really important for us to focuson, I think in this day and age
, even more than any other timeis going against the culture and
(19:11):
finishing our lives with whatGod, who God wants us to be and
what he wants us to actually bedoing.
We're going to do a book studyon the book of James, we're
going to do topical studies andwe're going to end the year with
praise and worship.
We're going to worshipthroughout the year, obviously,
but understanding how importantthat is for our lives, so
(19:32):
strengthening our faith,finishing well In Sojo.
We have some corecharacteristics, some core
disciplines that we work through, and one of them is finishing
well, beautiful emptiness,leaving this life empty in a
beautiful way, leaving it all onthe field.
(19:52):
To go back to footballreference, and that's what we're
going to be talking about inquarter four.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Yeah, so that's a really brief probably more than
you wanted to know overview ofwhere we're headed in 2025 here
on the podcast and, as we havesaid, we're going to be studying
several books throughout thenew year, several topical
studies as well.
As we have said, we're going tobe studying several books
throughout the new year, severaltopical studies as well.
We're going to do at least onebiographical study.
So if you want to dive moreinto what we're doing in Sojo,
(20:22):
in the Academy, you can findmore about that at
sojoacademycom.
This is a great time to join,because you will get in from the
start in in 2025 from day oneand, if not, this is something
that you can follow along withus on the podcast.
We hope that it will be ablessing to you to hear the
discussions that we have and theinsights that we learn
(20:45):
throughout the year.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
Yeah, yes, we're excited about it and we look
forward to sharing this with youall through 2025.
So welcome back to the SojoShow.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Welcome back and welcome to the new year.
hello, welcome to the sojo show.
How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I'm here with I kind of feel like we should have
something special to say afterbeing gone for like months we're
back.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Well, we're back.
Our next season coming up andwe wanted to chat with you guys
before that happens absolutelyyay.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
So it kind of feels like we should say happy
december, happy almost 2025, andwelcome back to the sojo show.
We basically we want to giveyou an overview of where we're
headed, but first let to let youofficially that we are back and
we will be kicking up our nextseason, the first season of 2025
(00:51):
, on January 7th.
Is that the right date, did Iget?
Speaker 1 (00:55):
that right.
7th yes, that will be our firstepisode Exciting.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Yay, so if you are like diehard fans like there may
be one or two of you out there,diehard, you can.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
You can write it down on your calendar, I know you
all been waiting with batedbreath to hear our voices again
in your ears.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I know Right, I'm.
I'm hoping somebody, somebodydoes want to hear from us.
I don't know about debatedbreakfast.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Somebody comment on the Apple podcast.
Is that what it's called now?
I don't know.
But go ahead and comment thatyou're excited to have us back.
Let us know that somebody islooking forward to yes, yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Because if it's crickets, we're going to be like
, okay, we just made it idiotourselves.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
It's fun.
Well, we enjoy doing this.
We've.
So AJ and I in the in the offseason quote unquote have been
really trying to decide whatnext year is going to look like
for our podcast and whetherwe're going to continue it.
Whether you know, it's becauseit's a labor of love.
I got to be honest with youit's purely a labor of love.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
It is.
Yeah, can we just be honestabout that for just a second?
Because, guys, if you, if youhave a podcast, if you've ever
like tried to record one, youknow that it's a lot of work.
It's a lot of work, it takes aton of time because you have to
record and money, yeah, yeah, itcosts.
(02:28):
It costs us money.
And here's the thing like weget no money from it, none like
zero, zero pennies, zero pennies.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
You have a podcast that you aren't able to support
financially?
Speaker 2 (02:38):
let us know how right , yes, please do, because we we
would really like to cover ourexpenses for this but regardless
.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Regardless.
We're not whining because, aswe're thinking through this, we
decided that this is one of ourfavorite things to do.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
We just yeah, it is.
We love it.
We love the back and forthdiscussion and, honestly, we get
comments from people all thetime.
When we don't do a podcastepisode, we get people in real
life asking us where we're at,and we get people in our inboxes
asking us where we're at whenthe podcast is coming back, and
so we see this as a ministry.
(03:18):
So, for the one or two of youwho do listen, this is for you.
So for the one or two of youwho do listen, this is for you.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
I was going to say, hey, mom, but my mom doesn't
even listen.
Mine doesn't either.
That's okay.
That's okay, we want to hear.
If you're listening, please letus know.
Leave us a comment, let us know, okay no-transcript.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
This is our clarity session.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Yeah, what you guys don't realize is that we're
working things out in thebackground together.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
We are we're?
Speaker 1 (04:14):
always hot messes.
So with that really amazingintroduction, everyone's so
excited.
Now.
We really did not do a good jobintroducing that.
But you know what, if you'renew to the podcast, I'm Jen, my
voice is Jen and I'm AJ and Isay J, and we are not physically
together today.
(04:35):
You can usually tell when we'rephysically together, because
the flow is much easier whenwe're together, but we are
virtually together much easierwhen we're together, but we are
virtually together and we wantto tell you what we're going to
be doing next year because wehave like we actually have a
plan, which we do have a plan.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
This guys y'all should like be celebrating right
now, because we normally, Imean, we do plan, we do plan we
don't plan for a whole year atonce, like that is really kind
of crazy.
This is the first time we'veever done that.
Yes, so and we've been doingthis for now we're going into
our is it into our seventh yearor into our eighth year?
Speaker 1 (05:17):
We're going into our seventh year with Sojo Academy.
This is our third year with thepodcast, but seventh year with
Sojo.
Yes, so we co-run Sojo Academyagain for those of you who are
new and it is a membership forChristian women where we go
through different aspects ofspiritual growth with women, and
this is our seventh year.
We're starting our seventh year.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Yeah, yeah, that's a pretty big deal.
So I mean, obviously we've donea lot of planning in those
seven years.
Some of it has had to do withpodcasts over the past three,
but we've never done this wherewe've actually planned an entire
year's worth of like aspiritual development path.
That's what we have planned forthis year and the podcast is
(06:00):
going to reflect that and we'resuper excited about it.
And, honestly, this is one ofthe reasons why we're bringing
back the podcast, because itdoes give us clarity as we go
through this spiritualdevelopment path we have for
2025.
It gives us clarity and it'sjust like okay, what is the most
important things?
It helps us to zone in and kindof dial in on what is most
(06:25):
important and then try to putthose things into practice in
our lives.
Because, as we all know, it'snot just knowing the Bible.
That's important, it's actuallytaking action on it, it's doing
it, and that's what ourcommunity is all about.
We're not just a Bible studycommunity, we're like a take
action community, and so thispodcast is going to help us.
(06:48):
Just, jen and I, really naildown okay, out of all of the
scripture we're consuming thismonth, what are the most
important things Like what arethe things we need to take
action on, what are the thingswe need to hide in our hearts
and so we're excited about?
Speaker 1 (07:03):
this.
What are the things we need tohide in our hearts and so we're
excited about this?
Okay, so are we going to like,like, bear our own reflection on
the podcast.
Like, are we going to.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
We will.
I mean, we're always like TMI,so you know we're going to.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
So you're going to get the down and dirty with how
we need to grow spiritually andhow we're failing Probably will
be better.
Dirty with how we need to growspiritually and how we're
failing Probably will be better.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
I mean there might be , there may be some of that, you
know, there will probably besome, like self-reflection, I'm
sure.
But I mean just knowing, likeknowing where we're headed this
year and, spoiler alert, for thefirst month.
We're looking at the characterof God, the attributes of God.
Like that is an awe inspiringview when you just look at his
(07:53):
glory, you look at hisfaithfulness, you look at his
compassion I was just thinkingabout this over the past 24
hours just how compassionate andslow to anger.
You know, the verse that I wasmeditating on yesterday comes
from Joel, where it says he'swilling to relent.
You know, even now it said he'swilling to relent if you just
repent and turn from your ways,like just thinking about the
(08:16):
glory of God in his compassion,that's enough to change your
life, you know.
And so I I'm really excitedabout where we're going in this
new year and how we're kind ofsetting it up the right way, I
think, in in the very beginning,in January, by focusing our
(08:38):
hearts and our eyes on God.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Yeah, so we're calling this, I think.
I don't know if we'veofficially decided to call it
this or not, but we've sort oftemporarily been calling this
Foundations to Finish Line.
That is sort of the workingtitle for the year.
But, regardless, we did want toshare with you kind of what
like the path, the path thatwe're taking.
(09:02):
Yeah, let they do it.
We're starting with the bedrock, with the foundation, and so
the so, yeah, so the first pathis indeed foundations.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Yeah, the foundations of everything, of everything,
everything of our, of our lives,yeah, the foundations for the
Christian living.
Well, and I think it'simportant to note, cause I don't
think we spelled this out superclearly but what our approach
for the, for the year, is goingto, we're going to have like a
quarterly approach.
So maybe, you know, you cancall it a quarterly sprint or
(09:36):
whatever.
So each quarter we're going tofocus on one thing, one topic,
and then, within that topic,each month we're going to have
like a sub focus.
So it's all very organized.
I mean, I'm really excitedabout that.
It's.
It's like so I don't know, isthat right brain or left brain?
I don't know, it's definitelynot the creative brain.
(09:57):
So whichever one is opposite ofcreative, but there is
creativity within the structuretoo.
But so the first quarter is ourfocus on foundations, because I
think without this you have, youknow, it's like a house without
the foundation, you havenothing to build on.
(10:17):
And, honestly, this issomething that we can sometimes
relegate to new beginners, newbelievers, you know, and
beginners in their faith.
But it's something we need tocome back to over and over and
over and over again.
It's like when we talked aboutin the spiritual growth
accelerator, where, Jen, yougave the illustration of the,
(10:38):
the, the football story.
I can't remember who it was.
I was like back to the basics.
You know, it's like we're,we're gonna, we're gonna do
drills on, like throwing theball and like doing the basics
that make up the sport.
And and there are certainthings in the Christian life
that we just need to have as ourfoundations, and knowing the
(11:03):
character of God is one of those.
Knowing the word of God isreliable and trustworthy In a
world that is shifting, in aworld that tells us XYZ is right
today and ABC is right tomorrow.
The Bible is what tells uswhat's true, and these are
(11:27):
foundations that we have tostick to.
So this first quarter we aregoing to talk about our
foundations and, yeah, I don'tknow if you want to give any
more detail on that or not, jen.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
Yeah Well, I can just briefly say that in January you
will hear about, as AJ alreadymentioned, knowing God,
understanding who he is, and Iknow that, for those of you
listening, you will hear about,as AJ already mentioned, knowing
God, understanding who he is,and I know that, for those of
you listening, you probablyalready kind of know these
characteristics of God.
But I think that it is socritical for us to be reminded
(11:58):
over and over again Because Imean I don't know about you, but
I have been a believer for avery long time.
I mean I don't know about you,but I have been a believer for a
very long time and yet I findmyself like almost forgetting on
a daily basis of some of thesereally important truths because
I get so overwhelmed by my owncircumstances.
(12:20):
So we're going to talk aboutGod's characteristics, his
holiness, his sovereignty, hislove, his mercy, his
faithfulness, all these thingsthat will ground us and, as we
discuss it on the podcast and inour membership, we're going to
really be reminded of thosetruths.
And then we're going to shift.
We're going to go through theGospel of Mark, we're going to
(12:51):
encounter Jesus in a real wayand really look at the life and
the truth of the Son, of the Son, and so that's going to be
really important and who we arein Christ, right.
And then we're going to talkabout our faith in March as far
as understanding what this means, what does this word mean, what
does this whole mean?
So these are just sort offoundational concepts that you
know as a believer.
You know them, but if you arenot constantly reminded of them,
(13:16):
then it's really easy to allowour circumstances and our
everyday lives sort of swallowus up a little bit, and I say
that from experience.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, it's always good to be reminded
of who God is.
That's one of the questionsthat Jesus asked.
You know, he's like who do yousay that I am, and then who do
others say that I am?
And it's like that is a corequestion that we have to remind
our hearts of.
That is a core question that wehave to remind our hearts of.
Who am I acting like?
Jesus is right now.
(13:47):
Who am I believing him to be?
What do my actions say aboutwhat I believe about God?
Is it?
Do they say, that he'strustworthy, that he's a good
shepherd, that he's a father whotakes care of his own, that
he's a redeemer?
You know, even when I fall tothe pit of the earth, like, do
my actions reflect that?
(14:08):
And those are the kinds ofquestions that we need to
constantly be asking ourselves,and so I'm really excited about
this first quarter of the newyear.
I just have to say you guysknow I'm a really big trust
person, because I struggle withthat.
I struggle with trusting God, Istruggle with trusting people,
(14:29):
and it's something that I'vestudied a lot on in God's word.
So when we get to March, I'mreally, really looking forward
to that we will be looking at.
Hebrews 11 is one of thepassages we'll be diving into,
looking at others who exercisefaith in scripture, and so I'm
really excited.
That's probably the highlightof the quarter for me.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Yeah, yeah.
So we're going to transition atthat point from the foundations
which obviously we're nevergoing to really transition out
of that completely because we'llcontinue to focus on those
things but in the next quarter,we're going to start looking at
transformation.
So, basically, growth, oursanctification and how our
(15:14):
sanctification prepares us, andthis is what AJ was talking
about as far as our knowledge issuper important, but our
knowledge has to translate intoaction and this is where we're
continuing to gain knowledge ofwho we are, in Christ, for
example.
That's happening in May, butwe're also going to turn that
(15:36):
into what that means for usgoing forward and what we need
to be doing as we prepare foraction.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Yeah, I really love this quarter as well, because we
talk about God's promises to usin times of fear and
uncertainty.
We're going to hit on anxietyand replacing that with prayer,
battling our fears withscripture, so there's just so
much.
In here, again, we'll touch onidentity in Christ and we have a
(16:06):
biographical study A good one,yes, yes, a really really good
biographical study.
So you guys are going to get inon that on the podcast that
will be in June.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Yes, yes, that's going to be good.
All right, so you want to talkabout what's next, because we
got two more quarters after that.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Yeah.
So then, third quarter, we'relooking at mission and really
focusing in on what God hascalled us to do, like we're.
We're called for a purpose.
We're not called to just sitand and make the best of our
lives and now go out and, youknow, find our best selves.
You know we are called for apurpose, and so this is going to
(16:48):
be the quarter of living outour faith with bold action
within authentic community andalso empowered leadership.
How are we going to take what wehave learned and lead others?
We'll talk about living in ahostile world with hope and
holiness.
We'll look at Peter a littlebit during that section of the
(17:10):
quarter and his personal journeyfrom fear and failure to bold
leadership.
Because I mean, just thinkabout that, peter royally failed
and yet he was one of thepillars of church growth, and so
, no matter what failure we havein our past or even in our
future, god's not done with us,like if we're breathing air
(17:34):
right now.
It means he still has a purposefor us to fulfill, and so
that's kind of going to be oneof our, one of our topics during
the third quarter.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Yeah, this is a quarter that's going to focus a
little bit as well ondiscipleship and multiplication
of ourselves, sort of in the inthe, in the matter of like.
So we've looked at thefoundations, we've looked at how
we're going to grow ourselvesand then now we're going to see
how we can grow others Not we,but how we can encourage others
in their faith.
(18:04):
So I think this is a verypractical quarter and hopefully
you guys will stick around forit as we discuss it on the
podcast.
And AJ and I both have a lot ofpersonal experience in
quote-unquote ministry.
But it's really important tonote that these commands for
(18:25):
discipleship of others andteaching and encouraging others
in the Word are for all of us,it's for you as well, and so
kind of knowing that and beingempowered to do that is it is
transformational.
It really is.
Even though this is our missionquarter, it will continue to
transform.
(18:46):
So I love that.
And then we're going to end theyear on with the we're calling
the quarter perseverance andbasically this is just again,
this is that finishing strongpart and that is going to be
really important for us to focuson, I think in this day and age
, even more than any other timeis going against the culture and
(19:11):
finishing our lives with whatGod, who God wants us to be and
what he wants us to actually bedoing.
We're going to do a book studyon the book of James, we're
going to do topical studies andwe're going to end the year with
praise and worship.
We're going to worshipthroughout the year, obviously,
but understanding how importantthat is for our lives, so
(19:32):
strengthening our faith,finishing well In Sojo.
We have some corecharacteristics, some core
disciplines that we work through, and one of them is finishing
well, beautiful emptiness,leaving this life empty in a
beautiful way, leaving it all onthe field.
(19:52):
To go back to footballreference, and that's what we're
going to be talking about inquarter four.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Yeah, so that's a really brief probably more than
you wanted to know overview ofwhere we're headed in 2025 here
on the podcast and, as we havesaid, we're going to be studying
several books throughout thenew year, several topical
studies as well.
As we have said, we're going tobe studying several books
throughout the new year, severaltopical studies as well.
We're going to do at least onebiographical study.
So if you want to dive moreinto what we're doing in Sojo,
(20:22):
in the Academy, you can findmore about that at
sojoacademycom.
This is a great time to join,because you will get in from the
start in in 2025 from day oneand, if not, this is something
that you can follow along withus on the podcast.
We hope that it will be ablessing to you to hear the
discussions that we have and theinsights that we learn
(20:45):
throughout the year.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
Yeah, yes, we're excited about it and we look
forward to sharing this with youall through 2025.
So welcome back to the SojoShow.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Welcome back and welcome to the new year.
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