Destination Church Spokane Podcast

Is it right for us to come with an expectant attitude when we're praying, especially when we're asking God for things? Is it rude for us to keep asking him for the same things? The answers to these questions have a lot to do with motive, of course, but Jesus' words are very clear: "Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened," We are intended and instructed to...

When Jesus says, "You should pray like this:" we're about to learn something very important if we pay attention. What follows these instructive words from Jesus is what we know as the Lord's Prayer. What if we really use this as not just something to recite, but a pattern for a life-giving, sustainable prayer life? Could this be a tool to help transform prayer from a laundry list of "I need," and "...

Wouldn't it be amazing to have Jesus teach us to pray? In The Sermon On The Mount Jesus takes some time to teach into prayer. For people who feel like their prayers seem like a performance or a pretense; for people who feel distracted when they try to pray; and for people who are learning to relate to God as a Father rather than a CEO, nebulous 'force,' or a mere 'granter of wishes,' Jesus has something to ...

As Destination Church celebrates seven years in the Hillyard neighborhood of Spokane, we look back on some of what God has done and look ahead toward our call to bring in a great harvest in the neighborhoods of our city as well as across the nations of the world. 1 Samuel 22:2 is a key verse: God gathering the desperate and mobilizing them under godly leadership. Jeremiah 40:12 is another great example of God gathering a people out...

As Jesus comes toward the end of His prayer in John 17, He turns His focus toward... us! What is it that Jesus is praying for us, for His church? Unity: "May they all be one." Why is this so important to Jesus? "So that the world may believe." Can we actually experience what is, for so many, an elusive idea? While our ultimate oneness will be fully realized only in Jesus' coming kingdom, we can experience a...

Performance-oriented religion will leave us feeling weary and burdened, but Jesus has a different path for us! Breakthrough belongs to Him and salvation through Him, so when we feel weary or burdened Jesus wants us to come to Him with all of it. He doesn't just give a motivational speech, merely reprimand us, or simply tolerate us. He, "...will give you rest" ... "rest for your soul..." (Matt 11:28-29) Is t...

What would it be like to have Jesus pray specifically for you? What do you think He would say? In John Chapter 17, Jesus prays personally for His disciples, revealing His heart for those who follow Him. His prayer doesn't begin with a 'laundry list' of demands or requests for God, but rather He talks reflectively with His Father about how things are going with them. As we listen to Jesus pray for His friends, we are ...

What would it be like to listen in to Jesus praying? What could we learn? In John Chapter 17, we get the opportunity to do exactly this, and one the discoveries we make is that the God to whom we pray is a God of relationship. This God is deeply generous, and really wants us to be with Him. If we want to know Him in return, to glorify Him in the earth, and to find our greatest fulfillment in His presence, then we can rest assured.....

Scandalous grace! God's compassion and care for not only 'good' people, but really not good people is astounding, and can even offend our sensibilities. Jonah is furious that God would act this way toward 'those people!' The surgery God does on his heart begins with a simple question: "Is it right for you to be angry?" God leads Jonah - and us along with him - into a discovery of His heart for bot...

The people of Judah we encounter in the Old Testament book of Joel are struggling after serious disaster. Crops have been decimated by infestations of locusts, while fire and drought have destroyed pasture land. The resulting lack is so significant that even temple offerings of grain and wine have been cut off. The prophet Joel calls all the people, from the greatest to the least, to pray. In response to their prayers, God promises...

Jonah has already run away from God's purpose once, but that isn't the end of his story or of God's calling on his life. Like Jonah, we may not always like the places and people to which God commissions us to go, but Jesus' Great Commission to go to all peoples and nations - even the 'Ninevahs' of our time - is in full effect. Despite Jonah's reluctance, the people of Nineveh listen to God and rep...

Just when things couldn't get any worse, God had a surprise in store for Jonah, and he was swallowed - yes, swallowed - by a huge fish! What probably seemed like the end for Jonah was actually God's plan of rescue, and from the belly of the fish Jonah prayed. During his three days and three nights in the darkness and the juices of a fish's stomach, God was doing a work in his heart, and Jonah's prayer can point ...

The sailors had tried everything to avoid throwing Jonah overboard, but all their collective efforts were not enough to save themselves or the ship. They prayed to Jonah's God and then they listened to Jonah's instruction, throwing him into the raging sea. Jesus, our Greater Jonah, has also been cast into the grave on our behalf, and through faith in Him we'll discover the power and provision of God. Like the sailors...

The ship Jonah used in order to run from God's presence ran him straight into a storm, and no matter how hard the sailors tried to row they couldn't break free from it. When we find ourselves in a serious 'headwind' that threatens to sink our ship, it's important to remember that not every storm is because of sin! It's also important to remember that every sin does lead to stormy weather. If we've...

God isn't afraid to ask us to do something we really don't want to do or that doesn't feel at all natural to us. This was certainly the case when He asked Jonah to go to "them," the people of the wicked city of Nineveh. Jonah's response? He's so offended that he runs away, not only from God's call but also from His presence. So, Jonah finds a ship going as far from God's instruction as p...

In this final message of the Son of David series, we are discovering Jesus in a way we might not have expected! Psalm 45 is a royal wedding song, a beautiful poem of love and joy. The writer of Hebrews makes it clear this is also a foreshadowing of Jesus, the Bridegroom King. His appearance? - "the most handsome." His speech? - "grace flows from His lips." He has the character of a warrior and is triumphant in t...

When Mary brings the expensive perfume to anoint Jesus she is pouring out a costly, atmosphere-changing, sacrifice of worship. Acts of costly worship like this also expose hearts. Judas is offended, claiming that she is being wasteful and that she could have sold it to give to the poor. But what does Jesus call it? "Beautiful." His rebuke of Judas seems to be one of the final straws leading to Judas' betrayal, and Je...

"My God, my God, why have You abandoned me?" It's a cry of anguish and isolation, of traumatic emotional pain. Both David and Jesus cried these words out to God, even though each of them still acknowledge who God is the midst of their pain. The pain of David's trauma and of Jesus' sacrificial death on the cross is not the end, and the psalm continues. "You answered me!" Still today, God hears our ...