LHC Unplugged - Season 1

Throughout Season 1 of the LHC Unplugged podcast, we unpacked the Book of Peter, focusing on hope. A hope that shapes us, a hope that laments, a hope that endures, a hope that is holy, and a hope that is generous.

If you missed any of the podcast episodes, you can download them wherever you get your podcasts or follow along on YouTube here. For those who enjoy more of the pen-to-paper (finger-to-keyboard) aspect, below are the key takeaways from each episode.

Episode 1 – A Hope that Shapes Us

Hope can be tied to a certain outcome with Jesus, and faith is always going to cost us something. Our hope should be anchored in Christ, knowing we will always be led somewhere, even in the seasons of doubt. This requires us to embrace a way of living counterintuitive to what the world has taught us. There’s a real societal struggle of wanting instant gratification. Yet, when we look at our lives, good things come with delayed gratification. The expectation that builds changes how we see things. Looking forward changes how we live.

Episode 2 – A Hope that Laments

Lament is a form of worship, and just like doubt, it leads us somewhere. Part of the Christian life is calling things bad but then having the “bad” lead us somewhere. So, taking lament into a community of safe people is paramount in building our spiritual discipline. If we lament in isolation, we will deceive ourselves. And unfortunately, some churches have been unsafe places that have added chains instead of broken them. A healthy church community is a place that allows for lament with a structure or a mirror of truth.

Episode 3 – A Hope that Endures

There’s a difference between suffering and persecution. Suffering is the great mystery of our time. We know it has meaning and purpose and leads to something, but that’s not emotionally satisfying. We make sense of suffering by knowing God is over it. But “God won’t give you more than you can handle” is a false narrative. That’s not in the Bible. God is more than a mascot, and our relationship with Him is not transactional. A healthy relationship with God is a combination of love (emotion) and understanding (objective truth). Our faith is both present and ancient.

Episode 4 – A Hope that is Holy

There are things we can become and things we will never become. We will never be omnipresent. When we receive the gift of salvation, we have Christ's righteousness given to us. We can’t become Holy on our own. Holier than thou is when we try to take God's attributes of holiness for ourselves. We’ve been created in the image of God, but we are not God. It’s not what out there does to us, it’s what we do through the presence of the Holy Spirit in us and the power of God available to us.

Episode 5 – A Hope that is Generous

There's a connection between hope and generosity. It's not about propping up our existence or identity. Our generosity cannot be quid pro quo. It's building towards something that can't be touched. When we put our hope in an outcome or a response we get, we are storing up earthly treasures. We need to have a different perspective when it comes to generosity. Our power source isn't in us, it comes from the Holy Spirit through us. This requires incredible faith. There are two types of people, those who want to rest and those who want to do, and the root of both is control. There's a real tension there. We need to put in the work by spending time with God and then showing up. We might want to show up, but showing up without doing the work isn't going to lead anywhere.

Stay tuned for LHC Unplugged Season 2 coming in May.

Want to play catch-up, or are you looking for a specific topic? Check out our collection of sermons here.
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