Finchwood Discipleship Podcast

In this episode, listeners are invited to enter into a relationship with Jesus. For the record, becoming a Christian is NOT a prerequisite for listening to Finchwood or for participating in the ongoing conversation that this podcast is a part of, but at the same time, personally knowing God is foundational to truly understanding everything we talk about after this point. 

If you don't know Jesus in that way yet, please listen to th...

So... you've decided to become a Christian, but what does that mean? And maybe more importantly, what do you do next? This episode hopes to answer some of those questions by discussing the practical side of starting out as a follower of Jesus. 

Chapters: 00:00 - What Just Happened  02:29 - It's a Marathon, not a Sprint  04:03 - Prayer  05:24 - Repentance  06:10 - Fellowship  06:45 - Sharing Your Faith  07:29 - The Bible  08:21 - B...

This is a short introduction to Season Two, which is called "The Basics." We're starting with the most fundamental parts of what it means to be a Christian. As a reminder, your feedback, questions, and ideas are more than welcome. 

P.S. At the time of recording, this episode was the beginning of Season One. However, things have been re-numbered since then. 

Chapters: 00:00 - The Basics  00:33 - A Strong Foundation  01:57 - How You...

Now that we've decided to follow Jesus, what's the most important thing to keep in mind on the road a head? The answer is love. 

Chapters: 00:00 - Purpose before Mission  02:47 - Loving God  04:10 - Being Loved By God  07:12 - Loving Others 10:08  - Conclusion 

Thanks for listening! 

Questions or comments? Say something:  Email: matthew@finchwood.media  YouTube: @FinchwoodDiscipleshipPodcast  Website formerly known as Twitter: @Mr_...

As followers of Jesus, we have a job to do, a mission to accomplish. God has given us all a critically important assignment: to make disciples. 

Chapters: 00:00 - Purpose before Mission  01:33 - The Mission: Make Disciples!  03:13 - What is a Disciple?  05:14 - What Would Jesus Do... and Why?  07:57 - The Process  11:43 - Disciples Who Make Disciples 

Thanks for listening! 

Questions or comments? Say something:  Email: matthew@fin...

As followers of Jesus, we have a secondary mission: to proclaim a message known as "the Gospel" to all creation. But what is the Gospel? What does it entail? This episode delves into that very question. 

Chapters: 00:00 - What is the Gospel?  02:32 - Credible Witnesses  04:44 - False and Incomplete Gospels  07:58 - Good News about Jesus  10:07 - Good News about Forgiveness  13:32 - Good News Here and Now  16:05 - Good News about t...

Community: what is it, and what does the Bible say about it? This episode begins to explore two communities: one that the Bible calls "God," and one it calls "The Church." 

Chapters: 00:00 - God is a Community  03:40 - The "Church"  07:24 - About Denominations  10:04 - A Family and a Kingdom  13:43 - The Body of Christ 

Thanks for listening! 

Questions or comments? Say something:  Email: matthew@finchwood.media  YouTube: @Finchwoo...

In the previous episode, we talked about how the Church is like a body, with each member playing a different part. In this episode, we’ll get into what those different roles might look like, what the Bible says about them, and how to discover what gifts each of us has received from God. 

Chapters: 00:00 – Review: One Body, Many Parts  02:36 – Many Gifts, One Giver  04:52 – Types of Spiritual Gifts  07:19 – Have Some Gifts Disappea...

How are Christians supposed to act? What are the principles that should govern our day to day behavior? This episode starts to explore the answers to those questions, which might be different from what you would think. 

Chapters: 00:00 - Lifestyle  02:04 - Lawful vs. Profitable  03:17 - Situational Morality  05:11 - The Litmus Test  09:26 - Spiritual “Disciplines”  11:24 - Vitamins and Minerals 

“All things are permitted, but not ...

With this episode, we begin our "bird's eye view" study of the Bible - what is it, what's it about, and how do we interpret and apply it to our lives. This week we'll be starting with the structure of the Bible and orienting ourselves to it so that we can navigate its pages later on. 

Chapters: 00:00 - The Significance of the Bible  02:17 - An Anthology  04:24 - Notes in the Margins  08:02 - Two Testaments  10:23 - Overview of the...

The Bible contains the most epic, all-encompassing story ever written, and this episode covers the short, short version of it. Popcorn is (always!) recommended, but the seatbelt is probably a bit much.

Chapters: 00:00 - An Apology  02:52 - In the Beginning  04:55 - A Family Becomes a Nation 07:38 - Moses and the Exodus 09:45 - The Promised Land  11:28 - The Kingdom of Israel  13:44 - A Kingdom Divided  16:27 - The Exile in Babyl...

This week, we continue our look at the Bible by discussing what sources we use to form our beliefs, and how the Bible relates to all other sources. This episode also contains a brief look at which books were included in the Bible and which ones weren't. 

Chapters: 00:00 - What is Truth?  01:47 - Meta-Narrative  04:29 - The Four Sources  07:26 - Prima Scriptura  11:42 - The Canon and the Creeds  13:53 - Not Quite Scripture 

Thanks ...

Who wrote the Bible? That one question has sparked more than its fair share of debate in recent history. This episode explores what we know (and what we don't know!) about the people whom God inspired to pen the various books of the Bible. 

Chapters: 00:00 - Inspired by God  04:03 - Authorship According to the Bible  07:59 - What the Bible Doesn't Say  10:19 - Inspired Editors  13:40 - The Bottom Line 

Thanks for listening! 

Quest...

Between reading the Bible and applying it to everyday life, there's a hurdle called interpretation. Yes, we can read the text and even revere it, but what does it mean? How do we pull meaning out of what's been written? Perhaps even more importantly, how can we ensure that our interpretations are valid? This episode offers some basic pointers on how to interpret the Bible responsibly and fruitfully. 

Chapters:  00:00 - The Challeng...

In this season, we've covered so much of what makes Christianity distinctive - our literature and the way we live our lives - but what exactly do we believe? What are the distinct points of faith that connect us and define us as Christians?

This episode attempts to answer those questions, at least in an introductory way, by going over the fundamentals of theology that Christianity is built on, as expressed the historical statements...

A milestone! Last week, we finished all the planned content for season two, but there are several listener-submitted questions and comments to address. In this episode, we're taking a look at one such comment from Parker, who has questions about sin and the process of asking for forgiveness. 

Chapters:  00:00 - Parker's Question  01:44 - The Disease (Sin)  06:13 - The Cure (Jesus)  09:55 - Answering the Question 

"A righteous perso...

This final episode of the season begins with a few announcements about the podcast and ends with some clarifications and additional information about the topics that have been covered in Season Two: "The Basics." 

Chapters:  00:00 - Announcements  01:13 - Season Numbers  02:06 - Finchwood YouTube  03:14 - Mentors and Mentees  05:20 - All Truth is God's Truth  07:44 - Theological Jargon 

Thanks for listening! 

Questions or comments?...

After a few months of inactivity, the Finchwood Discipleship Podcast is back! Keep an eye out for a special episode to be released in the next few weeks, followed by Season 3, "How To..." shortly after that. 

Thanks for listening! 

Questions or comments? Say something:  Email: matthew@finchwood.media  YouTube: @FinchwoodDiscipleshipPodcast  Website formerly known as Twitter: @Mr_Finchwood   All other socials: @FinchwoodPodcast 

Ple...

When we talk about Christianity, there's an elephant in the room that we don't really talk about much: Christians aren't always a lot like Jesus. What do we do about that? And how do we move forward?  This episode very briefly talks about those challenges, first by acknowledging the problem, and then by proposing a possible solution: there is a middle way that runs in between toxic church culture on one side and and full deconstru...