Do you ever feel stuck? John Mark speaks to the difference between our role and God's role in our formation journey, inviting us to embrace God's leading by letting go of attachments. He argues that surrender to God's work is a way to go beyond the surface level of our spiritual journey. Key Scripture Passage: John 21v18-19 This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community of monthly givers. Special thanks for this episode goes to: Tiffani from Oak Park, Illinois; Alex...

What do you do when everything falls apart? John Mark talks about overcoming fear in our lives, laying out a three-part journey of growing in faith, where we find deep peace and trust that transcends our circumstances. Key Scripture Passage: Mark 9v14-29 This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community of monthly givers. Special thanks for this episode goes to: Kevin from New Richmond, Wisconsin; Nathan from Social Circle, Georgia; Mike from Nashville, Tennessee; Barb...

What gives you hope for the future? John Mark contrasts the negative news cycle of our age with the good news of Jesus: that he's overcome death and is returning that we might walk in his resurrection. Key Scripture Passage: 1 Corinthians 15v1-28 This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community of monthly givers. Special thanks for this episode goes to: Eric from Lake Zurich, Illinois; Matt from Conway, Arkansas; Zodwa from Spring, Texas; Annie from McKinney, Texas;...

How would you work differently if you believed your work was essential to your apprenticeship to Jesus? John Mark argues that a subtle religion emerging in our culture is 'work-ism,' where work becomes the primary system of meaning and identity in our lives. In contrast, he proposes the practice of vocation - 're-weaving glory' by doing everything unto the Lord. Key Scripture Passages: Genesis 1v26-29, 2v8-15 This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community of...

What if the way forward in our political moment isn’t sweeping reform, but a meal around the table? As much of the world becomes more divided than ever, John Mark challenges us to become peacemakers by demonstrating God's love through the practice of hospitality. Key Scripture Passages: Mark 2v13-17, Mark 3v13-19, Romans 12v13, 1 Peter 4v8-9, Hebrews 13v1-2 This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community of monthly givers. Special thanks for this episode goes to:...

"If there's anything left of my annoying voice in your memory banks in 20 years, I would hope that you would hear me as a brother in your ear just saying, 'follow Jesus to the quiet and pray.'" All around us, people are angry and afraid. John Mark invites us to become a community of peaceful, 'non-anxious presences' by engaging in the practice of silence and solitude. Through this practice, we learn how to receive the love of God into the deepest places of our pain and fear. Key Scripture...

How do we love others in the moral decay of the modern West? John Mark argues that the world needs a community of holiness as the counter-culture to the mainstream. John Mark explores the concept of holiness, a theology of the body, and the practice of fasting as a path to joy in God. Key Scripture Passage: 1 Corinthians 6v12-20 This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community of monthly givers. Special thanks for this episode goes to: Kayla from Cape...

In a culture of deconstruction and ideology, how do we stay faithful to Jesus and His teachings? Through the practice of Scripture, John Mark challenges us to deepen our trust in God and the teachings of our rabbi, Jesus. Key Scripture Passage: 2 Corinthians 10v1-5 Resource for this teaching: After Doubt: How to Question Your Faith Without Losing It, AJ Swoboda This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community of monthly givers. Special thanks for this episode goes...

How do we cultivate deep community? John Mark explores how the practice of community fits into our cultural moment of the loneliness of tribalism and individualism. He challenges us to press into community, even in pain, wounding, and trauma, since it is in community that we will ultimately find our healing. Key Scripture Passage: Romans 12 This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community of monthly givers. Special thanks for this episode goes to: Timothy from Mount...

"This could be our finest moment. This could be the moment not of our death but of our rebirth." John Mark challenges us to dream again about what the Church can and should be in our cultural moment. He invites us to re-examine our Rule of Life as we think about being a counter-culture amidst the secular mainstream. Key Scripture Passage: Psalm 80 This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community of monthly givers. Special thanks for this episode goes to: Tammy...

How do we deal with emotional pain? John Mark explores Jesus's prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, and discusses how His model can help us process through our own moments of pain, turmoil, and disappointment. Key Scripture Passage: Matthew 26v36-46 This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community of monthly givers. Special thanks for this episode goes to: Jimmy from Randle, Washington; Jonathan from Shalimar, Florida; Rachel from Norwich, Norfolk; Diana...

How do we keep from becoming "pharisees"? In a time when deconstruction is the cultural tide we swim in and disillusionment with pastors is widespread and well-earned, how do we model the way of Jesus? John Mark looks at Jesus's critique of the pharisees in Matthew 23, and explores what it means for us: how we live our lives and relate to our leaders in the church. Key Scripture Passage: Matthew 23 This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community of monthly givers....

What is life about? John Mark teaches on Jesus's teaching on the two greatest commandments in the Old Testament: to love God and to love our neighbor. He challenges us to examine how we can arrange our lives in such a way that love of God and neighbor is our natural response. Key Scripture Passage: Matthew 22v34-40 This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community of monthly givers. Special thanks for this episode goes to Michelle from Boerne, Texas; Marlys...

Is marriage a contract, or a covenant? Is the love that lasts a lifetime a fiery passion of desire, or something else? Is divorce a necessary evil to “be true to yourself,” or a rupture of a deep union? Jesus’ teaching on divorce is based in his vision of marriage, which is as radical today as it was nearly two thousand years ago. Key Scripture Passage: Matthew 19v1-10 This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community of monthly givers. Special thanks for this episode...

What do we do when other followers of Jesus fall into sin and wander away? John Mark explores Jesus’ teaching on dealing with sin in the church. Even though it's one of the most abused teachings of Jesus, John Mark show that, rightly applied, it has the potential to help the church become everything it's called to be. Key Scripture Passage: Matthew 18v10-20 This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community of monthly givers. Thank you all so much! If you’d like to pay...

Jesus’ call for his apprentices to become like children is one of his most misunderstood teachings. John Mark explores the cultural background to Jesus’ words and argues that living like a child -- dependent, humble, and servant-hearted -- is the the key to greatness in Jesus' Kingdom. Key Scripture Passage: Matthew 18v1-9 Resources for this teaching: This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community of monthly givers. Special thanks for this episode goes to: Thank...

At the fulcrum point in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus goes up on a high mountain where he is transfigured before his apprentices. Over their fear, the apprentices hear a voice from heaven saying, “listen to him!” Thousands of years later, in our own fears, the call to find a mountain and listen to Jesus is greater than ever. Key Scripture Passage: Matthew 16v28-17v13 This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community of monthly givers. Thank you all so much! If you’d like to...

What if control is actually an illusion? What if yielding is actually the path to freedom and joy? John Mark explores Jesus' call to deny your self and take up your cross and follow Him. In a culture of hedonism, digital instant gratification, and postmodern propaganda, this call sounds bizarre. But in yielding control to God in trusting love, we enter the Kingdom. Key Scripture Passage: Matthew 16v21-27 This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community of monthly...

"How you answer the question, 'who do you say I am,' will define you." John Mark explores Simon Peter's confession of Jesus as the Christ. He shows us that in seeing Jesus rightly, we move from fear to faith. Key Scripture Passage: Matthew 16v13-20 This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community of monthly givers. Thank you all so much! If you’d like to pay it forward and contribute toward future resources, you can learn more at practicingtheway.org/give.

In this well known, but often missed-out-on story of Jesus walking on the water, we notice the writer Matthew’s key insights from Jesus’ life and teaching about becoming a “non-anxious presence” in a world caught in a vicious cycle of anxiety. We have faith and release control. Key Scripture Passage: Matthew 14v22-36 This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community of monthly givers. Special thanks for this episode goes to: Natalie from Hays, Kansas; Matthew from West...

Jesus warns and encourages his disciples about what will come as they live into his Kingdom mission. What would it look like to live as a disciple, free of all fear, fully alive to his power? Key Scripture Passage: Matthew 11v1-15 Resources from this teaching: This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community of monthly givers. Special thanks for this episode goes to Jenna from Rossmoor, California; Amelia from Homestead, Pennsylvania; Leandra from Tomball, Texas;...

What do we do the Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount? Jesus ends his manifesto of life in the kingdom of the heavens, not with a pep talk or feel-good story, but with a warning about what happens when we don’t put his teachings into practice. John Mark argues that, in the “information” age, where things go in one ear and out the other, we need to be diligent to do what Jesus taught. Key Scripture Passage: Matthew 7v24-29 Resources from this teaching: This podcast and its episodes...

With so many voices claiming to be the truth, how do we discern what is from God and what isn't? John Mark examine's Jesus's warning to beware false prophets in the Sermon on the Mount and Jesus's three "tests" for who to believe. Key Scripture Passage: Matthew 7v15-23 This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community of monthly givers. Special thanks for this episode goes to Bryce from Austin, Texas; Brett from Mattoon, Illinois; Blake from Birmingham, Alabama;...

We all know the Golden Rule, but do we actually live by it? John Mark teaches on how this summary of the teachings of the Bible was familiar during the time of Jesus, but how Jesus makes it even more radical and powerful. He concludes by challenging us to actually try living by this rule and doing to others what we would have them do to us. Key Scripture Passage: Matthew 7v12 This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community of monthly givers. Special thanks for this...

Are you tired of trying to earn other's approval? John Mark looks at the first of Jesus's teachings of practicing righteousness before others to be noticed by them in Matthew chapter six. He encourages us to break free from the bondage of seeking the approval (or disapproval) of others by doing good works in secret in order to be rewarded not by others, but by our Father in Heaven. Key Scripture Passage: Matthew 6v1-4 This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community...