The 5 Minute Discipleship Podcast

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#1,357: The Other Side of Surrender Oct 29, 2025

Show notes

You and I are going to struggle with our humanity. Surrender doesn’t seem like a good idea to any of us. It feels like we are giving up and losing control, but when we surrender to God, we lose things we don’t need to gain the things we really do.

Main Points:

1. Everything you need is on the other side of surrendering your life to God.

2. Everything you need God can provide. Yet, often the provision doesn’t come until we surrender to God.

3. God’s plan is not about depriving us of good things. He delights to give His children good gifts. He also desires, above all else, for us to follow him and delight in him. Sometimes God will make us sacrifice something we want to secure our hearts for the greatest good: Himself.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Matthew 26:39 - “Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, 'My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

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#1,356: Worship is a Lifestyle Oct 28, 2025

Show notes

When we have a proper heart for worship, we’ll see that worship is not for us. Worship is for God. We worship for an audience of ONE! He is the audience; we are not. As our hearts are directed in praise, adoration, gratitude, and love for God, in return, we experience joy.

Main Points:

1. Worship is the response of all that we are to all that God is. To worship is to declare God’s worth.

2. While worshipping together with a group of believers is both biblical and important, we should recognize that worship is not something only to be done on Sundays in a church building. Worship is a lifestyle. As recipients of God’s grace and mercy, we want to give him worship and praise every day and throughout the day.

3. Do you have a heart for worship? Let me encourage you to include worship in your daily spiritual disciplines. Let it be a part of your daily time with the Lord. As you worship and honor the Lord, he is glorified, and you will be blessed.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Revelation 4:11 – “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

Psalm 95:6 - Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!”

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#1,355: Being in a Church is Essential Oct 27, 2025

Show notes

I believe God wants us to catch a vision of the importance of the church in our lives and community, and the church’s role in fulfilling the mission of Jesus in our world. God is at work in this world, and he has chosen to use the church as his agent.

Main Points:

1. The church, as a collection of people with hurts, hang-ups, hiccups, and habits, provides us an opportunity to learn and to grow. We learn to love those who are difficult to love. We learn to bear with one another. We learn to pray, to serve, to encourage, to develop patience, and yes, to forgive.

2. The church provides a community for us so that we do not practice our faith alone. It’s very difficult to grow spiritually all by yourself. You need other believers in your life, and they need you. Remember this: Friction is what sharpens an axe.

3. The church provides my family the opportunity to worship with others, to hear God’s Word taught and explained, to be encouraged, and to make a difference. While far from perfect, we are better together.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Genesis 2:18 - “It is not good for man to be alone.”
Matthew 16:18 - “I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it.”

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#1,354: Deeply Loved by God Oct 24, 2025

Show notes

We’ll spend the rest of our lives trying to understand God’s love, but the best way to get started is to experience it. His love will change your life.

Main Points:

1. The world tells us that love is a feeling, something that comes and goes. Many marriages have ended because couples claim that they have “fallen out of love.” Some people say they don’t feel God’s love. Our feelings are fickle; they come and they go, but the truth remains: We are deeply loved by God, and that will never change.

2. God’s love is holy. His love is built upon his holiness and could not exist apart from it.

3. Here’s what we know is true: God cannot overlook sin. He will never contradict his own nature. In his love, he doesn’t overlook our sin; his love compelled him to provide for us a solution to our sin problem.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

1 John 4:7-8 – “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

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#1,353: Rest is a Gift from God Oct 23, 2025

Show notes

I think you and I know intuitively that rest is important for us. Not only is it important, but rest is also vital. Without rest, we are not at our best. Rest sharpens our soul, our mind, our body, and our spirit.

Main Points:

1. So, if God doesn’t get tired, and he never needs to sleep, why did He rest? I believe God rested to set an example for us. Rest would not only be a physical necessity for us, but also a spiritual one.

2. We need to see that rest is a gift from God. It’s a blessing to receive, yet it seems so few of us take it seriously.

3. Like all spiritual disciplines, they are only done when we are intentional. You and I can do this. It’s God’s will for us to rest. As we do, we will find ourselves refreshed and renewed and more capable of doing what God has called us to do. You’ll do more with rest than you will without it.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Genesis 2:2 - “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.”

Isaiah 40:28 - “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary.”
Psalm 121:4 - (God) “will neither slumber nor sleep.”
Psalm 127:2 - “It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones.”

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#1,352: What is the Fear of the Lord? Oct 22, 2025

Show notes

Fear of the Lord is deep respect, awe, and reverence for God. We give God the glory, honor, reverence, gratitude, and praise, he deserves. God holds this preeminent position in our hearts and lives. We regard his desires over and above our own.

Main Points:

1. We should fear or respect the Lord as one who has authority over us. It is a recognition that we are accountable to Him. He is so great, He is so holy, He is so righteous, how can I not humble myself before him? How could I ever think that I know better than God?

2. The fear of the Lord causes us to repent of our pride and our selfishness. It brings us to a place of humility before the Lord. It is a recognition of his holiness and greatness.

3. Without the fear of the Lord, we make decisions based on our human understanding. But when we live with the fear of the Lord, we make decisions based upon His approval. We live with the knowledge that the Creator of the universe is intimately involved in our lives. He sees, knows, and evaluates all of our choices, and we will one day stand before him.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Ephesians 2:4 - “But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead.”

Proverbs 19:10 - “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

Proverbs 14:26 - “He who fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge”

Proverbs 14:27 - “The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death”

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#1,351: When God Interrupts You Oct 21, 2025

Show notes

An interruption can be God’s tool to help us become more patient, more loving, and more understanding. It can be God’s way of guiding our steps and pointing us in the right direction. Divine interruptions can be God’s hand of protection in our lives when we are starting to move in the wrong direction. God’s interruptions are always for a reason.

Main Points:

1. As you read the Gospels, you can’t help but notice that Jesus was interrupted just about every day. There was always someone reaching out to him for healing, deliverance, provision, or simply a question. But then we see Jesus embracing the interruptions and serving those he came in contact with. For Jesus, the interruptions did not stop his ministry; the interruptions were his ministry.

2. Divine interruptions remind us that our knowledge and perspective are very limited. We cannot see and know as much as God. So, we surrender to his plan, recognizing we serve a God who has all knowledge, and he knows what is best for us. So, if interruptions are God’s plan for us, we must embrace them.

3. Have you been interrupted lately? Has God closed a door that you were prepared to walk through? Trust that it is no accident. God has promised to direct your steps. His plans are always the best.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Proverbs 19:21 - “Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.”

Proverbs 16:9 - “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”

Romans 8:28 - “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

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#1,350: What are Your Core Convictions? Oct 20, 2025

Show notes

As Christians, our convictions are shaped by biblical principles. Since we believe the Bible is God’s Word and that its truth lasts forever, our beliefs and convictions cannot change regardless of the changes in our society.

Main Points:

1. What are your core convictions? Have you ever made a list? A conviction is a firmly held belief. It is part of who you are as a person. It shapes your choices and decisions. A conviction doesn't change with the winds of time. It is part of your character.

2. The first category is biblical convictions. These convictions are the clear teachings of Scripture for doctrine and lifestyle. They are clearly outlined in scripture for us, and they are the will of God for our faith and practice. These biblical convictions never change. They are the same in every generation because the Word of God never changes.

3. The second category is personal convictions. A personal conviction is a specific boundary of behavior that God has set for a person individually; however, it is not necessarily a commandment defined in the Bible, nor is it a behavior meant for others to follow.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

James 4:17 - “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”

1 Timothy 4:12 - “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.” This means, no matter your age, you should let God’s Word inform how you live your life. As you do so, you are an example to others.

1 Corinthians 16:13 - “Stand firm in the faith.”
Isaiah 40:8 - “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”

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#1,349: God's Love is Unconditional Oct 17, 2025

Show notes

Let this truth fill your soul today. You are loved by God. No matter who you are, where you have been, or what you have done, God loves you. And his love is as high as the heavens.

Main Points:

1. Have you ever questioned the love of God? Have you ever thought, “How could God love someone like me?” May you wonder if there was a limit to God’s love.

2. When we understand the depth of his love for us, it creates security. We will believe His promise that He will never leave us or forsake us. We are confident in his grace and mercy. We will trust that His Word is true and that He can be counted on.

3. In this life, love can sometimes be conditional. If expectations are not met, if trust is violated, if mistakes are made, sometimes people will withdraw their love. But God’s love for us is unconditional. Even though we have failed God many times, his love for us remains.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Psalm 103:11 - “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him.”
Ephesians 3:17-19 - “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
1 John 3:1 - “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God, and that is what we are!”

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#1,348: Only Jesus Can Satisfy Oct 16, 2025

Show notes

Any attempts at finding joy, satisfaction, and fulfillment apart from God always leave us empty. Yes, there may be temporary moments of happiness and perceived satisfaction, but it is never lasting. Millions of people can testify that they never knew real joy until they knew Jesus as Savior and Lord.

Main Points:

1. As real as our physical hunger is, we have another type of hunger that is just as real. It’s spiritual hunger. There is an emptiness that we will attempt to satisfy. Often, we will not recognize that this hunger is spiritual in nature.

2. There is satisfaction found in Christ that cannot be found elsewhere. The sweetness of God’s presence, the richness of His grace, and the fellowship with the Holy Spirit bring us to a place of being complete in God. There is no lack. Our needs are being met. Our hearts are full of joy, and our lives are at peace with God.

3. Jesus did not simply die and rise again so we could gain Heaven. He gave His all so that we could know him and live in a relationship with the living God. It is in this pursuit of knowing and serving God that we find fulfillment.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Psalm 37:4 - “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

John 6:35 - “Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”
Psalm 63:1-5 - “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.”

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