The Whole Disciple Podcast

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Latest Episodes:

What Does it Mean to Live a Jesus Centered Life? | E4S1 Jun 16, 2025

In this episode, Christy sits down with Pastor Bryan Loritts to talk about what it means for Jesus to be the center of all things.

Pastor Bryan shares some of his story of how he first met Jesus through the investment of his church and his parents. Then, as he became a Christian, his parents discipled him by training him in the faith through reading the Bible, prayer, telling others about Jesus, and caring for people in need.

Pastor Bryan explains how Jesus being the center implies both a vertical and a horizontal dimension. The gospel should always seep out of your life in transformative ways relationally. The gospel should always be bearing fruit in impacting others. Just like what we see in Ephesians 2, that begins in the vertical and immediately moves into the horizontal.

As parents, we ought to hold Jesus at the center through intentional decisions of disciple making, while at the same time maintaining a healthy gospel distance between their successes and their failures. Parents can’t take credit for the work of the Holy Spirit.

When we think about Jesus at the center of the church, Pastor Bryan explains that the number one enemy to engaging in the Great Commission to make disciples is busyness. If we want to be able to do the work of Jesus, we have to have a lot of margin in our schedules, and that takes intentionality for all of us. We have to learn to say no.

Who Is Jesus? | E3S1 Jun 09, 2025

Who does the gospel say Jesus is? Jesus is the Son of God and the Savior.

Jesus Is the Son of God

When Christians say and believe Jesus is the Son of God, one of the most important things that we mean is that everything it means to be God, Jesus is. The book of Hebrews says it this way: “He [Jesus] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Hebrews 1:3 ESV). In other words, all that God is—Jesus is that. He is the exact imprint of God’s nature.

He’s the one through whom we were created, and we are his. He’s the God we were made to know, love, and obey above all else. He’s the God that we reject when we walk our own path in sin and rebellion. He’s the God who delivered us out of sin and darkness and brought us into his kingdom of light. He’s the God who deserves all worship and adoration from all people across all time. He’s the head of our church family. He’s the one we serve. He’s the one who has given us everything we have. Everything it means to be God, Jesus is. Everything God has done, Jesus did. Everything God deserves, Jesus deserves.

Jesus Is the Savior

Because he is Savior, we say, “Everything it means to be human, Jesus is.” In his humanity, Jesus became just like us. The book of Hebrews says it this way: “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things” (Hebrews 2:14). In other words, Jesus became a human just like you and me so that he might save us. Because he is human, we can say, “Jesus in my place.”

That makes Jesus himself the Whole Disciple. He is the fully mature human that we are becoming. He’s the perfect worshiper, who worshiped God perfectly every day of his life. He’s the perfect family member, who loved people as family. He’s the perfect servant, who came not to be served but to serve. He’s the perfect steward, who used God’s resources to know God and make him known without fault. And he’s the perfect witness, who preached the good news about himself to the world.

What Does It Mean to Prioritize the Gospel Above All | E2S1 Jun 09, 2025

In this episode, Christy sits down with Pastor J.D. Greear to talk about what it means to prioritize the gospel above all, and what that looks like in real life.

Pastor J.D. shares his story of how he first became a follower of Christ as a young man. His story opened up an opportunity for us to discuss how your being saved always happens at an exact moment, but we don’t always know exactly when that moment is. But if we’re trusting him now, like sitting in a chair, then we know for sure that we are saved.

Why does The Summit Church prioritize the gospel above all? Pastor J.D. explains that it is because Jesus made reaching the lost the mission of his own life, and when he left earth, he gave us the identity of being his witnesses. So as we prioritize the gospel above all, we are walking in the paths that God laid out for us and emphasizing the things Jesus says are most important.

What does it look like for us to prioritize the gospel in our own lives? We prioritize the gospel by preaching the gospel to ourselves every day. Pastor J.D. walked us through the gospel prayer he wrote about in his book Gospel, that says, “In Christ there is nothing I can do to make you love me more, and there is nothing I have done that can make you love me any less. You are all I need for everlasting joy. As you’ve been to me, so I will be to others. As I pray, I’ll measure your power to save by the resurrection and your willingness to save by the cross.”

As we grow as disciples, we take intentional steps to remember the gospel, and as we do so, it forms us so that we actually become like Jesus Christ.

Resources

Gospel by J.D. Greear

What Is The Gospel? | E1S1 Jun 09, 2025

Being a disciple is all about the gospel. Believing in the gospel of Jesus Christ is how we became disciples, continuing to believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ is how we grow as disciples, and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ is how we make disciples. “Gospel” means “Good News”, and at the Summit, we explain that good news as “Jesus in my place.” Jesus lived in my place. He died in my place, and in his resurrection he gives us his place of life forever.Jesus’s life is good news because our lives are a mess. God made all humans to live in a loving relationship with him. He loves us, and he made us to know, love and obey him above all else. But not one of us has chosen the life God made for us. So, Jesus came to live the perfectly life of obedience we didn’t live.Jesus’s death is good news because we had all received that bad news that we deserved the punishment of death. But God still loves us, so, not only did he send his Son, Jesus, to take on himself the punishment that we deserved. Then, Jesus came back to life! When Jesus died in our place, he didn’t stay dead, and in Jesus’s resurrection, he gives us his place of life forever. Life is a God thing. He is life and he gives life. So, Jesus’s place is the place of eternal life. And through his resurrection, he gives that life to usJesus offers forgiveness and eternal life to all who believe. Will you believe in Jesus today? Who will you tell the gospel to?

Resources https://vimeo.com/summitrdusermons/review/963185559/f630086145

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