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Fruitland Covenant Church

Fruitland Covenant Church

By: Fruitland Covenant Church
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Podcast for Fruitland Covenant ChurchFruitland Covenant Church Spirituality
Episodes
  • True Spirit-ual Wisdom

    True Spirit-ual Wisdom
    Jan 18 2026
    What does it truly mean to be spiritual? This message challenges us to reconsider everything we thought we knew about spiritual maturity. Drawing from Paul's letter to the Corinthians, we discover that the early church struggled with the same misconceptions we face today. They confused worldly wisdom with God's wisdom, mistaking eloquence, knowledge, and status for true spirituality. Paul confronts this head-on by pointing to the crossan image that seemed like utter foolishness to the world but reveals God's ultimate power and wisdom. True spirituality isn't measured by how many Bible verses we memorize, how eloquently we pray, or how impressive our religious credentials appear. Instead, it's about being transformed by the Holy Spirit to see the world through God's upside-down economy. The spiritual person understands that Christ crucified represents a radically different way of livingone marked by self-giving love, sacrifice, and service rather than self-promotion and power. This message invites us to examine whether we're pursuing the spirit of the world or the Spirit of God, whether we're chasing relevance by worldly standards or embracing the seeming irrelevance of the cross. As we navigate a culture obsessed with success, influence, and achievement, we're called to a cross-shaped life that may look weak but contains the only true power that transforms lives and communities. How does our culture's definition of power and success differ from the 'cross-shaped life' that Paul describes, and where do you see these competing definitions at work in your own life? In what ways might we be measuring spirituality by worldly standards (knowledge, eloquence, influence, growth) rather than by the Spirit's work of conforming us to Christ crucified? When have you been tempted to seek relevance or influence by adopting the world's values rather than being willing to be 'thought irrelevant' for the sake of God's kingdom? What would it look like practically for our church community to operate in the 'upside-down economy' of the cross rather than the economy of self-promotion and achievement? How does the fact that only the Spirit can reveal God's wisdom challenge our reliance on human education, philosophical systems, or self-help approaches to spiritual growth? Paul describes himself and the Corinthian church as 'the scum of the earth.' Why is this identity so radically different from what we typically aspire to, and what would embracing it require of us? In what areas of your life are you most tempted to define success by numbers, growth, or visible results rather than by faithfulness to the way of the cross? How might our assessment of spiritual leaders change if we valued cross-shaped sacrifice and self-giving love over charisma, credentials, or organizational influence? What specific practices or attitudes would need to shift in your life for you to more fully embrace the 'mind of Christ' that sets aside rights and privileges for the sake of others?
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    Less than 1 minute
  • The Foolishness of the Cross

    The Foolishness of the Cross
    Jan 11 2026
    What if everything we thought we knew about power and wisdom was completely upside down? This exploration of 1 Corinthians challenges us to rethink our most basic assumptions about what makes someone valuable, influential, or worth following. Paul's message to the Corinthian church cuts through our cultural obsession with influence, success, and worldly achievement by pointing to something scandalous: a crucified Savior. In the ancient world, crucifixion was so vulgar and shameful that polite society wouldn't even mention it in conversation. Yet Paul declares this is the very heart of God's wisdom and power. The cross reveals a God who doesn't follow our rules about who matters and who doesn't. Instead of choosing the influential, the educated, or the powerful, God deliberately chose the foolish, the weak, and the marginalizedthe people nobody else picked. This isn't just ancient history; it's an invitation to examine our own hearts and communities today. Do we value people the way God does, or have we adopted the world's measuring stick? Are we drawn to those with social media influence and worldly success, or do we recognize the inherent worth of every personthe elderly, the disabled, those society overlooks? Living a cross-shaped life means embracing this radical reversal of values, seeing strength in vulnerability, and finding God's power expressed not through dominance but through sacrificial love. How does Paul's statement 'I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified' challenge or expand your understanding of what it means to center your life on Jesus? In what ways do our modern definitions of power and success contradict the 'foolishness' and 'weakness' of the cross that Paul describes? When have you found yourself attaching your identity to a particular Christian leader or teacher rather than to Christ alone, and what led you to recognize this? How does viewing the cross as 'social stigma' and 'vulgar' in the ancient world change your perspective on what it meant for early Christians to follow a crucified Savior? What would it look like for our church to genuinely value and embrace the 'nothings and nobodies' that God chooses, rather than seeking influence and status? In what areas of your life are you most tempted to claim your rights rather than follow Jesus' example of setting aside His rights and taking the form of a servant? How might our church be unconsciously reflecting the world's values by marginalizing certain groups like the elderly, disabled, or those without influence? What does it mean practically to exercise dominion 'not by capturing positions of power and influence, but by servanthood to the larger society'? How does the cross reveal not just how we are saved, but also how we should view and treat every person we encounter? If we truly lived as a 'cross-shaped community,' what specific changes would be visible in how we relate to one another and those outside our church?
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    Less than 1 minute
  • A Cross-Shaped Community

    A Cross-Shaped Community
    Jan 4 2026
    What if the ideal church we dream about doesn't actually exist? This exploration of Paul's first letter to the Corinthians challenges our romanticized view of the early church by revealing a community riddled with divisions, pride, immorality, and lawsuits. Yet remarkably, Paul addresses these deeply flawed believers as 'God's holy people' and 'saints.' This paradox unlocks a profound truth about our faith journey: holiness isn't about moral perfection we achieve, but about being set apart by God for a sacred purpose. The concept of being 'in Christ' becomes our true geography, our real identity that transcends our physical location or circumstances. We're invited into 'koinonia'a rich word meaning fellowship, participation, communion, and solidarity with Jesusthat goes far beyond coffee and cookies. It means metabolizing the self-giving love demonstrated on the cross into our daily lives. The tension between who we are (already made holy) and who we're called to become (living out that holiness) isn't a contradiction but the very rhythm of grace. As we receive communion, we're not just remembering Jesus' sacrifice; we're actively participating in His life, allowing His cross-shaped existence to reshape our own. This is the invitation: to live as a peculiar people, distinctively marked by humble, self-giving love in a world desperate to see what Jesus looks like.
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    Less than 1 minute
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