2 Minute Disciple

Sermon on the Mount Part 7

Article  |  April 10th, 2022
By Nick Oyler
audio bible, daily bible, daily devotional, personal development, personal growth, self care, spiritual growth, spirituality

This week, we have taken some time to listen to Jesus words and let them sink in to our hearts. I have been working these words into my life and I’m seeing a difference. These are truly foundational words that can help us live our lives right side up. This is not a one time fix, but these are the things that we can ponder and daily work them into our lives. The thing that makes Jesus’ words so powerful is that he lived them out and showed us what life looks like when it is lived right side up. I have been working forgiveness into my life and it has really lightened my load. What words of Jesus are you working into your life?

Sermon on the Mount Part 6

Article  |  April 9th, 2022
By Nick Oyler
audio bible, daily bible, daily devotional, jesus, self care, spiritual journey, spirituality

Verses one through five should be the new rules for social media. It might tone down some of the sniping and canceling that goes on these days. This section of the sermon is so timely for our culture and it is a strong reminder that we are definitely flying upside down in this area today. If just “Christian” people would live this out, we would see a huge difference in the way we treat one another in our culture. I also love how the golden rule is restated here in the Message. It makes so much sense and the idea of taking the initiative to do good to others is another one that if we actually did it, we could change our communities. This is the whole reason that I am doing this podcast, so that we can look into the mirror of scripture and let it change us. I know that I need to cut the sarcasm and attitude before I point out what’s wrong with you. This is what I’m asking God to help me work on. What needs to be changed in your life?

Sermon on the Mount Part 5

Article  |  April 8th, 2022
By Nick Oyler
audio bible, daily bible, daily devotional, jesus christ, self care, spirituality

It is so hard to not worry or be anxious, but worry and anxiety don’t work, they just make things worse. When we focus on God and how he works and provides for us, we can let go of those worries and watch God go to work for us. I needed to hear this today and I need to ask God to help me to make this a reality in my life. Worry and anxiety rob us of what God wants to give us and we are valuable to him. This week I have struggled to see what I have gained in a career given to vocational ministry. I’m having a hard time switching careers and seeing my value. However, when I think about my career in ministry as storing up treasures in heaven, I realize that my skills used to his glory were not wasted and that I can trust him to help us through this hard transition even if we can’t see it. I’m still a work in progress, however, because I just want God to hurry up already.
What is God showing you today?

Sermon On the Mount Part 4

Article  |  April 7th, 2022
By Nick Oyler

We all want to live these well curated lives that make people look at you and say wow, they have it all together. However, that’s not what God wants from us. God wants us to live fully for him and to worship him with our lives. What we do is for him and not for others to applaud us or stroke our ego. We get to live in partnership with God and by doing our part, we get to see God in action and he gets to enjoy us in action. Sometimes I forget that part, I don’t need the applause of people because God’s appreciation is more than enough to satisfy my soul.
A good sermon steps on your toes and makes you uncomfortable with the tension between the reality of your soul and what God wants from you. This sermon from Jesus sure delivers the punch and I hope that you are wrestling with these words of Jesus. What is the tension that you are feeling as you wrestle with Jesus’ words?

Sermon on The Mount Part 3

Article  |  April 6th, 2022
By Nick Oyler
audio bible, daily bible, jesus christ, kingdom living, spiritual journey, spirituality

I had a rough day yesterday and I poured all of the anger, hurt, doubt, and junk that I have been stuffing inside, out onto my journal (no you can’t read it). It was a shake your fist at God moment for me and he prevailed. The words that spoke to me the most in this reading today are “Grow Up!” & “live like it.” Jesus’ way of living seems counter intuitive, but it really is life giving to be honest and open and to not dress yourself up in religious lace just to look the part. Living as citizen of God’s new government is not about looking the part, but it is about really living it out in the grit and grime of life. You can’t have one foot in and the other foot out, you have to be all in or all out of God’s way of life. Are you ready to grow up and be all in for God’s new government?

Sermon on the Mount Part2

Article  |  April 5th, 2022
By Nick Oyler
audio bible, daily bible, jesus christ, spirituality

Just getting by with doing the minimum requirements is not good enough in God’s kingdom. We tend to view righteousness from the outside, by only observing behaviors, however righteousness needs to be observed from the heart. Our behaviors spring from what is on the inside. If our hearts are pure and our motives righteous then our actions will follow. To live in God’s kingdom, your heart has to be right before him and if your heart is his, then you will live a righteous life.

Sermon on the Mount 1

Article  |  April 4th, 2022
By Nick Oyler
audio bible, blessings, daily bible, high-speed, jesus christ, kingdom, sermon, upside down

Jesus introduces his sermon with a hook that really make you scratch you head. Matthew 5:3 (The Message): 3  “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.” When I’m at the end of my rope, I don’t consider myself blessed, I’m wondering what has cursed me. It’s upside down from conventional wisdom, but remember that Jesus is introducing us to his new government with God in charge and things are different.
Dallas Willard illustrates this brilliantly in his book, The Divine Conspiracy: Recently a pilot was practicing high-speed maneuvers in a jet fighter. She turned the controls for what she thought was a steep ascent—and flew straight into the ground. She was unaware that she had been flying upside down. This is a parable of human existence in our times—not exactly that everyone is crashing, though there is enough of that—but most of us as individuals, and world society as a whole, live at high-speed, and often with no clue to whether we are flying upside down or right-side up. Indeed, we are haunted by a strong suspicion that there may be no difference—or at least that it is unknown or irrelevant (Willard, pg.7)
Jesus shows us how the world is supposed to look when it is right side up. These blessings give us a picture of what life should look like and what we can expect as we proclaim God’s kingdom in partnership with him. I love the two illustrations of light and salt as to what our impact on the world is when we proclaim this new government.
What comes to your mind as you read this introduction to Jesus’ sermon?

Matthew Chapter 4

Article  |  April 3rd, 2022
By Nick Oyler
fishing, following jesus, healing, jesus christ

I love Jesus’ call to follow him, it’s simple, direct and for anybody and everybody. His call is so simple because he just invites us, “come follow me...” and he promises to change our lives as we are introduced to his new government. He is ushering in an era of renewal and putting things to rights. People are being healed and transformed in to a new kind of person. All of this happens after Jesus passes his test with the devil. Jesus is now able to usher in the new kind of rule.

Matthew Chapter 3

Article  |  April 2nd, 2022
By Nick Oyler

The idea that everything is coming together in Jesus is a key thing that we want to pick up on and follow the thread. We also see those little details that God is interested in, Jesus being baptized and the Spirit coming down with a voice from heaven. God is bringing everything together in Jesus and he is still working in this world today. May we open our eyes to him working.

Matthew Chapter 2

Article  |  April 1st, 2022
By Nick Oyler

The thing that hit me in this chapter is that God is a master of details. He is fulfilling his promises that he made to the people in the genealogy and he is making sure that even the stars announce what he is doing. This is important because there are people who notice what goes on in the stars. God did not miss a trick in announcing the birth of Jesus, and not only that, he protected Jesus from harm and got him right where he needed to be in Nazareth. Every little detail was covered and Jesus is fulfilling God’s plan.
Today, look for God in the details of your life and you will find him fulfilling promises for you.

Despair

Article  |  March 31st, 2022
By Nick Oyler

This is me sharing my emotion with the world. This is not the pretty, curated, on brand me that I want you all to see, but the raw emotion that I feel in my bones.
Be gentle!

Matthew Chapter 1

Article  |  March 31st, 2022
By Nick Oyler

Hey everybody welcome to season 2 of the 2 Minute Disciple Podcast, I’m Nick and it is amazing to be here with you today. We are going to change things up a little in this new season, instead of changing translations every week, we are going to stick with the Message for the whole season. I am also going to read the introduction to the book of Matthew from the Message before I read the first chapter of the book. I will do the same for the other books too. I am also going to be adding more bonus episodes, more guest readers and guest conversations about following Jesus. Thank you so much for being a part of this journey with me. We are back at Matthew chapter 1, so lets dive in…

There are three things that strike me in this first chapter of Matthew, first is the fulfillment of God’s promises. This is seen through the genealogy of Jesus. God made promises to these men and women that are fulfilled in Jesus. The second thing is obedience. I mean it oozes out of the genealogy with people like Abraham, Ruth and David to name a few. Then Joseph obeys God and takes Mary to be his wife. The third is that there are five women mentioned in this genealogy. As a dad of two daughters and a girl dog, I find this inclusive nature of the Gospel fascinating, that it is for everyone, even the foreigner and the prostitute. God’s kingdom is now and it is for everybody. Let’s pray.

Acts Chapter 28

Article  |  March 30th, 2022
By Nick Oyler
audio bible, daily bible, daily devotion, jesus, self care, spiritual journey, spirituality

I love the last 2 sentences of the book of Acts, “He explained everything about Jesus Christ. His door was always open” (Acts 28:31 The Message). I want that to be said of me. What about you?
Tomorrow begins a new season for the 2 Minute Disciple Podcast. We will start back at Matthew Chapter 1 and journey through the Gospels again to discover who Jesus is and what it looks like to follow him. See you tomorrow.

Episode 118: Acts Chapter 28

Episode  |  March 30th, 2022  |  Season 1  |  6 mins 19 secs

audio bible, daily bible, daily devotion, jesus, self care, spiritual journey, spirituality

I love the last 2 sentences of the book of Acts, “He explained everything about Jesus Christ. His door was always open” (Acts 28:31 The Message). I want that to be said of me. What about you?
Tomorrow begins a new season for the 2 Minute Disciple Podcast. We will start back at Matthew Chapter 1 and journey through the Gospels again to discover who Jesus is and what it looks like to follow him. See you tomorrow.

Acts Chapter 27

Article  |  March 29th, 2022
By Nick Oyler
audio bible, daily bible, daily devotion, jesus, personal development., spiritual growth, spiritual journey, spirituality

All through Acts, we have seen God move his people to spread the message of Jesus and his new life from Jerusalem to the ends of the world. He is now taking Paul to Rome as a prisoner on a ship through a storm. Paul is assured that he will survive to get to Rome, but not without a shipwreck disaster to go through. We find that God did what he said and continued to give Paul an audience for his message.
This makes me think about my calling to this podcast, it kind of feels like I have been through a shipwreck to get here. However, we are almost to 2000 downloads and quit a bit of encouragement to keep going. Once we finish Acts tomorrow, we will begin again in Matthew Chapter 1 for season 2.

Episode 117: Acts Chapter 27

Episode  |  March 29th, 2022  |  Season 1  |  7 mins 22 secs

audio bible, daily bible, daily devotion, jesus, personal development., spiritual growth, spiritual journey, spirituality

All through Acts, we have seen God move his people to spread the message of Jesus and his new life from Jerusalem to the ends of the world. He is now taking Paul to Rome as a prisoner on a ship through a storm. Paul is assured that he will survive to get to Rome, but not without a shipwreck disaster to go through. We find that God did what he said and continued to give Paul an audience for his message.
This makes me think about my calling to this podcast, it kind of feels like I have been through a shipwreck to get here. However, we are almost to 2000 downloads and quit a bit of encouragement to keep going. Once we finish Acts tomorrow, we will begin again in Matthew Chapter 1 for season 2.