Rise City Church Podcast

The Discipleship Pathway

Don't Miss Jesus | The Carriers of The Promise

Jesus often shows up where we least expect Him—in overlooked places, through ordinary people, during hidden seasons. In Luke 1, God begins the greatest rescue story not in a palace but in Nazareth, not with prestige but with humility. Mary isn’t chosen because of her résumé but because of grace. Jesus enters the world quietly, but with eternal purpose, showing us that God often does His greatest work in the places we’re tempted to overlook.

Scripture reveals Jesus as the promised King, the Savior whose very name means “God saves,” and the One the Holy Spirit is always pointing us toward. We’ll see how faith grows not through proximity or effort, but through revelation—and how hidden seasons often prepare us for holy moments. Stop searching elsewhere and recognize the One who has been searching for us all along. Don’t miss Jesus—the Savior who came to rescue, reign, and restore.

What Are You Carrying? | The Carriers of The Promise

Most of us don’t realize the weight of what we’re carrying. Like David, we’re often living inside a story bigger than we can see—faithfully holding responsibilities, wounds, and callings without knowing how God might use them. Long before the crown, David learned dependence as a shepherd, repentance as a worshiper, and courage as an overlooked fighter. His life reveals that God’s promise doesn’t move through perfection or control, but through hearts that return to Him and trust Him fully.

David’s story ultimately points beyond himself to Jesus—the greater Shepherd who carries the wounded, the better King who restores broken hearts, and the true Victor who fights the battle we could never win. Tune in as we discover what David carried, what Jesus has already accomplished, and how surrendering what’s in our hands places us inside God’s unfolding story of redemption and hope.

All of Life is Grace | Rick Mckinley

Most of us assume spiritual growth happens in mountaintop moments—when God shows up loudly and life finally makes sense. But what if real transformation happens in the long, ordinary stretches in between? Jacob’s story tells the truth we often miss: God doesn’t wait for us to get it together. He works through messy families, immature prayers, unresolved wounds, and years that feel painfully unremarkable.

In Genesis 32, we find Jacob no longer bargaining with God, but clinging to Him—humble, grateful, and desperate for grace. Tune in as special guest Rick McKinley traces Jacob’s journey from deceiver to dependent, from running to wrestling, and discover how God uses ordinary faithfulness to form resilient, mature trust. Hope is growing, even when you can’t yet see it.

The Valley of Dry Bones | The Carriers of The Promise

We all have places in our lives that feel dry, stuck, or long gone—marriages running on fumes, faith that’s cooled off, habits we can’t break, or a heart that feels more numb than alive. Most of us try harder, push more, or attempt to “fix” ourselves, but Ezekiel shows us something deeper: the problem isn’t that we’re weak—it’s that we’re spiritually dead without God’s Spirit. And dead things don’t need advice; they need resurrection.

Tune in as we walk into the valley with Ezekiel and discover how God uses His Word and His Spirit to rebuild what’s broken, breathe life where hope has collapsed, and raise us into the people He created us to be. If you’ve ever wondered whether the dry places in your story can live again, this is your invitation to find out.

Faith in the Pain | The Carriers of The Promise

We all know what it’s like to chase something we think will finally make us whole—success, affirmation, control—only to find the ache still there. Hannah lived in that gap: honored by her husband yet carrying a pain no amount of love or status could fix. Her story names what we often feel but rarely say out loud: nothing in this world can satisfy the deepest desires of the heart. In her anguish, she turns to the only One who can—crying out to the Lord who sees, hears, and remembers her.

Tune in as we follow her journey from sorrow to surrender and watch God turn her offering into Samuel—a prophet, priest, judge, and king-maker shaped for God’s purposes (1 Samuel 1; 1 Samuel 16). This week calls us to bring our longings honestly to God, trust His timing, and dedicate the next generation with open hands, believing He can do more with their lives than we ever could.

Your Story Isn't Over | The Carriers of The Promise

We’re living in a moment where compassion is thinning and outrage is thickening, and it’s easy—even for believers—to run from the very people God is calling us to love. Jonah did exactly that. Sent to carry God’s mercy to a violent and hated city, he fled in the opposite direction. But God pursued him through a storm, a sea, and a fish—not to punish him, but to reclaim him.

Jonah’s plunge into the deep becomes a prophetic preview of Jesus: Jonah the reluctant prophet swallowed by death, Jesus the relentless Savior who enters the grave willingly and rises in victory.  The story of Jonah shows a God who runs toward rebels, loves the undeserving, and calls His people to carry that same grace into a broken world. Tune in as we discover how God pursues us in our reluctance and invites us to join Jesus—the greater Jonah—in His mission of mercy.

Get Ready for Revival | The Carriers of The Promise

We’re living in a cultural drought—shrinking belief, collapsing moral imagination, rising false gods—and it feels like the heavens have been shut. Israel knew this same barrenness in the days of Elijah. After years of idolatry, immorality, and spiritual compromise, God withheld the rain to expose the emptiness of their gods and awaken hunger in their souls.

Our moment feels eerily similar. Spiritual drought covers our land, yet signs of a fresh cloud are rising on the horizon. God is calling His people out of hiding, exposing the counterfeit gods of our age, and rebuilding worship in His church. Elijah reminds us that revival begins not with culture shifting, but with God’s people returning. Tune in as we look at how God restores His altar, sends His rain, and invites us into the next great move of His Spirit.

The Kindness of The King | Josh Butler

We live in a world that prizes performance, pedigree, and power—yet deep down, most of us still wrestle with feeling unseen or unworthy. The story of Mephibosheth flips all of that upside down. David, now king, seeks out the last living son of his former enemy—not to punish him, but to show him kindness. In a single moment, a crippled exile from “Lo Debar” (“no place”) is carried into the palace, seated at the royal table, and treated like a son.

This is what the kindness of King Jesus looks like. He searches for the broken, the forgotten, the ones hiding in the wilderness of shame, and He carries us home to His table. The gospel isn’t about climbing your way to God—it’s about being found, lifted, and loved by Him. Join us as guest preacher Joshua Ryan Butler explores how the King’s kindness restores our destiny, overcomes our fear and pride, and teaches us to extend that same kindness to others.

Worship is Our Warfare | Victory Sunday 2025

When life feels like a battle you can’t win, it’s easy to believe that trying harder will finally bring peace. But what if the breakthrough you need doesn’t come from more control, but from surrender? King Jehoshaphat faced an army he couldn’t defeat, yet instead of drawing a sword, he lifted a song. As Judah began to worship, God began to work.

In a world that says, “You got this,” Scripture declares, “The battle is not yours, but God’s.” Tune in for this victory Sunday as we see how praise pushes back fear, how worship invites God’s power into impossible places, and how the same God who fought for Judah gives us ultimate victory in Jesus.