Gospel Spice | Christian faith, God's love & the Bible Stéphanie Rousselle

Bonjour! Stephanie here. How do we overcome anxiety, and embrace peace? More than ever, our daily life seems to fight us on this quest. Do you, like so many of us, see anxiety as an incentive to perform? Or a proof of how much you care? Or is anxiety simply an unwelcome shadow over your days, bringing with it clenched teeth and an upset stomach?

Today is an invitation to step into a life characterized by peace, grace, and gentleness, replete with the palpable presence of God. God promises us that it is ours in Christ Jesus. The world does it best to make it impossible. So, which one will it be?

Anxiety leads us to succumb to fear and fight peace. Anxious living is a distortion of good motives, blocking the clarity of stillness and rest. Peace is the antidote to anxiety. This peace is found in practicing God's presence and embodying the virtues of grace, found in Christ. But, what does it look like, and how do we get there?

This week I welcome Alan Fadling back on the show to dive into a real and raw conversation about overcoming anxiety and finding peace. Alan has felt mastered by worry, but he brings counsel on how to learn a better way and who to look to for it: Jesus, "the ultimate non-anxious presence." He constructs a posture from which we can rest more deeply, live more fully, and lead better. Fixing our minds on grace and eternity, we can begin to see the benefit of loosening our grip and operating from a sure foundation.

Alan candidly shares his personal journey, highlighting how anxiety, coupled with perfectionism, led to a cycle of high standards, achievements, and ultimately, dissatisfaction and discouragement. His honest portrayal of himself as a "recovering perfectionist" resonated deeply with me – and I suspect I am not the only one! Alan's emphasis on progress over perfection reminds us that growth is a journey, not a destination. This is a deeply biblical message that our culture has us forget all too easily.

And so we find that grace, with its essence of unmerited favor and unconditional love found in Christ, becomes a transformative force, offering solace and redemption in the face of anxiety. This is one of the key messages of Scripture. Alan also shares with us the practice of embodying God's presence and cultivating "little virtues" such as humility, patience, gentleness, dependence, and surrender. He tells us about learning patience in the chaos of Southern California traffic, reminding us that it's the simple things that steer us towards a peaceful life, even when the world seems to have gone upside down. This underscores the significance of relinquishing the incessant pursuit of materialistic and ambitious goals in favor of humility and grace.

Scripture makes clear the importance of faith, imagination, and embracing an "unhurried influence." Rattling through life at top speed isn't the secret to peace. Alan’s prayer for the audience to grow in unhurried influence is an open invitation to take the scenic route, savouring the moments, and stepping into a life ruled by peace, grace, and gentleness. So, as you sail away from this episode, remember - peace isn't found in the rush-rush of everyday life, but in the sweet, steady rhythm of grace in Christ Jesus.

MORE ABOUT ALAN FADLING

Alan serves as a frequent speaker, consultant and retreat leader with local churches and national organizations such as InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Halftime Institute, Apprentice Institute, Saddleback Church, and Open Doors International. He speaks from the intersection of spiritual formation and leadership, with content that is approachable, usable and transferable.

Alan Fadling (M. Div., Fuller Theological Seminary) is President and Founder of Unhurried Living, Inc. in Mission Viejo, CA, inspiring people to rest deeper, live fuller and lead better. He speaks and consults internationally, as well as nationally with organizations such as Saddleback Church, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Cru, Halftime In

Welcome on Gospel Spice! I could not be happier to have you with me today as we dive deep into the parables of Jesus, asking His help to understand His message to us today. Parables have always been a powerful tool used by rabbis to reinforce conventional wisdom. But when Jesus sits down and starts speaking in parables, he adds a sprinkle of mystique that captivates His audience.

Matthew 13:1-3 tells us that Jesus wasted no time once He was openly rejected in Matthew 12 (see previous episode). And these parables reveal what lies ahead as a result of his generation's rejection. But why parables? Three reasons stand out. First, Jesus came to fulfill prophetic teachings (Matthew 5:17). By using parables, He connects the Old Testament prophecies to His message and shows that the Messiah spoke in parables too. Second, parables shift the focus from mass appeal to individual faith. Jesus emphasizes the importance of personal belief, rather than trying to convince the masses. Thirdly, Jesus respects our free will and wants our faith to be genuine. He could have performed undeniable miracles, but He loves nothing more than a heart filled with faith. Faith and sight cannot coexist, and He leaves room for questions, so we can choose to believe.

So, buckle up as we embark on a journey where parables unravel the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. From fulfilling prophecies to focusing on individual faith, these teachings hold the key to understanding Jesus' message. I promise you a feast for the mind and soul as we dissect each parable and discover the layers of meaning within. There's so much more to explore in the New Testament and the Old Testament!

The parables highlight the consequences of the generation's rejection of Jesus. These stories hold deep significance for over 2000 years of gentile-dominant Christendom. Intriguing, right? So, let's savor the spiritual spices and flavors that the parables have to offer. As we feast on the Gospel of Matthew, we'll gain insights, wisdom, and a fresh perspective on Jesus' teachings.

The finish line is just ahead, but the journey of faith continues! Even as we get ready to soon bid farewell to Matthew after almost eight months within the pages of his gospel, our spice journey continues! With just a few episodes left in the Gospel of Matthew, we're reaching a bittersweet finish line. Until then, let's unwrap the rich layers of the parables together today!

Are you looking for a place to take notes, some topics to research on your own, or some questions you could ponder to go deeper during your quiet time with God or with a friend? Remember, we have workbooks available for this episode, and every other episode of our Jesus Rabbi and Lord series. For each episode, they contain a summary, listening guide, key takeaways, quotes, questions and topics to go deeper. Go to gospelspice.com/jesus to purchase these workbooks.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to sit alongside Jesus and his initial audience? To experience the fresh spiritual flavors that the Messianic Jewish culture weaves into the four gospels? Well, that's exactly what we here aim to do through this original series, JESUS RABBI AND LORD. Stephanie invites you to dig deep into Scripture, unearthing raw diamonds that may need a little cleaning up, but will ultimately shine brightly.

So get ready to embark on this enlightening and transformative journey with Gospel Spice. Prepare to encounter Jesus in a way that resonates with our modern world and discover the richness of the gospel through the lens of Jewish culture. Let's dig deep, uncover the hidden spices, and experience the beauty of the Scriptures together. Welcome to Gospel Spice!

Grab your headphones, hit play, and let Gospel Spice be the catalyst for encountering Jesus in a way you've never experienced before!

Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog

Bonjour! Stephanie here. I think today is the first time that I am welcoming an author on the show to talk about a memoir. I don't think I've ever done memoirs, but this one just gripped my heart. I just had to share it with you. I met Lisa-Jo Baker a few years ago at a friend's party. I was mesmerized by her story, her depth, her intelligence. She has serious brain power, but also kindness, thoughtfulness, and truly empathetic other-centeredness.

“It was not roaring, it was weeping” is the title of her memoir. It's an honest and lyrical, almost poetic coming of age memoir of growing up in South Africa at the height of apartheid. It's an invitation to confront or inherited traumas or prejudices.  It is also an invitation to forgive our parents, so that we won't repeat the same mistakes. It is an invitation to dig deep inside ourselves and nurture self-awareness, so that we understand what triggers us, so we can rewire our minds to stop repeating harmful patterns, both individually and communally. It is an invitation to cultivate forgiveness and grace as the only way forward as humanity, together.

When she found herself spiraling into a terrifying version of her father, screaming herself hoarse at her son, Lisa-Jo Baker realized that to go forward—to refuse to repeat the sins of our fathers—we must first go back. This is an unflinching look at a family that got it wrong and a real life example for all who feel worried they’re too off-course to make the necessary corrections. Lisa-Jo’s story shows that it’s never too late to be free.

Born white in the heart of Zululand during the height of apartheid, Lisa-Jo Baker longed to write a new future for her children—a longing that set her on a journey to understand where she fit into a story of violence and faith, history and race. Before marriage and motherhood, she came to the United States to study to become a human rights advocate. When she naively walked right into America’s own turbulent racial landscape, she experienced the kind of painful awakening that is both individual and universal, personal and social.

Years would go by before she traced this American trauma back to her own South African past. Lisa-Jo was a teenager when her mother died of cancer, leaving her with her father. Though they shared a language of faith and justice, she often feared him, unaware that his fierce temper had deep roots in a family’s and a nation’s pain. Decades later, old wounds reopened when she found herself repeating the violent patterns of her childhood in her own parenting. Only then did she begin the journey back to the beginning to find a way to break old cycles and write a new story for her family and the next generation.

MEET LISA-JO BAKER

LISA-JO BAKER is a bestselling author with a BA in English/prelaw from Gordon College and a JD from the University of Notre Dame Law School. Lisa-Jo has lived and worked on three continents in the human rights field and subsequently spent nearly a decade leading the online community of women called (in)courage as their editor in chief and community manager. Originally from South Africa, Lisa-Jo now lives just outside Washington, D.C., where she met and fell in love with her husband in the summer of ’96. Their story together spans decades, languages, countries, books, three very opinionated children, and one dog.

https://lisajobaker.com/

 

We invite you to check out the first episode of each of our series, and decide which one you will want to start with.

Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog

Identity in the battle | Ephesians

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/74762/link/

Centering on Christ | The Tabernacle experience

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/94182/link/

Shades of Red | Against human oppression

https://www.podcastics.com/episode/115017/link/

God's glory, our delight 

https://www.p

Why did Jesus make the offer of Messiah to a generation He knew would reject Him? It's a burning question, and today, we're diving deep into Matthew 12 to unravel this mystery. Get ready for a mind-blowing ride! Let's start with a personal story. I recently reached out to a loved one, eager to share my faith in Jesus. I knew the possibility of rejection was high, but my heart was sincere. Just like Jesus, I offered love, knowing it might not be accepted.

In Matthew, Jesus extends an offer of Messiah to His generation, fully aware that they would reject Him. Why? Well, because He is omniscient. God knew the response beforehand. But here's the mind-bending part: the offer wasn't completely removed. It was postponed. The rejection of Jesus by that generation of Jews was a part of God's ultimate plan for redemption. Their rejection led to something remarkable - the church age. You see, the church age, which we are in now, is a brand new revelation that stemmed from the Jews' rejection of Jesus. God didn't mention the church age in the Old Testament because it depended on the Jews' decision. It's like prophecy, watching mountain tops from a distance.

The Old Testament prophets didn't see the valley of the church age between Jesus' first and second comings. It's in the New Testament, available to everyone, that the secrets are revealed to those who listen. The church age is a mystery unfolding.

The New Testament was written quickly by a generation who knew Jesus or were close to someone who did. They recorded the teachings and acts of Jesus, including His plea for the generation to embrace Him as the Messiah. Even individuals from that initial rejection group, like Nicodemus and Paul, were granted grace to change. Paul became the apostle to the Gentiles, revealing the mystery of the church age. Jesus started teaching this mystery to individuals after the nation rejected Him. In Matthew 13, Jesus shares parables that provide a timeline and description of what will happen. The church age continues until Jesus comes again. We are in this incredible, unpredictable chapter of God's plan.

So, why did Jesus offer Himself as Messiah to a generation He knew would reject Him? Because God's perfect plan unfolds through rejection, grace, and redemption. The rejection of Jesus by the Jews is the ultimate redemption for believers. Awe-inspiring, isn't it?

Are you looking for a place to take notes, some topics to research on your own, or some questions you could ponder to go deeper during your quiet time with God or with a friend? Remember, we have workbooks available for this episode, and every other episode of our Jesus Rabbi and Lord series. For each episode, they contain a summary, listening guide, key takeaways, quotes, questions and topics to go deeper. Go to gospelspice.com/jesus to purchase these workbooks.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to sit alongside Jesus and his initial audience? To experience the fresh spiritual flavors that the Messianic Jewish culture weaves into the four gospels? Well, that's exactly what we here aim to do through this original series, JESUS RABBI AND LORD. Stephanie invites you to dig deep into Scripture, unearthing raw diamonds that may need a little cleaning up, but will ultimately shine brightly.

So get ready to embark on this enlightening and transformative journey with Gospel Spice. Prepare to encounter Jesus in a way that resonates with our modern world and discover the richness of the gospel through the lens of Jewish culture. Let's dig deep, uncover the hidden spices, and experience the beauty of the Scriptures together. Welcome to Gospel Spice!

Grab your headphones, hit play, and let Gospel Spice be the catalyst for encountering Jesus in a way you've never experienced before!

Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog

THERE ARE SEVERAL WAYS TO PARTNER WITH GOSPEL SP

What do you know of the Ascension? How important does it seem to you? Stephanie says, "Ascension has become one of my most cherished treasures, because it speaks of a hope that is certain, and a future that is glorious. First, Ascension means that a human body is present in the Throne Room of God right now – that is Jesus Christ today. His incarnation made Jesus a member of humanity; His Ascension made His membership permanent. I cannot wrap my head around this, but one thing I can do is fall on my face to worship in awe and wonder."

It all started with an invitation to write an article about it (see below). After she turned it in, she felt compelled to share her latest discoveries about this beautiful, underestimated feast of Ascension with you today.

Remember to use your FREE listening guide to follow along in this episode! You will receive it automatically in your inbox as a Gospel Spice newsletter subscriber, so make sure to subscribe for free at gospelspice.com/signup !

Here is the article she wrote about it, and which inspired this episode:

"God has a special message for us this Ascension season, if we will ponder the things above with holy expectancy of His goodness.

Ascension has become one of my most cherished treasures, because it speaks of a hope that is certain, and a future that is glorious. First, Ascension means that a human body is present in the Throne Room of God right now – that is Jesus Christ today. His incarnation made Jesus a member of humanity; His Ascension made His membership permanent. I cannot wrap my head around this, but one thing I can do is fall on my face to worship in awe and wonder.

The corollary to Ascension, Pentecost, means that the Spirit of God is present in human flesh right now – that is you and me today. Ascension and Pentecost tell us that Christ reconciles God to man in His own body. He declares at Pentecost our ultimate reality: “on earth as it is in heaven!” He declares at Ascension the corollary, “in heaven as it is on earth!” Just as He was God on earth, He is now human in heaven. Just as He prayed as God on earth for us, He prays now as our Great High Priest in heaven for us. Ascension and Pentecost are Jacob’s ladder, a two-way relationship of body and spirit, earth and heaven, reconciled in One.

Upon His ascension, Jesus, in His glorified human body, received from the Father the Holy Spirit, whom He sent to us to inhabit our own not-yet-glorified bodies. Heaven will be intoxicatingly delightful. So unbearable for our current bodies, in fact, that we will be given brand new, glorified bodies – like Christ’s – so that we can withstand the intensity of delight and pleasure that awaits us. Our heavenly bodies will be like a chocolate masterpiece to our current cocoa-pod bodies: similar, but unimaginably more glorious. From starter seed to perfected fruit. We have yet to experience heavenly chocolate, so we struggle to see its connection to our humble cocoa pod-like current body. It is ultimately a matter of time. We are the “body of Christ” – it means in some real way we are in the Throne Room with Him already. It is ultimately a matter of space. Good thing heaven is beyond time and space.

Jesus described His ascension to Mary Magdalene as His going “to my Father and your Father; to my God and your God.” (John 20:17). This is astounding. Jesus is irreversibly identifying with us: His Father is our Father; His God is our God. It means, in essence, that He represents God to man, and man to God: this is the role of the Great High Priest. Had Jesus not ascended to heaven, he could not officiate as our Great High Priest right now, fulfilling at least three primary missions for the church age: interceding for us, teaching us to pray, and making things above real for us. Let’s unpack, seeking continually the things that are above.

First, Jesus is interceding for you right now. In John 17, considered by many as the “Holy of Holies” of the

I am so glad you are with us today on Gospel Spice. Join us as we dive into the transformative power of Jesus and the mosaic of people forming the Kingdom of Heaven! Let's explore the rich tapestry of stories in the Gospel of Matthew and discover the incredible ways each person adds their unique flavor of mint.

 Last week, we met a leper, a gentile centurion, and a bold woman who challenged the rulers. Now, we're introduced to Matthew himself, a former tax collector who boldly declares Jesus as Messiah. I invite you to join me and witness Matthew's gutsy conversion story. It is moving, tender, and powerful. He leaves everything to follow Jesus, and in doing so, publicly defies the rulers. Jesus' reply to the Pharisees' question about eating with tax collectors and sinners exposes their own merciless contradictions – and honors Matthew’s young faith.

Next, Jesus addresses fasting, and specifically, why His disciples don't fast like the Pharisees and John the Baptist's followers. He explains that the bridegroom, Jesus himself, is here, and it's a time for celebration. Fasting will come when he's taken away, showing the importance of regular fasting for seeking God's will. Jesus goes on to challenge the Pharisees' reliance on the Oral Law and emphasizes the fulfillment of the Written Law through His work on the cross. The Pharisees are sure to get hysterical over this!

The intertwined stories of Jairus and the bleeding woman showcase the unwavering faith that unites people from all walks of life. Jairus, a synagogue leader, and an unnamed woman who defied the Law to touch Jesus's tassels, both find hope and healing in Messiah's surpassing grace.

As we continue to experience Jesus ever deeper as our Rabbi and Lord through the eyes of Matthew, let's remember that each person in the Kingdom of Heaven adds a unique flavor of mint. Their stories of faith, courage, and redemption remind us that Jesus invites us all to be part of this incredible mosaic.

I could not be more delighted to have you tagging along with me in the hallowed pages of Scripture today. I hope you will find your faith strengthened, and your time well used. Thank you!

Are you looking for a place to take notes, some topics to research on your own, or some questions you could ponder to go deeper during your quiet time with God or with a friend? Remember, we have workbooks available for this episode, and every other episode of our Jesus Rabbi and Lord series. For each episode, they contain a summary, listening guide, key takeaways, quotes, questions and topics to go deeper. Go to gospelspice.com/jesus to purchase these workbooks.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to sit alongside Jesus and his initial audience? To experience the fresh spiritual flavors that the Messianic Jewish culture weaves into the four gospels? Well, that's exactly what we here aim to do through this original series, JESUS RABBI AND LORD. Stephanie invites you to dig deep into Scripture, unearthing raw diamonds that may need a little cleaning up, but will ultimately shine brightly.

So get ready to embark on this enlightening and transformative journey with Gospel Spice. Prepare to encounter Jesus in a way that resonates with our modern world and discover the richness of the gospel through the lens of Jewish culture. Let's dig deep, uncover the hidden spices, and experience the beauty of the Scriptures together. Welcome to Gospel Spice!

Grab your headphones, hit play, and let Gospel Spice be the catalyst for encountering Jesus in a way you've never experienced before!

Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog

The perfect gift for everyone - apparel, drinkware, stickers and more for all the women, men and kids in your life!

https://www.gospelspice.com/merch

Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Inte