South Shore Community Church

South Shore Community Church
  • 5.0 (6)
  • Religion & Spirituality
  • Updated Biweekly

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  1. Jun 28

    Walk before me

    Genesis 17 is not written for people who have it all together. It is written for people who have heard from God, made a mess in the waiting, and still need Him to speak again. After thirteen years of silence following Abram's detour with Hagar, God shows up and renews the same covenant He made years before. Before giving a single instruction, He reveals Himself as El Shaddai, God Almighty, because His commands always flow from His character. He calls Abram to walk before Him faithfully and to be blameless, not meaning sinless perfection, but wholehearted and undivided surrender. Many people are not failing because they openly reject God. They are failing because they are divided, half trusting and half controlling, half believing the promise and half engineering the outcome. God renames Abram as Abraham, father of many nations, and Sarai as Sarah, speaking identity over them according to the promise rather than the present reality. The sign of circumcision is given not to create the covenant but to mark belonging to it. In the same way, a life that belongs to God today should bear visible marks of that belonging, not through performance, but through truth telling, generosity, repentance, and embodied obedience. When Abraham laughs at the promise and asks God to simply bless Ishmael instead, God responds with grace toward Ishmael but remains clear that His covenant will be established with Isaac. God is gracious toward our detours, but He does not rewrite His covenant around the shortcuts fear produces. One of the most powerful moments in the chapter is easy to overlook. After God speaks, Abraham obeys on that very day. Not eventually. Not after processing it for months. That very day, at 99 years old. Real faith does not just admire what God says. It moves. Covenant living is not about being impressive or perfect. It is about being wholehearted. God is not asking for a polished performance. He is asking for a surrendered life, trusting that the same God who kept His word to Abraham is still keeping His word today.

    44 min

  2. Jun 21

    The God Who Sees

    Feeling unseen is one of the most painful human experiences, and it is one that Scripture takes seriously. The story of Hagar in Genesis 16 begins in the middle of a household in chaos. Abram and Sarai, tired of waiting on God's promise of a child, took matters into their own hands. Sarai offered her Egyptian slave Hagar to Abram, and Abram passively agreed. The consequences were immediate and devastating. Hagar became pregnant, Sarai became resentful, and the entire household unraveled. Hagar, who had no voice and no choice in any of it, eventually fled into the desert alone, carrying a child and carrying the weight of everyone else's decisions. What happened next is one of the most remarkable moments in all of Scripture. God did not wait for Hagar to find Him. He went looking for her. He found her near a spring in the desert, spoke to her by name, acknowledged her suffering, and gave her a promise for her future. In response, Hagar did something no one else in Scripture had done quite like this before. She gave God a name: El Roi, meaning the God who sees. She named the well Beer Lahai Roi, the well of the Living One who sees me, so that future generations would know that God had shown up in that exact place for someone the world had overlooked. This same pattern of seeing leading to compassion runs through the life of Jesus. When He saw the crowds, He had compassion and fed thousands. When He saw Mary weeping, He raised Lazarus from the dead. God's seeing always produces movement toward the people He loves. The invitation today is to bring your situation honestly before El Roi, trusting that He sees your condition and knows your name. And then to look around at the people in your own life who may be feeling invisible, and to be the presence of hope for them, because you carry the One who sees everyone.

    42 min

  3. Jun 14

    When you try to help God

    Human Solutions often lead to long-term consequences.

    37 min

  4. May 31

    Count the Stars

    Fear has a way of showing up when we least expect it - not just in our moments of failure, but sometimes right after our victories. This is exactly where we find Abraham in Genesis 15, wrestling with uncertainty and questions despite having just completed a successful rescue mission and honored God as his source. Rather than celebrating, Abraham finds himself afraid and questioning what comes next. God's response to Abraham's fear is both tender and instructive. Instead of offering correction or reminding Abraham of past victories, God immediately addresses the fear with His presence, declaring that He is Abraham's shield and reward. When Abraham responds with honest questions about his childless state, God doesn't shame him for doubting. Instead, He takes Abraham outside and points to the countless stars, using them as a picture of promises that exceed human limitations. This moment leads to one of the most significant declarations in Scripture: Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. The covenant ceremony that follows reveals something remarkable about God's character and our security in Him. In ancient covenant-making, both parties would typically walk between cut animal pieces, binding themselves to the agreement. But in this covenant, only God passes through - meaning the promise rests entirely on God's faithfulness, not Abraham's performance. This foreshadows the ultimate covenant fulfillment in Christ, where Jesus bears the cost of our covenant-breaking. Our salvation is secure not because our grip on God is strong, but because God has bound Himself to His promises and Jesus has paid the price for our unfaithfulness.

    37 min

  5. May 31

    Rescue and Reward

    The story of Abraham in Genesis 14 reveals what happens when faith matures beyond desperate prayers to confident worship. The chapter begins with the consequences of Lot's decision to choose by sight rather than faith - he had moved from looking toward Sodom to actually living there, demonstrating how what we tolerate nearby eventually becomes part of our lives. When Lot was captured, Abraham could have abandoned him, but instead chose to risk everything for rescue, showing remarkable spiritual growth from a man who had previously endangered others to save himself. After Abraham's victory, he encountered two kings whose order of appearance matters significantly. First came Melchizedek, priest and king, who blessed Abraham and reminded him that God was the source of his victory. Abraham immediately responded with worship, giving a tenth of everything - not as payment, but as acknowledgment that God owns everything. Then came the king of Sodom with a tempting offer of wealth, which Abraham refused because he understood that if the wrong source supplies you, the wrong source will try to name you. Abraham would rather have a clean witness than a full wallet, recognizing that not every open door or reward is worth receiving if it compromises your relationship with God.

    35 min

  6. May 24

    Life up Your Eyes

    The story of Abraham and Lot in Genesis 13 reveals a profound truth about living with open hands versus gripping tightly to what we think we need. When their combined wealth created conflict between their herders, these two men faced the same situation but responded with completely different hearts. Abraham, despite having every right as the elder to choose first, generously offered Lot the first pick of the land. This wasn't weakness but faith in action - Abraham understood that when God makes a promise, we can afford to be generous because our future isn't dependent on our negotiations. Lot made his choice based purely on what looked good to his eyes, selecting the well-watered Jordan valley that appeared prosperous and practical. However, his sight-based decision led him toward Sodom and Gomorrah, cities that would later be destroyed. Abraham chose differently, not based on appearance but on trust in God's character and promises. After Abraham surrendered his right to choose, God responded by expanding his vision and promising him more land than he could see in every direction. This contrast reveals a fundamental principle: we're all building something in life, but the question isn't what we're building but whether we're building with open hands. Are we constructing fences of control or altars of worship? Fences say this is mine while altars say this is Yours. When we release our grip on what we can see and control, God often expands our vision and provides in ways we never could have secured for ourselves. The invitation is to trust that God's promises are more reliable than what our eyes can see.

    37 min

  7. May 17

    Faith and Failure

    Abraham received one of Scripture's most remarkable promises when God called him to leave everything and go to a land He would show him. God promised to make Abraham into a great nation, bless him, make his name great, and use him to bless all peoples on earth. Abraham obeyed and headed to the promised land, but upon arrival, he encountered something unexpected: famine. This experience teaches us that following God's will doesn't guarantee easy circumstances or immediate comfort. When faced with this challenge, Abraham made a fear-driven decision that would reveal what was truly in his heart. Traveling to Egypt for relief, he asked his wife Sarah to lie about their relationship, claiming to be her brother instead of her husband. He feared the Egyptians would kill him to take his beautiful wife. Abraham's plan was built on a half-truth and seemed to work initially, bringing him wealth and protection. However, this compromise endangered Sarah, damaged his witness, and brought trouble to Pharaoh's household. The story reaches its turning point when God intervened, afflicting Pharaoh's household with diseases and ultimately rescuing Sarah. This demonstrates God's covenant faithfulness even when His people fail. Unlike a contract that depends on both parties' performance, God's covenant is secured by His faithfulness alone. Abraham's failure wounded his witness but didn't cancel God's call on his life. This story challenges us to examine where fear is driving our decisions instead of faith, reminding us that God's promises are stronger than our circumstances and His grace is bigger than our fear.

    35 min

  8. May 10

    What are you building?

    Every person is actively building something with their life—whether a career, family, reputation, or future. The story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11 reveals a fundamental truth about human nature and our relationship with God. When humanity gathered to build a tower reaching to the heavens, their motivation wasn't architectural achievement but autonomy from God. They declared 'Let us make a name for ourselves' rather than following God's original command to fill the earth. This ancient story exposes a timeless pattern: our deep longing for significance often leads us to manufacture identity through achievement, thinking we can build enough success to finally matter. Even good things can become our personal Tower of Babel when we pursue them for image, control, and self-validation rather than God's glory. The painful truth is that we cannot heal a God-sized identity problem with human applause. God's intervention at Babel wasn't born from insecurity but from mercy. He saw where unchecked pride would lead and scattered the people to protect them from self-destruction. The gospel provides the answer Babel sought but could never achieve. Where humanity said 'Let us go up,' Jesus said 'Let me come down.' In Christ, we receive the secure identity and significance that Babel tried to seize through pride. The question isn't whether we're building, but whether we're building for our own name or for God's glory.

    32 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
6 Ratings

About

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Information

  • Creator
    South Shore Community Church
  • Years Active
    2016 - 2026
  • Episodes
    139
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 South Shore Community Church

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