Set Free Stay Free: A Bible Study Podcast with Matt Dawson

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Set Free Stay Free is a Scripture-first Bible study podcast that walks through books of the Bible using the SOAP method—Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer—helping believers not only be set free in Christ, but learn how to stay free.

  1. 3d ago

    Work Out What God Is Working In — Philippians 2:12–18 | Season 3, Episode 6

    What’s your responsibility when it comes to God transforming your life? Do you just sit and wait for him to do it? Or do you double down on effort and try to become a better Christian through sheer willpower? Paul has a third option — and it changes everything. In this episode of the Set Free Stay Free Bible study podcast, host Matt Dawson continues the Season 3 Philippians Bible study with chapter 2, verses 12–18. Paul tells the church to work out their salvation — but not out of guilt, obligation, or self-effort. Out of what God is already working in them. Because God is the one giving them the desires. And God is the one giving them the power. The outflow of obedience comes from the inflow of grace. Then Paul turns practical fast. Do everything without complaining and arguing. Why? Because your testimony is at stake. Because in a dark, crooked, perverse world, believers are supposed to shine like lights — and it’s really hard to shine when you’ve got an opinion and a complaint about everything. Using the SOAP method (Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer), Matt unpacks the difference between legalistic behavioral change driven by guilt and the genuine transformation that comes when God changes your desires from the inside out. He closes with Paul’s remarkable posture — rejoicing even at the thought of losing his life — and asks the searching question: is there anything left to rejoice about, even on your worst day? This Philippians Bible study is for anyone who has been trying to change themselves through effort — and needs to hear that God was already at work before they started trying. In this episode: Why “work out your salvation” doesn’t mean earn it — and what it actually meansHow God changes desires before he changes behaviorThe difference between guilt-motivated effort and grace-motivated obedienceWhy complaining and arguing directly undermine your testimonyWhat it means to shine like lights in a dark and perverse worldA closing prayer for joy that runs deeper than circumstances — and a testimony that shows it📖 Passage: Philippians 2:12–18 (New Living Translation) 🔍 Keywords: Philippians Bible study, Bible study podcast, SOAP method Bible study, Christian Bible study, Scripture-first Bible study, Set Free Stay Free, Matt Dawson, walking through the Bible, Christian discipleship podcast

  2. Oct 7

    Have the Attitude of Christ — Philippians 2:1–11 | Season 3, Episode 5

    Why is it so hard to put other people first? Why do we feel this pull to be recognized, to be proven right, to make sure our perspective lands? Paul has a one-word answer: humility. And in this episode of the Set Free Stay Free Bible study podcast, host Matt Dawson opens Philippians chapter 2 with one of the most convicting — and most beautiful — passages in all of Paul's writing. Before Paul gets to the famous Christ hymn in verses 5–11, he asks the church a set of questions that function almost like a check-in: Are you encouraged by belonging to Christ? Are you experiencing comfort and compassion and fellowship together? If yes — then prove it. Stop being selfish. Stop trying to impress people. Start thinking of others as better than yourself. And then he points to Jesus to show them what that actually looks like. Though he was God, he didn't cling to it. He gave up his divine privileges, took the position of a servant, humbled himself all the way to death on a cross. And then — God elevated him. To the highest place. The name above every name. Using the SOAP method (Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer), Matt unpacks why humility isn't weakness or doormat living — it's the pathway to God doing the elevating. And he's honest that filtering everything through the lens of how does this affect me is one of the easiest drifts in the Christian life. The challenge is simple but searching: what would change this week if you stopped trying to elevate yourself and trusted God to do it? This Philippians Bible study is for anyone who is tired of the pressure to prove themselves — and ready to lay it down. In this episode: Why Paul's opening questions to the church function as a spiritual self-checkThe charge: don't be selfish, don't try to impress, think of others as better than yourselfThe Christ hymn — what Paul is saying in just a few verses about the whole arc of the gospelWhy God's elevation of Jesus was for God's glory, not just Jesus's honorWhat it looks like to stop filtering life through self and start living in obedienceA closing prayer of confession for the pull toward self — and surrender to the attitude of Christ📖 Passage: Philippians 2:1–11 (New Living Translation) 🔍 Keywords: Philippians Bible study, Bible study podcast, SOAP method Bible study, Christian Bible study, Scripture-first Bible study, Set Free Stay Free, Matt Dawson, walking through the Bible, Christian discipleship podcast

  3. Sep 29

    Is Fear Driving Your Life? | Season 3, Episode 4

    When life gets hard, does what you say you believe actually match how you live? That's the question Paul brings to the surface as he gives his first real instructions to the church in Philippi. And it lands with a clarity that cuts through everything: above all, live as citizens of heaven. In this episode of the Set Free Stay Free Bible study podcast, host Matt Dawson closes out Philippians chapter 1 with verses 27–30. Paul has spent the first part of this letter sharing his heart, expressing his joy, and reframing his imprisonment. Now he turns to the church and says — this is what I need from you. Stand together. Fight together. And don't be intimidated. For the people of Philippi, Roman citizenship was a badge of honor, a core identity marker, the thing they organized their lives around. Paul knew that. And he was asking them to place something higher. Not to abandon their city or their culture, but to conduct themselves first and foremost as people who belong to something greater — the kingdom of God. Using the SOAP method (Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer), Matt draws out why fear is the primary weapon used against believers, why standing together is what makes that fear lose its grip, and why the privilege of suffering with Christ is just as real as the privilege of serving him. He's honest that overcoming fear is one of the things he struggles with most — and brings it home with a challenge for every listener. This Philippians Bible study is for anyone who has been shrinking back in fear — and needs to be reminded where their security actually lies. In this episode: Why Paul's first instruction to the church is about how to live, not just what to believeWhat Roman citizenship meant to the Philippians — and why Paul challenges itWhy don't be intimidated is as much command as comfortHow not living in fear is itself a witness to the watching worldThe privilege of suffering — and what Jesus said about trouble in this worldA closing prayer for freedom from fear and courage to stand together📖 Passage: Philippians 1:27–30 (New Living Translation) 🔍 Keywords: Philippians Bible study, Bible study podcast, SOAP method Bible study, Christian Bible study, Scripture-first Bible study, Set Free Stay Free, Matt Dawson, walking through the Bible, Christian discipleship podcast

  4. Sep 22

    The Worst Prisoner Ever — Philippians 1:20–26 | Season 3, Episode 3

    What is your life actually about? And if one thing changed — your job, your health, your family — would it take everything with it? That's the question Paul answers from a Roman prison cell in this episode of the Set Free Stay Free Bible study podcast. Host Matt Dawson works through Philippians 1:20–26, one of his favorite passages in all of scripture, where Paul stares down life and death with the same response to both: that's fine with me. Live? More time with Jesus, more letters to write, more people to encourage. Die? Get to go be with Jesus. Stay in prison? Pen and paper, keep writing the churches. There is simply nothing the Romans can leverage on him — because Paul has designed a life where the outcomes don't change the purpose. Matt calls it what it is: Paul is the worst prisoner ever. Using the SOAP method (Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer), Matt unpacks what it looks like when purpose transcends outcome — when the chief end of your life, as the Westminster Catechism puts it, is to glorify God and enjoy him forever, regardless of what your circumstances look like. He's honest that he hasn't fully figured this out himself. But the challenge is the same for all of us: are we so fixated on outcomes we can't control that we've lost sight of the greater purpose? This Philippians Bible study is for anyone whose peace is too dependent on things going a certain way — and who needs to hear that a life rooted in Christ can hold steady through any outcome. In this episode: Why Paul is genuinely at peace with both living and dyingThe "worst prisoner ever" — why there's nothing to leverage on PaulWhat it looks like when purpose transcends every possible outcomeThe Westminster Catechism's first question — and what it has to do with contentmentA personal reflection on not wrapping identity in a job, role, or seasonA closing prayer for purpose that runs deeper than the outcomes we chase📖 Passage: Philippians 1:20–26 (New Living Translation) 🔍 Keywords: Philippians Bible study, Bible study podcast, SOAP method Bible study, Christian Bible study, Scripture-first Bible study, Set Free Stay Free, Matt Dawson, walking through the Bible, Christian discipleship podcast

  5. Sep 9

    What Is God Doing in This? — Philippians 1:12–19 | Season 3, Episode 2

    What do you do when life gets interrupted? When your plans are good, your motives are right, and everything still goes sideways? Most of us complain. We pray with an edge. We ask God if he's paying attention. Paul had a different instinct — and it's one of the most disarming things about this letter. In this episode of the Set Free Stay Free Bible study podcast, host Matt Dawson continues the Season 3 Philippians Bible study with chapter 1, verses 12–19. Paul is in prison in Rome. His plans to preach the gospel have been derailed — or so it seems. But Paul reframes everything with one simple shift: instead of asking why is this happening, he asks what is God doing in this? The answer turns out to be remarkable. The entire palace guard knows about Jesus. Believers across the city have been emboldened to share their faith without fear. And even the people preaching the gospel with questionable motives — the jealous ones, the rivalrous ones, the selfish-ambition crowd — are still spreading the message of Christ. And Paul rejoices in that too. Using the SOAP method (Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer), Matt unpacks why Paul refuses to cancel imperfect messengers, what it looks like to trust the Holy Spirit with secondary disagreements, and how the question what is God doing right now where I am applies to every season of the journey — mountaintop, climb, slide, or valley. This Philippians Bible study is for anyone whose plans have been interrupted and who needs help seeing what God might be doing in the middle of it. In this episode: Why Paul reframes his imprisonment as an opportunity rather than an obstacleHow Paul's chains emboldened other believers to speak more freelyWhat Paul says about preachers with impure motives — and why he still rejoicesWhy we're too quick to cancel imperfect messengers over secondary thingsThe mountaintop, climb, slide, and valley framework for where you are right nowA closing prayer for eyes to see what God is doing in this season📖 Passage: Philippians 1:12–19 (New Living Translation) 🔍 Keywords: Philippians Bible study, Bible study podcast, SOAP method Bible study, Christian Bible study, Scripture-first Bible study, Set Free Stay Free, Matt Dawson, walking through the Bible, Christian discipleship podcast

  6. Sep 1

    What Really Matters — Philippians 1:1–11 | Season 3, Episode 1

    What if chasing happiness is the wrong goal altogether? Welcome to Season 3 of the Set Free Stay Free Bible study podcast. Host Matt Dawson opens the Philippians Bible study with one of the most joy-saturated letters in all of Paul's writing — and one of the most surprising. Paul is in prison. His circumstances are about as far from ideal as they can get. And yet the word that defines this entire letter, from the very first verses, is joy. Not happiness. Not comfort. Not freedom from struggle. Joy. In this first episode, Matt walks through Philippians 1:1–11 and draws out the foundation Paul lays before anything else: his identity as a bondservant of Christ, his deep love for the people of Philippi — the first Jesus community Paul planted in Eastern Europe — and his prayer that their love would overflow more and more until they truly understand what really matters. Using the SOAP method (Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer), Matt unpacks what it means to identify yourself as a doulos — a bondservant of Christ — and why that identity, more than any circumstance, is what makes joy possible. He draws on his own 20 years of pastoral ministry in Huntersville to reflect on what it means to think about a community of faith with genuine joy, even when the circumstances haven't always been easy. This Philippians Bible study is for anyone who has been chasing happiness and keeps coming up short — and needs to hear that joy is found somewhere different altogether. In this episode: A brief introduction to the church in Philippi and Acts 16Why Paul opens with gratitude and joy — even from a prison cellWhat the Greek word doulos means and why Paul uses it to describe himselfThe difference between happiness and joy — and where Paul says joy actually livesWhy community is central to the life of faith Paul describesA closing prayer for growing in knowledge, love, and understanding of what really matters📖 Passage: Philippians 1:1–11 (New Living Translation) 🔍 Keywords: Philippians Bible study, Bible study podcast, SOAP method Bible study, Christian Bible study, Scripture-first Bible study, Set Free Stay Free, Matt Dawson, walking through the Bible, Christian discipleship podcast

  7. Jul 28

    Stand Firm — Ephesians 6:10–24 | Season 2, Episode 15

    Have you ever considered that the reason you're exhausted — emotionally, physically, spiritually — might not be because you're failing? It might just be because you're fighting. In this final episode of Season 2, host Matt Dawson brings the Set Free Stay Free Bible study podcast's walk through Ephesians to a close with one of the most well-known passages in all of Paul's writing: the armor of God. But this isn't just a children's Sunday school lesson with felt boards. It's Paul's capstone to everything he's written across six chapters — and every piece of the armor points back to something he's already said. The belt of truth. The breastplate of righteousness. The shoes of peace. The shield of faith. The helmet of salvation. The sword of the Spirit. Paul didn't invent these out of thin air. He drew them from the full counsel of what he'd already written to the Ephesians — and now he's telling them to put it all on, stand firm, and remember who they're actually fighting. Using the SOAP method (Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer), Matt unpacks why the real enemy is never flesh and blood, what it means to pray in the Spirit with persistence, and why Paul — still in chains — asks the church to pray for his boldness rather than his release. He closes with a deeply personal story from his mom about why corporate worship is the one place every part of you is fully engaged — and why that's also why it leaves you spent. This Ephesians Bible study is for anyone who is tired of fighting and needs to be reminded they're not fighting alone — and they're not fighting in their own strength. In this episode: Why Paul ends with armor — and how it connects to everything in the letterThe difference between offensive and defensive pieces of the armor of GodWhat it means to pray in the Spirit with persistence — and why it mattersWhy Paul asks for boldness, not rescue, while writing from prisonThe story about corporate worship and why it fully engages every part of youA closing prayer of gratitude for two seasons of walking through God's Word together📖 Passage: Ephesians 6:10–24 (New Living Translation) 🔍 Keywords: Ephesians Bible study, Bible study podcast, SOAP method Bible study, Christian Bible study, Scripture-first Bible study, Set Free Stay Free, Matt Dawson, walking through the Bible, Christian discipleship podcast

  8. Jul 21

    Who Are You When No One's Looking? — Ephesians 6:1–9 | Season 2, Episode 14

    Who are you when no one's watching? How do you treat people when there's no audience, no accountability, no one keeping score? That's the question Paul brings the gospel home to in this episode of the Set Free Stay Free Bible study podcast. Host Matt Dawson works through Ephesians 6:1–9, where Paul takes the thread he started in chapter 5 — submit to one another out of reverence for Christ — and pulls it through every relationship structure in daily life. Children and parents. Servants and masters. Employees and employers. In every one of these relationships, Paul's answer is the same: the way you respond isn't ultimately about the person across from you. It's about Christ. You belong to him. You serve him. And he sees everything, whether anyone else does or not. Using the SOAP method (Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer), Matt unpacks what it really means to honor your father and mother — especially when the relationship is painful or broken, why obedience in the workplace isn't weakness but service to Christ, and why those in positions of power are held to the same standard as everyone else. There are no favorites with God. This Ephesians Bible study is for anyone who wants to close the gap between who they are in public and who they are when it's just them and one other person. In this episode: What honoring your parents actually means — and what it doesn'tWhy the promise attached to this commandment still applies todayHow Paul's instructions to servants and masters apply to modern work cultureWhy Gen Z's ideas about workplace agency and this passage are worth wrestling withThe one thread running through chapters 5 and 6 — it's always about ChristA closing prayer for every relationship to be rooted in belonging to God📖 Passage: Ephesians 6:1–9 (New Living Translation) 🔍 Keywords: Ephesians Bible study, Bible study podcast, SOAP method Bible study, Christian Bible study, Scripture-first Bible study, Set Free Stay Free, Matt Dawson, walking through the Bible, Christian discipleship podcast

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Set Free Stay Free is a Scripture-first Bible study podcast that walks through books of the Bible using the SOAP method—Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer—helping believers not only be set free in Christ, but learn how to stay free.

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