Dayspring Fellowship Podcasts

Unexpected Christmas | Part 2 | An Unlikely Candidate | Jon Sprouse

An Unlikely CandidateAn Unexpected ChristmasDecember 5, 2021
He's making a list, checking it twice; gonna find out who's naughty or nice,Santa Claus is coming to town.He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake,He knows if you've been bad or good. so be good for goodness sake!The earliest known recording of Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town was made in 1934. It was an immediate hit. Throughout the years it’s been recorded by more than 200 different artists spanning a wide variety of genres. From Bing Crosby, Neil Diamond and Bruce Springsteen to Mariah Carey, The Jackson 5 and Michael Bublé…the message has been repeated: He’s gonna find out who’s naughty or nice…so be good, for goodness sake!In case you’re worried about whether or not you are on Santa’s ‘nice’ list, you can check online. We looked up the names of every Dayspring staff member and I’m happy to report that we have no one on the ‘naughty’ list this year! I’m not quite sure how Joaquin made it, but we double-checked and he’s definitely on the nice list.We'd like to invite you to join us this Christmas season as we take a look at some of the unexpected names included in the genealogy of Jesus. I mean, some of these people would definitely be on Santa’s naughty list, so why does the gospel writer, Matthew, include them in his list of Jesus’ ancestors? That’s what we’ll discover this Sunday as we take a look at the stories of Judah and Tamar.Naughty or nice may matter to Santa, but all are invited to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Bring your brokenness, your disappointment, your weariness, failure or fear. Come as you are. We look forward to welcoming you.

Unexpected Christmas | Part 1 | Guest List | Michelle Snook

Guest ListAn Unexpected ChristmasNovember 28, 2021
Thanksgiving 2021 has come and is almost gone. Now it’s deck the halls and fa-la-la-la-la…’tis the season, friends! I hope you enjoyed a great day of celebration with people you love this week.The Christmas season is filled with traditions and expectations. Do you do an advent calendar or Elf on the Shelf? A real Christmas tree or a pre-lit boxed one? Gifts on Christmas Eve or on Christmas Day? Many of our holiday traditions are linked to our childhood experiences, our families and our history. They give us a sense of comfort, familiarity, and identity. But as families grow and change, our traditions and expectations sometimes change. This Sunday, we’re beginning a new sermon series called An Unexpected Christmas. Most of you know the Christmas story. Many of you have heard it from the time you were a child. But even as well as you think you know it, there are some surprising unexpected details in the story of our Savior. Some of them may just challenge your perspective or change your expectations!There are so many things to look forward to this holiday season. Unwrapping the unexpected gifts in this series is the one thing I’m looking forward to most. I hope you are as well.

If Money Talked | Part 3 | Keep Track | Chris Voigt

Keep TrackIf Money TalkedNovember 21, 2021
Have you ever lost your keys?Imagine the morning rush…you’re racing to get out the door on time. You’ve got a bagel in your mouth, your coat’s half on, you’ve snagged your backpack with one hand, while you try to get your other arm into your coat so you can grab your coffee and herd the kids out to the car. And then, you reach for your keys… only to come up empty. But they’re always right there! In that spot. That’s where you put them every night! Well, apparently not last night. And then the rush kicks into overdrive as you search frantically for the missing keys.Keeping track of all the things can be a lot of work! There is just so much! There are the basics like time…wait, what time is it? How did it get to be so late? I still have so much to do! And then there’s the refrigerator. What do you mean we’re out of milk again? Why didn’t anyone write it on the grocery list? And there’s the kids, the school and sports schedules, the laundry, dentist appointments, and oops, the car needed an oil change over a month ago. So many things!Well, thankfully, technology has made it so that some things are easier to keep track of. My keys have this fancy little do-dad that allows me to locate them whenever they aren’t where I expect them to be. I can just find them with my phone! Of course, that’s assuming I know where my phone is! But if I’ve misplaced my phone, I can always track it down with my Apple watch. Ahhh…technology!There are also apps for keeping track of just about anything…your appointments, your workouts, your diet, your grocery list, the books you’ve read; if you want to track it, there’s probably an app for it! There are even apps to help you keep track of your money!
In our sermon series the last couple of weeks, we’ve been taking a look at what your money might say…if your money could talk. Interestingly, we’ve discovered that if money could talk, it would probably say the same things that Jesus DID say about money.

If Money Talked | Part 2 | Send Me Away | Chris Voigt

Send Me AwayIf Money TalkedNovember 14, 2021
According to the people who are experts about such things, (hey, Google, thanks for the intel) there are certain topics that people just do not want to talk about. I mean, maybe with your spouse or closest friends, but in ‘polite’ conversation there are some things that are better left off the table. Apparently, people don’t really want to chat about things like politics, sin, sex, their faults, or their most recent colonoscopy. And you can add money to that list. Nobody wants anybody else messing around in their personal finances.Interestingly, Jesus didn’t shy away from those taboo topics. Well, I guess there isn’t any record of Him talking about colonoscopies, but for everything else He jumped right in…challenging the perspectives, assumptions, and choices that people made in just about every area of life. And if He did it (with compassion and kindness, of course), so should we. Which leads us to our current sermon series.We are in the middle of a three-week series called If Money Talked. It’s an interesting thought…if your money could talk, what would it say to you and what might it reveal about you? The way we use our money says a lot about what we believe, what we value, what or who we trust.As followers of Jesus, we are learning to more closely align the things we say we believe with the way we really live, every day. Together, we are figuring out what it looks like for our faith to be more than stuff we know, but to impact how we live, to transform who we are, to make us more like Jesus.

If Money Talked | Part 1 | I Mean Well | Chris Voigt

I Mean WellIf Money TalkedNovember 7, 2021
The story begins with a young boy whose name we’re never told. He’s one face in a huge crowd of people who follow Jesus everywhere. On this particular occasion, the crowd has pursued Jesus out into the countryside and up into the hills above the Sea of Galilee. And Jesus…Son of God that He is…knows the people are hungry. He asks His disciples to figure out a dinner plan. But there’s no McDonald’s or Safeway in sight…just a boy, with five barley loaves and two fish. That’s not a lot to work with! We don’t know if he was reluctant or fearful. But whether he felt like it or not, the boy gives it all…every last bit of his lunch, into the hands of Jesus. And incredibly…miraculously…it is enough. Actually, it’s more than enough. Because when everyone - all five thousand people - had eaten until they were full, twelve baskets of leftovers were gathered up.We’re beginning a short 3-week series this Sunday called, If Money Talked. Most people don’t want to talk about money. But Jesus had a lot to say about it. In fact, He talked about it more than He talked about heaven! Being a follower of Jesus isn’t about knowing lots of spiritual stuff. It’s about becoming more like Him. In our daily living we should be growing to be more and more aligned with the way of Jesus, learning to live and love the way He did. Money is part of our lives every day. So, if we are serious about following Jesus, we need to take seriously what He had to say about money. It’s part of being a follower, a disciple.As a community of faith, a family of Christ-followers, we are on a journey, learning what it means to live out our faith in the ordinary, messy, everyday details of life. Learning to trust Him with everything we are and everything we have.What might Jesus do with your five loaves and two fish?

How to Get Through What You’re Going Through | Part 8 | Never Waste Your Pain | Chris Voigt

Never Waste Your PainHow to Get Through What You're Going ThroughOctober 31, 2021
Kintsugi is the centuries-old Japanese art of fixing broken pottery.The Kintsugi technique uses a special lacquer made from tree sap, dusted with powdered gold, silver, or platinum to mend the pieces once broken. Upon completion, beautiful seams of gold glint in the conspicuous cracks of ceramic bowls, cups, plates, or vases, giving a one-of-a-kind appearance to each repaired piece.This unique method celebrates each piece’s particular history by emphasizing its fractures and breaks rather than hiding or disguising them. In fact, Kintsugi often makes the repaired piece even more beautiful than the original, revitalizing it with a new look and giving it a second life. The practice of Kintsugi is connected to a Japanese philosophy which calls for seeing beauty in the flawed or imperfect. It also reflects the Japanese feelings of regret when something is wasted, as well as the acceptance of change.Over the past couple of months, we’ve been talking about how to get through whatever it is that you’re going through. We’ve all experienced loss, pain, and grief. None of us get a pass to a pain-free life. But in our American culture, we tend to hide the broken pieces of our lives, rather than allowing them to be revealed.Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.’" All things…the hard, the broken, the lost, all of it. God wastes nothing when we give Him the pieces.This Sunday, as we wrap up this series, we’ll be talking about what it means to not waste your pain.What could it look like in your life, if you put all of your broken pieces into the hands of our God who wastes absolutely nothing? Let’s find out together.

How to Get Through What You’re Going Through | Part 7 | Service: Finding Treasure in the Darkness | Jon Sprouse

Sanctification II: Finding Treasure in DarknessHow to Get Through What You're Going ThroughOctober 24, 2021
Bonfires, shooting stars, fireflies, the northern lights.. These are just a few of the “treasures” you might discover in a dark place.It’s common for kids to be afraid of the dark. But I’m not sure whether it’s really the darkness they’re afraid of as much as it is what’s hidden within it. Even as adults, we tend not to like what we can’t see.When we find ourselves in dark places in life, it can be tempting to hide under the covers, so to speak; to become frozen by fear of the unknown. But as we’ve already seen…there is treasure to be found in dark places!This is week 7 of our series, How to Get Through What You’re Going Through. We’re taking a look at how to navigate grief and loss in a healthy way. God has promised in His Word, the Bible, that He is with us in the dark places. And not only is He with us, but that there are treasures hidden for us there.Isaiah 50:10 says, “Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on their God.”Even in the darkness, God is with us. Let’s go treasure hunting together.

How to Get Through What You’re Going Through | Part 6 | Sanctification: Transformed by Trouble | Michelle Snook

Sanctification I: Transformed Through TroubleHow to Get Through What You're Going ThroughOctober 17, 2021
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “A diamond is a chunk of coal that did well under pressure.” If you do a little digging, you’ll find the phrase is attributed to Henry Kissinger, who, for you youngsters watching, was a Nixon-era politician. Kissinger should have stuck to discussing politics, rather than science, because while his adage may be motivational, it is factually, untrue. Diamonds do not come from coal! What IS true is that diamonds form underground at high temperatures and under high pressure and consist purely of carbon minerals.We’ve been working through a series called, How To Get Through What You’re Going Through for the last several weeks. After months of global pandemic, political division, racial tension, violence, opposition, frustration and struggle in practically every area of life, we are all looking for help in knowing how to get through the overwhelming losses of the last year and a half.  The good news is, there IS a way through!This week, we’re looking at the 5th stage of ‘getting through’ – sanctification. Now that’s a big, church-y word! But what it comes down to is the truth that God can use the pain, grief, loss, disappointments, the junk of our lives to transform us. Like the carbon minerals that are transformed under high pressure and high heat into beautiful diamonds, God can use the hard things in our lives to transform us.Diamonds may not come from coal. But God does promise to make beauty from the ashes of our lives. Will  you let Him transform yours?

How to Get Through What You’re Going Through | Part 5 | Surrender: The Path to Peace | Chris Voigt

Surrender: The Path to PeaceHow to Get Through What You're Going ThroughOctober 10, 2021
The international sign for surrender is the raising of a white flag. Soldiers have been using white flags to indicate surrender for thousands of years. An ancient Roman historian wrote of white flags being displayed as part of the surrender at the Second Battle of Cremona in 69 AD.  Most historians believe blank banners first caught on because they were easy to recognize in the heat of battle. White cloth was common in the ancient world, so it may have just been a case of soldiers using whatever materials were available. Over the years, the white flag became a well-established symbol in Western warfare.Wikipedia says, “The white flag is a protective sign of truce or ceasefire, and for negotiation. It also symbolizes surrender, since it is often the weaker party which requests the negotiation." Merriam Webster provides multiple definitions for surrender, including: the action of yielding one's person or giving up the possession of something especially into the power of another.We are at the halfway point in our series, How to Get Through What You’re Going Through. We’ve been taking a look at how to navigate grief and loss in a healthy way. Because loss impacts everyone. No one is exempt.This week marks a turning point in our series. We’ve looked at shock, sorrow, and struggle; now we turn our attention to surrender. If surrender means to yield or give up, to acknowledge our weakness or inability…then what is it I’m surrendering? To whom am I yielding? And how can this possibly be a good or healthy thing?The path to peace is one of surrender. Let’s make the journey together.

How to Get Through What You’re Going Through | Part 4 | Struggle: When Life Makes No Sense | Chris Voigt

Struggle: When Life Makes No SenseHow to Get Through What You're Going ThroughOctober 3, 2021
You might say this when you order no pickles on your burger, but it comes with pickles anyway.
Or when you need to meet a work deadline, but you keep getting interrupted.
“The struggle is real!”
When the pillows at your hotel are more like pancakes than pillows.
When it’s “bring your own” TP at the airport bathrooms in Honduras. And you didn’t!
Or when you can’t find a real Diet Coke anywhere outside of the US!
First world problems!
Difficulty is part of the rhythm of life. Everything is broken, and that creates problems.
Today, I tried to order lunch delivered to the office. Placed the order. Paid online. And then, a Door Dash driver calls to tell us the restaurant is slammed. Full dining room, only three staff, and 6 drivers waiting for delivery orders. Our guy has waited 30 minutes already, and can’t wait any longer. “You should probably just cancel the order” he says. One more problem to solve.
In Genesis 3:17, after Adam and Eve has chosen their way, rather than obedience to God’s way, God tells them, “All your life you will struggle…” And they did. And we have. Do. Will. Struggle IS real, for everyone. Some of it we create ourselves. Some is foisted on us by the actions of others. No matter how it happens, or where it comes from, we all face it.
This week, in the 4th episode of our series How to Get Through What You’re Going Through, we’re taking a look at the reality of struggle. Though we all face difficulty, we’re not all in the same boat. What feels like a struggle for me, might not be a struggle for you. But no matter what struggle you are facing, there is a healthy way to navigate through it and get to the other side successfully.
Oh, and our Door Dash dude…he showed up with lunch just as we were hatching a new plan. So, no struggle after all! I’m sure another is just around the corner. But we’ll be ready. Join us this Sunday, and you will be too.