Podcast
Engage and Equip
Hosted by High Point Church · EN
High Point Church | Madison, WI Podcasts
21episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
#449 The Lie That It's Inevitable // AMA with Pastor Nic
1w ago01:07:01Tap to summarizeNic Gibson and Jill Reasa discuss some of the toughest questions to come out of their Romans series—the kind people usually only ask in private. Along the way, Nic gets unusually personal about addiction, temptation, and the moment he realized a besetting sin's power over him was mostly an illusion. It's a wide-ranging, occasionally uncomfortable conversation that treats hard questions like they deserve real answers. Engage & Equip is a resource designed to help form substantive disciples for the local church.Find more episodes at highpointchurch.org/podcastMusic: HOME—We're Finally Landing, Nosebleed, If I'm Wrong (https://midwestcollective.bandcamp.com/album/before-the-night)
Transcribe →#448 Am I Essential to this Church? // AMA with Pastor Adam
2w ago01:08:13Tap to summarizePastor Paxton and Pastor Adam sit down for a rapid-fire AMA built entirely from congregation questions after Adam's sermon on Romans 12—and the questions get personal fast. What do you do when you don't feel essential to the church? What if you're too depleted to give anything? What if you're genuinely bad with kids? Paxton and Adam don't dodge any of it, working through membership, burnout, jealousy over other people's gifts, and the ever-present tension between Martha's busyness and Mary's stillness — all while trying (and failing) to keep it under 50 minutes. Here's the list of questions that Paxton and Adam discuss in this episode: Are our gifts only useful within the church? Does that mean gifts used out in the world are less valuable to God? Isn't unity in Christ our greatest strength rather than diversity? (How can we be unified and still be diverse?) What is the difference between celebrating diversity in the church versus the way diversity is celebrated in the culture around us? Why does High Point require so much for membership when other churches require so little? Are we asking too much of our members? If someone says they're a Christian but doesn't attend a local church, are they not saved? Should Christians resist the rugged individualism in American cultural heritage? We're often told to serve using our gifts, but not how — how should we help people identify and confirm their gifts? What are the greatest areas of unmet need in the church? What if I don't feel connected to the body, or I just feel lonely? What should I do? Why does it feel like I'm not actually essential in this body? What if I am genuinely not good with kids — shouldn't that slot go to someone gifted for it? I have a criminal record but want to serve in kids ministry — how can I do that without being defined or judged for it? What if I show up too physically or spiritually depleted to offer anything? Is that wrong — and is that why I sense people looking down on me for not pulling my weight? How do I know if I'm becoming like Martha — focused on serving instead of on Jesus? Paul says to run the race to win, but we're told not to compete with other members of the body — how do we run to win without competing? And how do I keep jealousy of others' gifts under control? Engage & Equip is a resource designed to help form substantive disciples for the local church.Find more episodes at highpointchurch.org/podcastMusic: HOME—We're Finally Landing, Nosebleed, If I'm Wrong (https://midwestcollective.bandcamp.com/album/before-the-night)
Transcribe →#447 The Price of Everything // Ask Me Anything
3w ago01:09:50Tap to summarizeWhat does it actually mean to show up to church? Pastor Paxton sits down for a wide-ranging AMA following his sermon from Romans 12, and the conversation gets uncomfortable fast—probing the gap between what we say we want from church and what God actually asks of us. From the cynic who knows the price of everything to the sentimentalist who values all the wrong things, Paxton draws on Oscar Wilde to diagnose something most churchgoers would rather not admit about themselves. Plus: when is it actually okay to leave a church, how do you give generously to people who treat you as disposable, and where have all the good men (and women) gone? Engage & Equip is a resource designed to help form substantive disciples for the local church. Find more episodes at highpointchurch.org/podcast Engage & Equip is a resource designed to help form substantive disciples for the local church.Find more episodes at highpointchurch.org/podcastMusic: HOME—We're Finally Landing, Nosebleed, If I'm Wrong (https://midwestcollective.bandcamp.com/album/before-the-night)
Transcribe →#446 A Home for the Fire // With Pastor Sam Twum
Jun 2501:39:15Tap to summarizeWhat does it look like when God builds a church from almost nothing — no building, no budget, no guarantee it would work? Pastor Sam Twum has lived that story in real time, and the way it's unfolded over the last decade in Madison, Wisconsin is hard to explain without just calling it what it is. From a handful of people in a community center to a congregation representing 17 nations, this is a conversation about faith, risk, and what it actually means to build something that lasts. Engage & Equip is a resource designed to help form substantive disciples for the local church. Find more episodes at highpointchurch.org/podcast Engage & Equip is a resource designed to help form substantive disciples for the local church.Find more episodes at highpointchurch.org/podcastMusic: HOME—We're Finally Landing, Nosebleed, If I'm Wrong (https://midwestcollective.bandcamp.com/album/before-the-night)
Transcribe →#445 Tomorrow's Church // Summer Serve Part III
Jun 1800:47:59Tap to summarizeYou might think kids ministry is just babysitting with a Bible story—but there's a lot more happening in that gym on Sunday mornings than you realize. Whether you've been dropping your child off for years without a second thought or you've been quietly wondering if volunteering is something you could actually do, this conversation will change how you see children's ministry—and maybe even how you see your own role in it. Engage & Equip is a resource designed to help form substantive disciples for the local church. Find more episodes at highpointchurch.org/podcast Engage & Equip is a resource designed to help form substantive disciples for the local church.Find more episodes at highpointchurch.org/podcastMusic: HOME—We're Finally Landing, Nosebleed, If I'm Wrong (https://midwestcollective.bandcamp.com/album/before-the-night)
Transcribe →#444 A Practical Guide to Home Discipleship // Summer Serve Part II
Jun 1100:46:27Tap to summarizeDiscipling your kids at home can feel like one more thing you're not doing well enough—but what if the bar is lower, and the support is closer, than you think? Bethany sits down with her longtime friend Lauren, a homeschooling mom of four, to talk honestly about what spiritual discipleship actually looks like in a full, messy, real household. From songs at bedtime to five-minute morning routines to the moment a scripture your kid learned at church shows up exactly when you needed it—this conversation will leave you less overwhelmed and more equipped than when you started. Engage & Equip is a resource designed to help form substantive disciples for the local church. Find more episodes at highpointchurch.org/podcast Engage & Equip is a resource designed to help form substantive disciples for the local church.Find more episodes at highpointchurch.org/podcastMusic: HOME—We're Finally Landing, Nosebleed, If I'm Wrong (https://midwestcollective.bandcamp.com/album/before-the-night)
Transcribe →#443 Come serve in KidsMin! // Summer Serve Part I
Jun 400:44:10Tap to summarizeKids ministry might be the most underestimated place in the church to serve—and this episode makes the case for why. Our Early Childhood Coordinator and a pastor/parent of High Point pull back the curtain on what actually happens in our Kids Ministry on a Sunday morning: the process, the people, the purpose behind it all. What emerges is a picture of a ministry that's a lot more intentional, a lot more fun, and a lot more significant than most people realize. Whether you've been on the fence about serving or you're a parent who's never thought twice about where your kid goes on Sunday, this one might change how you see the whole thing. Engage & Equip is a resource designed to help form substantive disciples for the local church. Find more episodes at highpointchurch.org/podcast Engage & Equip is a resource designed to help form substantive disciples for the local church.Find more episodes at highpointchurch.org/podcastMusic: HOME—We're Finally Landing, Nosebleed, If I'm Wrong (https://midwestcollective.bandcamp.com/album/before-the-night)
Transcribe →#442 The Controversy of Zion // With guest Joel Richardson
May 2801:46:20Tap to summarizeThis episode features a conversation with Joel Richardson—New York Times bestselling author, itinerant speaker, and longtime missions worker in the Muslim world—covering biblical prophecy, Israel's place in salvation history, and what Christians should make of the current moment in the Middle East. Joel brings decades of frontline experience, hard-won pastoral honesty, and a willingness to say what many won't. If you've felt the ground shifting under the church's relationship with Israel, eschatology, and cultural engagement, this conversation is worth your full attention. Engage & Equip is a resource designed to help form substantive disciples for the local church. Find more episodes at highpointchurch.org/podcast Engage & Equip is a resource designed to help form substantive disciples for the local church.Find more episodes at highpointchurch.org/podcastMusic: HOME—We're Finally Landing, Nosebleed, If I'm Wrong (https://midwestcollective.bandcamp.com/album/before-the-night)
Transcribe →#441 Restorative Prayer: Hearing from God // Part II
May 2100:54:33Tap to summarizeDoes God actually speak to us — and if so, how? In this follow-up conversation on restorative prayer, Pastor Nic and Christina Sekutowski take on one of the questions that quietly unravels a lot of people's faith: why God so often feels absent, even when we're actively seeking him. Pastor Nic draws from High Point's Advent series on the elusiveness of God to reframe the whole question — arguing that God's hiddenness isn't a flaw in the system, it's a feature designed to draw us deeper. The conversation untangles the confusion between dramatic charismatic experiences and the quieter but equally real ways the Holy Spirit works through illumination, conviction, and insight — the very things that happen in a restorative prayer session. If you've ever walked away from a time of prayer wondering whether anything actually happened, or whether you're just talking to yourself, this episode offers a theologically grounded and surprisingly freeing answer. Engage & Equip is a resource designed to help form substantive disciples for the local church. Find more episodes at highpointchurch.org/podcast Engage & Equip is a resource designed to help form substantive disciples for the local church.Find more episodes at highpointchurch.org/podcastMusic: HOME—We're Finally Landing, Nosebleed, If I'm Wrong (https://midwestcollective.bandcamp.com/album/before-the-night)
Transcribe →#440 Restorative Prayer: What It Is and Why It Works // Part I
May 1401:37:02Tap to summarizeWhat actually happens in a restorative prayer session — and should you be skeptical of it? In this episode, Pastor Nic sits down with Christina Sekutowski, High Point's point person for restorative prayer, to pull back the curtain on one of the lesser-known but most impactful parts of the church's healing ministry. They tackle the real concerns head-on: Is this just charismatic excess? Can revisiting painful memories do more harm than good? Where does psychology end and the Holy Spirit begin? What emerges is a frank, theologically grounded conversation about why emotional healing isn't a detour from discipleship — it's essential to it. From the neuroscience of memory to the biblical case for renunciation prayer, this episode makes the case that the heart God wants to fill has to be opened first, and that restorative prayer is one of the most intentional tools the church has for doing exactly that. Engage & Equip is a resource designed to help form substantive disciples for the local church. Find more episodes at highpointchurch.org/podcast Engage & Equip is a resource designed to help form substantive disciples for the local church.Find more episodes at highpointchurch.org/podcastMusic: HOME—We're Finally Landing, Nosebleed, If I'm Wrong (https://midwestcollective.bandcamp.com/album/before-the-night)
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