Pastor, speaker, and author of the book we gave our congregation on Christmas Eve, What's a Christian, Anyway?, Glenn Packiam, speaks.

This episode of Pastor’s Cut features a conversation with Jonathan Hicks about his sermon on the invitation to “come and see,” highlighting how encountering Jesus naturally leads people to invite others through ordinary relationships like family and friends. The discussion explores fears around evangelism, emphasizing that the focus is on extending gracious invitations rather than controlling outcomes, and that hearing “no” is a normal, survivable part of faith-sharing. The episode concludes with stories from the church community illustrating how God works through weakness, hospitality, and repeated invitations to bring transformation over time.

This sermon reflects on how the Christian faith becomes credible when the gospel is visibly lived out by real people, emphasizing Jesus’ repeated invitation to “come and see” as a call to experience Him personally rather than just intellectually. Through the story of Jesus calling Philip and Nathanael, the message shows how encountering Jesus transforms skepticism into belief and naturally leads people to invite others. The sermon concludes by encouraging believers to draw closer to Jesus themselves and to practice inviting others to experience the difference He makes in their lives.

The episode explores our new sermon series on invitation, centered on Jesus’ call to the fishermen in Matthew 4. Pastor Petey reflects on what it means for both longtime believers and newcomers to continually lay down sources of identity and security to follow Jesus. The episode also includes church updates and a personal story showing how surrendering a good thing opened space for deeper faith and service.

Pastor Petey preaches that invitations open us to new possibilities, and Jesus’ core invitation "Come, follow me" is an invitation to apprentice under Him by being with Him, becoming like Him, and doing what He does. Following Jesus means leaving behind familiar sources of comfort, identity, and control, not because they are bad, but because Jesus offers a life that is bigger in purpose and better in foundation than anything we cling to. When we receive this invitation ourselves, we are then called to extend it to others, trusting God to bring healing, hope, and transformation through a life shaped by his love.

Donation Drive & Mission Spotlight information: qr.link/TeJW4I

This episode reflects on a sermon from Luke 2 that emphasizes the ordinariness of the shepherds and how God transforms ordinary people by sending them on mission. It highlights the shepherds’ two responses to Jesus’ birth: encountering Christ personally and then simply sharing what they experienced, without needing all the answers. The conversation encourages listeners to pursue deeper awareness of God’s presence and to speak honestly and relationally about how God is at work in their own lives.

The sermon explores how God works through ordinary people by highlighting the shepherds in Luke 2 and showing that their low status did not disqualify them from participating in God’s saving work. It emphasizes two invitations from the passage: to personally encounter Jesus and to simply share what that encounter reveals, without needing all the answers. The message challenges listeners to overcome fear of insignificance and trust that God can use their everyday faithfulness to do something meaningful and even “unheard of.”