Do I really have to go to church? Plenty of people say you can worship God anywhere, and you can. But something is setting the pace of your life whether you've noticed it or not, and that pace shapes the kind of person you become.
In this episode, Pastor Chris starts with John Clem, a 12-year-old drummer boy in the Union Army during the Civil War. Drummer boys set the pace for the whole army. If the soldiers couldn't hear the drum, they couldn't move as one. From there, the sermon argues that community worship sets our pace. It costs us something: we have to show up, give up some control, and learn to put other people first. It tells the story of Jesus year after year, the same story that set two disciples' hearts burning on the road to Emmaus. And the order of a worship service gives us a different drumbeat to live by all week: gathering into God's presence, hearing the word, responding to it, and being sent into the world.
If you've drifted away from church, or wondered whether gathering with other believers really matters, this episode is for you.
13 Sept 2026
A Life of Worship - Audio
What if the thing you're most devoted to, without ever calling it worship, actually is? This episode asks a harder question: when does ordinary devotion cross the line into something the Bible would actually call worship?
From there the message traces worship back to its roots in Genesis, where God creates humanity for relationship and keeps pursuing people, Adam and Eve, Abraham, Moses, long before any of them are looking for him. It moves through Deuteronomy's command to love God with your whole heart, soul, and strength, not just for an hour on Sunday but in the ordinary rhythm of every day, and closes with Isaiah and Paul's warning that worship which doesn't actually change you isn't worship at all, it's performance.
If you've ever wondered whether you might be pouring your devotion into something other than God without realizing it, or whether worship is bigger than what happens on Sunday morning, this episode works through it from Scripture.
A Life of Worship
Salem Magley Church, Decatur, Indiana
6 Sept 2026
Jesus Juice - Audio
What actually gave him the power to heal, forgive, and cast out demons? Was there some kind of Jesus Juice? In this podcast, Pastor Chris Hirschy walks through the Gospels to find the answer, tracing the Holy Spirit's presence from before Jesus was even born, through his baptism, into the wilderness, and through every miracle credited to something more than willpower. Mary and Joseph learn Mary's pregnancy came from the Spirit. John the Baptist promises the one coming after him will baptize with the Spirit. Jesus stands up in his hometown synagogue and claims that same anointing for himself.
Then the episode gets to the part most people don't expect: Jesus never planned to keep that power to himself. He promises it to Nicodemus, then to his own disciples, before he ever leaves them. Unlike Michael Jordan, who couldn't actually hand off his talent, Jesus can, and does.
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