McGregor Podcast

How much of what God is doing in your church family do you actually catch on a given Sunday?
On this week's Around McGregor, hosts Pastor Mark Bricker, Tamar, and Christian Miller walk through a full week at the church: baptisms in all three services, parent-child dedication, the newcomer coffee out on Main Street, and the next member meeting after the last service. They also look ahead to the prayer and praise night on September 30, the student ministry Elevate weekend for grades 6 through 12, the Ministry Fair and Change the World collection on October 4, and three mission teams heading to Hungary, South Asia, and Zambia next month. Have a question or comment for Mark and Tamar? Text the show at (239) 232-3750.
You walk away knowing exactly where to show up, how to get involved, and what to be praying for as a church family. If you want one simple way to stay connected to the life of this body of Christ, start here.
Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026Visit Our Website at McGregorPodcast.comThere's a place for you here. Plan your first Sunday at mcgregor.net/plan-a-visit

I AM Seven Signs of the Savior
"I Am the Resurrection and the Life"(John 11:1-44)
In the last of the seven signs John records before the cross, Jesus arrives four days too late. Lazarus is dead, his sisters are grieving, and everyone is certain the window for help has closed. Standing at the grave, Jesus makes a claim that reaches far past this one funeral: "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live." This study walks through John 11 and the honest questions Mary and Martha bring to Jesus, the God who is sovereign even over what we do not understand, and the promise that for everyone who trusts Christ, death is not the end but the doorway.
September 9, 2026Russell Howard • Lead Pastor
Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026Visit Our Website at McGregorPodcast.comNew to McGregor? Plan a visit at mcgregor.net/plan-a-visit

How can we be content when we feel like we do not have what we need?
In this Beyond the Notes teaching, Pastor Peter Finch picks up where Sunday's study of Psalm 23 left off and turns to Paul's words in Philippians 4. He walks through three things contentment actually is: something we learn rather than achieve, something that does not erase the pain of hard seasons, and something that grows from the heart by the work of Christ's Spirit rather than from a change in circumstances.
The takeaway is quietly freeing. Your contentment does not rest on what you have, but on who you have. If you have felt the pull of wanting more, or wondered whether Jesus is really enough in a lean season, Finch offers a biblical, unhurried way to rest in the Good Shepherd.
Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026Visit Our Website at McGregorPodcast.comThere's a place for you here. Plan your first Sunday at mcgregor.net/plan-a-visit

Psalms - Songs of the King
"The God Who Shepherds"(Psalm 23)
Almost everyone knows Psalm 23, but knowing the words is not the same as knowing what they mean. In this interlude in the Psalms, Pastor Peter Finch walks through the God who shepherds His people in three ways: as our Pastor who leads and feeds us, as our Protector who walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death, and as our Provider who prepares a table, anoints our head, and fills our cup to overflowing. The promise "I shall not want" does not depend on our circumstances changing. It rests on the Shepherd who is with us, whose goodness and mercy follow us all the days of our life, and who welcomes His sheep into the house of the Lord forever.
Sermon NotesSeptember 6, 2026Peter Finch • Administrative Pastor
Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026Visit Our Website at McGregorPodcast.comThere's a place for you here. Plan your first Sunday at mcgregor.net/plan-a-visit

A full church calendar can look like a list of events, or it can look like a set of open doors.
Pastor Mark Bricker and Christian Miller walk through the member meeting and Newcomers Coffee on Sunday, September 13, the middle school snowball fight on September 16, a Prayer and Praise Night on Wednesday, September 30 where the worship team introduces three songs they wrote themselves, and an October 4 Sunday that stacks the second annual Ministry Fair, the Change the World offering, and candy collection for the Fall Festival.
Underneath the dates sits one hope, that every member finds a place to serve. Bricker also points to Elevate Weekend for grades six through twelve and three October mission trips, to Hungary, Southeast Asia, and Zambia. If you are new, or you have been here a while and still have not found your place, this one hands you a map.
Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026Visit Our Website at McGregorPodcast.comInterested in visiting? Learn what to expect at mcgregor.net/plan-a-visit

What do you do with a question you are afraid to ask in front of other people?
At every Hot Topic night, McGregor invites anonymous questions written just for this podcast. In this Q&A closing the series on the hard sayings of Jesus, Pastor Mark Bricker brings them to Pastor Russell Howard one at a time. Pearls before pigs in Matthew 7. Jesus in Gethsemane asking for the cup to pass. What it means to pray in Jesus' name. Predestination in Romans 8. Why Baptists ask believers to be baptized before taking the Lord's Supper. How the Holy Spirit can be a person and still dwell with your spirit. And a listener's own account of divorce and remarriage, answered directly and pastorally.
Some of these questions have a clean answer. Some end in repentance and a fresh start. All of them are handled from Scripture.
Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026Visit Our Website at McGregorPodcast.comNew to McGregor? Plan a visit at mcgregor.net/plan-a-visit

I AM Seven Signs of the Savior
"I Am the Good Shepherd"(John 10:11-30)
Jesus makes his boldest claim yet: "I am the good Shepherd." In the fourth of the seven I AM sayings in John's Gospel, He steps into a role God had claimed for Himself centuries earlier. Ron Cook opens in John 10 and traces the promise back to Ezekiel 34, where God, fed up with leaders who fed themselves while the flock scattered, vowed to come and shepherd the sheep Himself. That is the backdrop for Jesus standing among the people and saying the good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. This study walks through who the shepherd is, why He is good even when that good comes through hard circumstances, how His sheep come to know His voice, and the security of belonging to Him: no one can snatch them out of His hand. You walk away seeing that eternal life is not only a future home but knowing the One who came looking for you and refuses to lose even one.
September 2, 2026Ron Cook
Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026Visit Our Website at McGregorPodcast.comNew to McGregor? Plan a visit at mcgregor.net/plan-a-visit

What do you hold onto when the night is long and your mind will not quiet down?
In this Beyond the Notes, Pastor Russell Howard returns to Psalm 121, the psalm he preached as "The God of the Sleepless Night," to sit with one word the pilgrims could not stop repeating: keep. Six times the psalm says the Lord guards, preserves, and watches over His people. Russell traces six takeaways from that promise, from the truth that God's keeping does not depend on our own vigilance, to the reminder that our security rests on His grip on us rather than our grip on Him.
This is for anyone walking an unfamiliar road and wondering who is watching over it. You will not walk away knowing what tomorrow holds, but you will walk away knowing the One who does.
Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026Visit Our Website at McGregorPodcast.comThere's a place for you here. Plan your first Sunday at mcgregor.net/plan-a-visit

Psalms - Songs of the King
"The God Of The Sleepless Night"(Psalm 121)
Some nights the thing you cannot fix only grows louder in the dark. Psalm 121 speaks straight into that hour. Pastor Russell Howard walks through this ancient psalm of ascent and the God it points to: a God who saves, who is strong enough to hold whatever you are carrying, who secures His people so they will not finally fall, and who never slumbers or sleeps. Drawing a striking contrast between a sleepless King Darius and a resting Daniel in the lion's den, this message is honest that following Jesus does not exempt us from hard seasons. It promises something better, a Keeper who guards our going out and our coming in, from this time forth and forevermore. You walk away able to hand the problem to the One who is awake anyway, and rest.
Sermon NotesAugust 30, 2026Russell Howard • Lead Pastor
Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026Visit Our Website at McGregorPodcast.comInterested in visiting? Learn what to expect at mcgregor.net/plan-a-visit

What changes when you read Paul's letters in the city he wrote them to?
Mark, Tamar, and Christian open the last Sunday of August with the Journeys of Paul trip to Greece and Turkey, running May 17 through 29, 2027 with Pastors Russell Howard and Cary Robinson. Around 25 have committed and there is still room. The 55 Plus office has brochures.
From there they move through the fall. Parent and Child Dedication is Friday, September 11. Prayer and Praise night is Wednesday, September 30 at 6:30 PM, and many of the songs that night were written by McGregor members. Candy collection for the October 31 Fall Festival opens that night. Elevate Weekend for grades six through twelve is October 2 through 4.
If you are trying to get the fall on your calendar, start here.
Presented by McGregor Podcast 2026Visit Our Website at McGregorPodcast.comInterested in visiting? Learn what to expect at mcgregor.net/plan-a-visit