McGregor Podcast

The Pharisees and Sadducees look like a unified front in the four Gospels. They were not.
In this Beyond the Notes episode, Pastor Russell Howard traces the distinct origins, beliefs, and social roles of these two first century Jewish parties. The Sadducees controlled the high priesthood under Roman favor but rejected the resurrection, angels, and miracles taught in the Old Testament. The Pharisees were the devout cultural anchor of Jewish life and held the trust of the common people. Their rivalry was deep enough that when the Apostle Paul exploited it in Acts 23, a formal council meeting turned violent.
What unites groups that agree on nothing? Opposition to Jesus. Pastor Howard draws from Matthew 16 and Acts 23 to show that this pattern did not end in the first century and helps listeners read the Gospels with fresh eyes and a clearer framework.
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The King Has Come
"Doubt and Discipleship"(Matthew 16:1-12)
In this Sunday sermon, Pastor Russell Howard examines two contrasting responses to Jesus in Matthew 16. The Pharisees and Sadducees arrive demanding proof, but their problem is not a lack of evidence. It is a resolved commitment to protect the sin their doubt allows them to keep. Jesus gives them a single answer: the sign of Jonah, pointing to his death and resurrection as the only sign that will be given.
Then the scene shifts. The disciples are crossing the Sea of Galilee and realize they forgot to bring bread. When Jesus warns them about the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, they assume he is talking about lunch. He is not. He points them back to the two miraculous feedings they witnessed firsthand and calls them to interpret their own experiences through what he has actually said, not the other way around. Pastor Russell walks through what the leaven of the Pharisees (adding to God's Word) and the leaven of the Sadducees (cutting from it) look like in the life of a believer today, and why the only stable ground is this: God's Word is authoritative, and God's Word is enough.
Sermon NotesJune 21, 2026Russell Howard • Lead Pastor
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What does a full week of God at work actually look like? VBS just wrapped, a mission team is on the ground in Austria, and summer at McGregor is officially in motion.
In this episode, Christian and Tamar recap VBS Rainforest Falls, including a peak nightly attendance of 433 children, 266 volunteers, and $6,569 raised for Go Tell Stories missions. They walk through the Journey Together Wednesday night series launching this week with Pastor Russell Howard, covering topics like fear, betrayal, failure, and delay. They also share details on the Faith and Fitness Retreat for women on July 18th, and end with a live call to Rosa Martinez, one month into her new role at the McGregor front desk.
Whether you want to stay connected to what God is doing at McGregor this summer, or you're just getting to know the church, this episode covers the week in about twelve minutes.
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Were the feeding of the 5,000 and the feeding of the 4,000 the same event? Some scholars say yes, and they use that claim to cast doubt on the reliability of the Gospels and the whole of Scripture.
In this episode of Beyond the Notes, Elder Peter Finch walks through the specific differences between the two miracles: the location, the crowd, the season, the amount of food used, the length of time the people had been with Jesus, the Greek word for "basket," and the crowd's response afterward. He also examines Matthew 16, where Jesus himself references both feedings by name, and considers why Christ would repeat a miracle of this magnitude.
The answer has less to do with the bread and more to do with who Jesus is feeding. His provision is not reserved for one people group, one season, or one kind of person. He is the bread of life for Jews and Gentiles, for the familiar and the stranger, for those who have come to church for years and those who have never walked through the door.
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The King Has Come
"Thy Compassions, They Fail Not"(Matthew 15:29-39)
In Matthew 15, Jesus moves through Gentile territory with the same compassion He showed Israel. He heals the lame, the blind, the crippled, and the mute, then feeds a crowd of 4,000 with seven loaves and a few small fish. Elder Peter Finch walks through both of these moments to show what compassion actually means. Not a polite feeling, but a God who sees pain, suffers alongside it, and acts to relieve it. He also addresses the disciples' tendency to forget what God has already done, a tendency that is easy to recognize because it is our own. The sermon closes with a direct call to anyone who has not yet come to Christ: God's patience toward you is itself an act of compassion, meant to draw you to repentance.
Sermon NotesJune 14, 2025Elder Peter Finch
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Week of June 14
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"G.R.E.A.T. Faith"(Matthew 15:21-28)
In Matthew 15, a Canaanite woman comes to Jesus with a need that no one around her could address. She was not a Jew. She had no standing. And yet she fixed her eyes on Jesus, called Him Lord and Son of David, and refused to move no matter what came at her. In this sermon, Elder Omar Edwards walks through five elements of great faith using her story as the frame: God-focused, Repentant, Earnest, Adoring, and Tenacious. He draws a sharp contrast between this woman and the disciples who had witnessed miracle after miracle and still struggled to trust. The sermon calls both believer and unbeliever to consider what it actually means to come to Jesus, not for what He can give, but in repentance, humility, and desperate need.
Sermon NotesJune 7, 2026Elder Omar Edwards
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There's a lot happening at McGregor right now, and the people you love being around are talking about all of it.
Mark, Tamar, and Christian are back this week covering the Renew Phase 2 permit news (spoiler: they're back on schedule), a Vacation Bible School preview that sounds like it's taken over the whole building, and a new summer Bible study series called "How to Handle Life's Interruptions." Plus, a welcome to Lydia Coggin, the newest addition to the staff.
If you haven't found your way into Around McGregor yet, this week is a good place to start.
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Holiness in Worship & Living, from our Midweek Bible Study: "Holiness of God" - 6.3.26
Taught by Mike Whitt.
What does it mean that God is holy, and why does it matter how you live today? In this Journey Together teaching, Elder Mike Whitt walks through the holiness of God not as a single attribute among many, but as the crowning perfection that defines everything God is. Drawing on Archibald Hodge's description of holiness as God's "consummate perfection and total glory," and R.C. Sproul's shorthand of "transcendent purity," Mike unpacks two frameworks for understanding God'sholy character. The first traces the relationship between God's wrath, His justice, and His grace, anchored in Jonathan Edwards' landmark sermon and thesobering truth that only the imputed righteousness of Christ stands between a sinner and holy judgment. The second explores God's holiness through the triadof goodness, truth, and beauty, showing through Romans 1 and Psalm 8 that God's invisible attributes have been on display through creation since the beginning,leaving no one without a witness. The teaching closes with the simple and arresting reality of Ephesians 1:4 — God chose us to be holy, and Christ diedto make that possible.
 
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Can external discipline actually change you from the inside out?
In this Beyond the Notes teaching, Pastor Russell Howard works through Colossians 2:16-23, where Paul identifies two dangers for believers: the legalistic judgment of others and the illusion of holiness through self-made religion. From dietary restrictions to ascetic practices to claims of superior spiritual experience, Paul's argument is direct. These things have an appearance of wisdom, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
The episode closes with Galatians 5:16, what Pastor Russell calls the single most concise and powerful verse in the New Testament on gaining mastery over the desires of the flesh. There are no rules to add, no habits to adopt. There is one command: walk by the Spirit. This teaching is for anyone who has tried harder and still come up short, and who wants to understand what actually produces real growth.
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