Providence College Ministry // Raleigh, NC: Recent Episodes
Thomas West // College Pastor
This is the podcast of PCM - Providence College Ministry - a part of Providence Baptist Church in Raleigh, NC. Here you'll find relevant teaching from the Bible for your college years.
In this message from Acts 19:1-10, our good friend Gary Fike shows how the Spirit of God wants to transform people from their old way of living into being a new kind of humanity—people marked by faith in Jesus as their king.
In this message from the book of Acts, Pastor Thomas shows us how all of history is ruled by God. Since God is the king of everything, he deserves our trust and obedience.
In this message from Acts 11:19-30 and Acts 13:1-3, Daniel breaks down what happens when the message of Jesus first encounters a massive, urban, multicultural city. The results are really surprising!
In this message from Pastor Thomas from Acts 8, we get to see how God is at work in the details of our lives, helping us experience the love of Jesus and extend the offer for others to join us in the same.
Each of us interacts with the arts innumerable times each day. We listen to music as we walk to class. We read books and blogs. We remember playing the recorder for a few weeks in elementary school. We have grown all too familiar with the aroma of spray paint in the Free Expression Tunnel. We see ads along the sidebar of our Facebook feed, each one designed to capture our attention, and then (hopefully, for the advertiser) compels us to spend some money based on that interaction with an artistically designed pitch for toothpaste, or a new pair of shoes, or a great deal on an oil change. What does it mean to think Christianly about the arts?
In this message from Acts 4, Pastor Thomas takes a look at four key things that mark the lives of people who follow Jesus. It's not an exhaustive list, but it's helpful to see how these people demonstrated love for God and love for others.
In this message from Acts 2:42-47, Pastor Thomas breaks down what it means to live in a community that belongs to Jesus. This community, the church, is empowered by God himself through the Holy Spirit to embody four key truths: devotion to God's Word, generosity, family love, and worship as a witness to the world at large.
In this message from Acts 2:1-41, Jesus' promise to empower his people to continue his mission to rescue the world becomes a reality.
This message from Acts 1:1-9 kicks off PCM's spring semester series. We're going to walk through the book of Acts to discover who God the Holy Spirit is and how he operates in our lives and the world.
In this message from John 15:1–11, Pastor Thomas breaks down a metaphor Jesus used to describe his relationship with his followers. Jesus said that he was like a vine, and his followers were like branches, connected to the vine as their very source of life. This powerful picture has big implications for us today as we navigate the wide and uncharted territories of connectedness, social media, relationships, and a pursuit of God.
In this final message from our miniseries from the gospel of Mark, Pastor Thomas shows us how the resurrection of Jesus is the climactic event of all of history, and that event stands as the only thing that can give true meaning to our lives today.
"Who do you say that I am?" This simple question posed by Jesus has major implications for our lives and our stories today. Pastor Thomas breaks it down in this week's message
To kick off the semester, PCM is spending three weeks exploring who Jesus is, and why the good news about him is such a big deal. In this first message, Pastor Thomas shows us how Jesus got his start, and how that matters for the highs and lows that come with change.
In this final message from the book of Romans, Pastor Thomas shows us how the church is God's "Plan A" for reaching the world.
In the penultimate message from the book of Romans, Daniel demonstrates how the book of Romans is one big reminder to live in Christian community, to remember God's promises, and to remember the importance and urgency of God's mission.
In this message from Romans 14, Pastor Thomas helps us see what it means to live in community with people who don't see things the same way we might. IT's all about rallying around Jesus, our King, and it's all about giving our lives for the sake of others!
In this message from Romans 13, Daniel breaks down what it means to belong to Jesus' Kingdom as well as whatever country you happen to live in. The good news about Jesus—the gospel—transforms how we live as citizens, neighbors, and as an inviting contrast to the surrounding culture.
In this message from Romans 12, Pastor Thomas demonstrates how the gospel provides the power necessary for Christians to say no to evil and yes to God.
The Bible teaches that God is a sovereign King whose will is done. He is the one who reaches out and saves people by his grace alone. On the other hand, the Bible also teaches that people are responsible actors in the world. As Christians, we hold both of these truths in tension with one another. In this message from Romans 11, Pastor Thomas breaks down what it means for people either to accept or reject God's offer to save them.
Romans 10 provides us with a passionate, deeply reasoned argument for both God's sovereignty and human freedom and responsibility. Yes, it's both. In this message, Pastor Thomas helps us see and savor the beauty of God in Jesus through this passage.
This message from Pastor Thomas tackles one of the most difficult questions posed by the book of Romans: if God is powerful and loving, then why are some people saved by faith in Jesus while others choose to reject that offer? The answer to that question lies in the character of God, and that's good news.
In this message, Daniel reads through and explains Romans 8. In these verses we find incredibly good news, a lot of hope to fuel endurance, and a call to real, honest, urgent prayer. (Also there were some technical difficulties and the first few minutes of this message weren't recorded. Our apologies.)
In this message from Romans 6, Pastor Thomas explains how Jesus transforms our hearts to want the things that line up with his Kingdom.
In this message from Romans 5, Daniel breaks down what we gain by resting the full weight of our faith on Jesus, and Jesus alone.
Every month, Providence College Ministry hosts a lecture about the intersection of the gospel's story and the narrative of modern Western culture. In this talk, Pastor Thomas breaks down a biblical theology of cities by tracing the theme through all sixty-six books of the Christian Scriptures. In the end, what we find is that God loves cities because God loves people, and God intends for his people to cultural creators within a global, urban context.
In this message, Pastor Thomas breaks down Romans chapter 4. Here, we find out that the gospel is unlike every other religion and philosophy the world has to offer. In fact, it turns all of those things upside down. Rather than being about what we can offer God, it's all about what God offers us through faith in Jesus.
In Romans 2, we see that there are two ways to miss God. Either you live like He doesn't matter, or you try to lift yourself up to His level by pushing down people you see as morally inferior. Jesus offers a third, better way.
In the first episode of our series walking through the book of Romans, Pastor Thomas focuses on 1:16, "I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes..."
In the last message of the FLOURISH series, Pastor Thomas looks to Matthew 1—the genealogy of Jesus—to highlight how God keeps all his promises to us through Jesus.
In this message from Hebrews 13:1–6, Daniel Moore breaks down God's design for marriage and explains how a community of college-age people can live with joy, even if that means living against the grain of culture.
In this message, Pastor Thomas teaches from 1 Corinthians 7 how Christians can find joy and can leverage their lives for the sake of the Gospel in seasons of singleness.
In this message, Pastor Dave breaks down friendship, dating, romance, and love from a fresh, biblical perspective.
In this message from the FLOURISH series, Pastor Thomas shows us how Jesus redeems and restores woman through the unique challenges and pains that sin brought onto the scene.
In this message from our FLOURISH series, Pastor Thomas explains how sin has distorted womanhood by misaligning her internal "wanter." Jesus is the only one who can recalibrate our internal desires and help us recover God's design!
In this message, Pastor Thomas shows us how the Bible defines what a woman really is. Read along in Genesis 2:18–28, Proverbs 31:10–21, and Titus 2:2–8.
Pastor Thomas continues our fall series—FLOURISH—helping us see how God designed all of our relationships for His glory and the good of all peoples.
Pastor Thomas continues our fall series—FLOURISH—helping us see how God designed all of our relationships for His glory and the good of all peoples.
Pastor Thomas continues our fall series—FLOURISH—helping us see how God designed all of our relationships for His glory and the good of all peoples.
Pastor Thomas continues our fall series—FLOURISH—helping us see how God designed all of our relationships for His glory and the good of all peoples.
Pastor Thomas continues our fall series—FLOURISH—helping us see how God designed all of our relationships for His glory and the good of all peoples.
Pastor Ryan continues our fall series—FLOURISH—helping us see how God designed all of our relationships for His glory and the good of all peoples.
Pastor Thomas continues our fall series—FLOURISH—helping us see how God designed all of our relationships for His glory and the good of all peoples.
In Genesis 1:20-31, we find the blueprint for God's good design for human relationships. In this message, Pastor Thomas explains that section of Scripture so that everyone can see just how wise, powerful, and loving God really is.
In the first message of the FLOURISH series, Pastor Thomas explains how being a human, being a man or a woman, is more about God than it is about us. This is good news!
In this message from Matthew 7, Pastor Thomas finishes up the Sermon on the Mount series with a reminder that the message of Jesus is about two kinds of people: those who really want to know and be known by God, and those who want to use God for their own ends. Both of these kinds of people may end up looking really similar, but the difference is in their foundation.
In this message, Danny Myers connects the "fruit" of how we live to the "root" of our belonging to Jesus.
In this message from Matthew 7:1-14, Jarrick Oxendine contrasts the seemingly religious with those who really follow Jesus.
In Matthew 6:1-18, Jesus uses three religious practices - giving, prayer, and fasting - as a thermometer to gauge the condition of our relationship with God.
In this message, Pastor Thomas looks at Matthew 5:38-48 and shows us how Jesus' way of living runs against the grain of every other way of life. His way is radically different, and radically better.
In this message from Matthew 5:20-37, Hunter Young explains how Jesus makes people with bad hearts into a part of God's good plan to redeem the world.
In this message from Matthew 5:11-20, Pastor Thomas talks about how Christians live as salt and light in a world that is decaying and dark. All of this is possible only through substitution: Jesus takes our place.
In the opening message for a series on The Sermon on The Mount, Pastor Thomas explains how the beatitudes (some of Jesus' most famous sayings) connect to life as one of His followers.
The book of Ephesians ends with a reminder that life in the midst of sin, suffering, and spiritual oppression is nothing short of war. In this message, Daniel breaks down why Ephesians 6:10-20 isn't supposed to make you terrified or aggressive, but rather is meant to make you love Jesus and people more and more.
In a message from Isaiah 49, Pastor Thomas shows that God keeps all of his promises, that he cares deeply for his people, and that there is hope for healing and restoration through Jesus.
In this message from Ephesians 5:1-9, Daniel applies one of the big ideas from the book as a whole (behavior flows from identity) to two areas where we experience the most pain and brokenness: family and work.
Ephesians 5 ends with instructions about how people are to live in their marriages. But more than that, this passage reveals why marriage is such a big deal in God's eyes. Pastor Dave breaks it all down in this message.
How does life change happen for a Christian? If Jesus saves people because of his grace and not because of their performance record, what motivates Christians to say, "No!" to the things that tempt them? Pastor Thomas breaks all that down in this message from Ephesians 5.
The Bible has some pretty hard things to say about how people who belong to Jesus should live. In this message from Ephesians 4, Pastor Thomas explains how life change happens for Christians. It's not about moral conformity; it's about receiving a new identity from Jesus. It's about changing how we live as we become who we really are.
In this message, Pastor Thomas explains how knowing Jesus affects and transforms every aspect of life. Knowing Jesus means living under His rule as King.
In this message, Pastor Thomas opens Ephesians 2 and explains how Jesus makes all the difference in our relationships. He fixes our broken relationship with God. He tears down all the walls of hostility and "us vs. them" that sin builds between us and others.
Ephesians 2:1-10 is a timely reminder for anyone who is a follower of Jesus. In these verses, the apostle Paul reminds the church what life was like before they belonged to Jesus, and the picture is really grim. But God doesn't leave people alone on their sinful course of self-destruction. God reaches down and saves people, giving them a new life, identity, and purpose.
In this message from Ephesians 1:15-23, Pastor Thomas takes a look at the apostle Paul's prayer for the church at Ephesus, people he loves deeply. He recognizes God's work in their lives. He asks God to help the church see Jesus more clearly, and he asks God to use the church to advance God's mission. Every one of these applies to us today.
Quick note: the recording begins about ten minutes into the message. Our apologies for the mistake!
Who you are, or even who you think you are, determines how you will make decisions, prioritize your life, and how you'll figure out if your life is a success or failure. The book of Ephesians tells us that God wants to give a new identity to people who are adopted into His family by grace, In this message, Pastor Thomas show us from Ephesians 1:1-2 just what that identity of God's people means.
In this episode, you'll hear the book of Ephesians read in its entirety by Life Group leaders from PCM. Then, Pastor Thomas clues us in to why this letter written by Paul to the church in the city of Ephesus matters to us today.
In this message, Pastor Thomas wraps up the series, "King of _____." by explaining why the resurrection of King Jesus is the best news you've ever heard.
The Kingdom of God is unlike any kingdom we've ever experienced. Nowhere is this more evident than in Jesus' death by crucifixion. His greatest victory looks like the worst defeat. He proves His strength in this moment of apparent weakness. In this message, Hunter Young explains why this is good news for us today, and how we can be citizens in Jesus' Kingdom.
Even when He was betrayed, arrested, and forced to stand as the defendant in a mock trial, Jesus reigned as King. In this message from Mark 15, Daniel Moore shows us that Jesus endured all of this to offer us a trade: He takes the place of guilty sinners so that He can offer them all the benefits of His good kingdom.
Stories about kings, princesses, and royal realms are always popular. Why is that? In this message from Mark 11, Pastor Thomas shows us that everybody is meant to live for a kingdom - Jesus' Kingdom.
In this message, Pastor Dave show us that Jesus doesn't deride the human desire to be great. Instead, he shows us a completely new definition of greatness - one marked by humility, suffering, and service.
Jesus is a good king, with authority over every aspect of life. In this message, Pastor Thomas breaks down what it means for Jesus to be king over our resources.
Jesus is a king like no other. In Mark 8, we see Jesus explain how His identity and power result in our good.
Jesus is a good king who knows what we need and provides for us well. In this account, Jesus heals a man of blindness - but not in the way one might expect.
Deep down, everybody knows that there are parts of them that are dirty. We know something's wrong, but no amount of behavior modification can fix what really stains us. Jesus came to undo all the things that make us unclean.
The Bible is a book unlike any other. Though many would try to separate the person of Jesus from the hard things they read in the Bible, Jesus proves that He is a King with authority over everything - including the Bible. Jesus says that we can't have Him without also accepting the written Word from God.
When things seem not to be going our way, or when it seems like God doesn't notice or care about what's going on with us, Jesus proves that He is both intimately aware of our situations and working hard for His glory and our good.
Even when things seem completely out of control, we can trust the Jesus is still reigning as King over every situation. In this message from the book of Mark, Jesus demonstrates His authority over everything, even nature.
While the whole world screams for us to get ahead by hard work, and while our hearts are bent to thinking that we can earn our way to God, Jesus demonstrates that he is King of rest. He has the authority to give us exactly what we need - rest.
Jesus is a King unlike anyone you've ever encountered. While every other king demands us to carry them, Jesus instead offers to stoop down to carry us. He sees us exactly as we are, and in love offers forgiveness and a new way to live.
Jesus isn't just another religious teacher or another person offering good advice. He's a King, and his authority applies to every person and every aspect of life.