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• Comparison Girl: Lessons from Jesus on Me-Free Living in a Measure-Up World
• Finding the Lost by Kenneth Bailey
• Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus by Lois Tverberg

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But I need lots of reminders, and I’m guessing you do to. That’s why - whether I’m sharing words on a page or a platform or from behind this podcast microphone, it’s my goal to always invite you to open God’s word with me, drink in the richness of the story, and then live like the story is true.

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Shaped by God's Promises: Lessons from Sarah on Fear and Faith
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Comparison Girl for Teens
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The man in our story thought paralysis was his biggest problem, but Jesus took care of an even bigger one. And his friends got to dig up a roof and make a way for it to happen.

Guest: Kelly Needham
Bible Passage: Mark 2:1-12 CSB
Freebie: Live Like It's True Workbook
Resources:

• Friendish by Kelly Needham
• Comparison Girl by Shannon Popkin

Music: Cade Popkin Music
Complete Shownotes: at ShannonPopkin.com

Kelly Needham
Kelly is the author of Friendish: Reclaiming Real Friendship in a Culture of Confusion and she's been featured on Revive Our Hearts, Desiring God, and The Gospel Coalition.

Whether writing or speaking, Kelly’s aim is to convince as many people as possible that nothing compares to knowing Jesus. You can find more of her writing and speaking at kellyneedham.com or follow her on social media.

Shaped by God's Promises: Lessons from Sarah on Fear and Faith
{buy now}

Comparison Girl for Teens
{buy now}

Visit www.shannonpopkin.com/promises/ to learn more about my six-week Bible study with Our Daily Bread, titled, "Shaped by God's Promises: Lessons from Sarah on Fear and Faith." Learn how you too can be shaped by the promises of our faithful God.

Visit ComparisonGirl.com and get the answers both she and you need in my new book, Comparison Girl for Teens: Thriving Beyond Measure in a World That Compares. Conversation starters, quizzes and more.

I’d love to hear from you!

In the story from Mark 2 (or Luke 5) of the friends bringing the paralyzed man to Jesus, the storyteller uses a surprise to highlight something important in the story.

My retelling episodes focus in on certain story elements, either of the story we discussed in a previous episode, or the overarching story that the Bible tells.

This episode is a follow up to my conversation with Kelly Needham in the episode, "How to Live Like it's True that You're Forgiven."

Bible Passage: Mark 2:1-12 CSB

Referring back to the story from this Episode:

"How to Live Like it's True that You're Forgiven." with Kelly Needham

Freebie: Live Like It's True Workbook

Mentioned Resources:

· Friendish by Kelly Needham

· Comparison Girl by Shannon Popkin

Music: Cade Popkin Music

Shaped by God's Promises: Lessons from Sarah on Fear and Faith
{buy now}

Comparison Girl for Teens
{buy now}

I’d love to hear from you!

What are you constantly thirsty for? What’s the habit or person or behavior you’ve returned to repeatedly—always dipping your bucket and yet coming up dry? And what difference should it make that Jesus has offered you his living water?

On Season One of Live Like It’s True, we’re discussing the True Stories of Jesus. Mary DeMuth joins me to discuss the story from John 4 of Jesus meeting the Woman at the Well.

Guest: Mary DeMuth
Bible Passage: John 4:1-30 NLT, The Samaritan Woman at the Well
Freebie: Live Like It's True Workbook
Featured Resource: The Day I Met Jesus co-authored by Mary DeMuth
Complete Shownotes: at ShannonPopkin.com
Music: Cade Popkin Music

Mary DeMuth is an international speaker, literary agent, podcaster, and the author of over forty books, including The Day I Met Jesus. Mary loves to help people re-story their lives. She lives in Texas with her husband of 30 years and is the mom to three adult children. Be prayed for on her daily prayer podcast with 2 million downloads: Pray Everyday podcast.

Find Mary on:

• Website
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Twitter

The Woman at the Well

The true story of the Woman at the Well is found in John 4:1-30 of your Bible. (Please note that in the broadcast, Mary is using the NLT and I thought I was using the NLT, but actually I was reading from the ESV. Sorry about that confusion!)

It's the true story of a Samaritan woman who had the longest recorded theological conversation with Jesus in the Bible. I hope you'll be amazed by the approachableness of Jesus and his thirst-quenching water, and then I hope you'll live like the story is true.

Live the Story
Here are some ways to live like this story from John 4 is true.

• When Jesus said, “Go get your husband," it was because he wanted to have a forthright conversation with the woman at the well about her sin and her thirst. I shouldn't try to hide something from Jesus, because he already knows. What do I need to have an honest conversation with him about?
• Jesus revealed to the woman that He was the Messiah and it changed everything for her. How have I responded to the Messiah? Have I bent my knee, and lived like it’s true that He is the Anoin

Shaped by God's Promises: Lessons from Sarah on Fear and Faith
{buy now}

Comparison Girl for Teens
{buy now}

Visit www.shannonpopkin.com/promises/ to learn more about my six-week Bible study with Our Daily Bread, titled, "Shaped by God's Promises: Lessons from Sarah on Fear and Faith." Learn how you too can be shaped by the promises of our faithful God.

I’d love to hear from you!

Do you feel pretty inadequate, as a Gospel-Spreader?

In this retelling episode, we're looking back to the story from John 4, where Jesus interrupts his trip to Galilee to have a conversation with the least likely Gospel-Spreader: A Samaritan woman who had been repeatedly divorced and was now living with another man.

John is the only Gospel writer to include this story. Why? He wants us to see that Jesus came for everyone, and that anyone can help share the good news.

Bible Passage: John 4:1-42

Referring Back to Episode: The Truth About Your Thirstiness for More with Mary Demuth

Transcript

Mentioned: Storyrunners with Cru.

Freebie: Live Like It's True Workbook

Music: Cade Popkin Music

Shaped by God's Promises: Lessons from Sarah on Fear and Faith
{buy now}

Comparison Girl for Teens
{buy now}

I’d love to hear from you!

Has Jesus asked you to give more than you have, today? Maybe you're stressed out, overwhelmed or burned out, and you just don’t have enough to do what Jesus has assigned to you today. I

f that’s you, I’m glad you’re joining us for this episode, because we’re going to talk about a situation where Jesus’s disciples were feeling exactly like that. Jenn Hand is joining me to talk about Mark 6, and a story of Jesus multiplying what little the disciples had.

What would change if you live like this story is true?

Guest: Jennifer Hand
Bible Passage: Mark 6:30-44
Freebie: Live Like It's True Workbook
Resources:

• Coming Alive Conversations
• Speak Up Conference
• Story of Hope Workbook
• Comparison Girl (my 6 week study, endorsed by Jenn)

Music: Cade Popkin Music

Jenn Hand is the Executive Director of Coming Alive Ministries. She’s an author, a speaker, and the host of the podcast “Coming Alive Conversations”. She has a master’s degree in trauma counseling and she travels around the world, doing trauma debriefing in the wake of natural disasters. Jenn loves to invite you to laugh with her and experience the love of Jesus, as you do. (Just wait till you hear her “Beans and Rice Story”!)

Find more from Jenn:

• Website
• Instagram
• Youtube
• Facebook
• Twitter

The Feeding of the 5,000
The True Story of the Feeding of the Five Thousand is found in Mark 6:30-44. It's an astonishing story of not having enough and Jesus multiplying what they did have to satisfy everyone. How can we live like this story is true?

Share the Story
Were you amazed by you amazed by Jenn’s story about—in her missions training, going through the Stories of Hope Workbook? I compared sharing these Bible stories, one at a time, with leaving “bread crumbs” for her friend—which lead to Jesus. Would you be willing to share just one story (a bread crumb?) with a friend who doesn’t yet know Jesus? Pray for His direction.

Live the Story

Jesus multiplied what they had. What little amount do you have? What is God asking you to place in h

Shaped by God's Promises: Lessons from Sarah on Fear and Faith
{buy now}

Comparison Girl for Teens
{buy now}

Visit www.shannonpopkin.com/promises/ to learn more about my six-week Bible study with Our Daily Bread, titled, "Shaped by God's Promises: Lessons from Sarah on Fear and Faith." Learn how you too can be shaped by the promises of our faithful God.

I’d love to hear from you!

Do you see the people around you like Jesus does? Or is a certain type of person you might look at with disdain? Who do you see as appalling, or as an annoyance? Is it possible that she looks like a sinner to you, but Jesus calls her forgiven?

Erica Wiggenhorn is with me to discuss the story of Simon and the sinful woman in Luke 7. The woman is letting down her hair, and making a scandalous scene at Jesus's feet. Simon thought of her as "that sort", but Jesus saw her as a woman with an eternal soul, who desperately needed forgiveness and saving. I'm going to invite you to live like this story is true.

Guest: Erica Wiggenhorn

Bible Passage: Luke 7:36-50

Freebie: Live Like It's True Workbook

Mentioned Resources:

• Unexplainable Jesus: Rediscovering the God You Thought You Knew by Erica Wiggenhorn
• Letting God Be Enough by Erica Wiggenhorn
• Comparison Girl: Lessons from Jesus on Me-Free Living in a Measure-Up World
• Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes by Kenneth Bailey
• The Context and Color of the Bible Podcast with Erika VanHaitsma

Music: Cade Popkin Music

Erica is a speaker, Bible teacher, and the award winning author of the Unexplainable Bible study series with Moody Publishers. She lives in Phoenix with her best friend and husband, Jonathan, and their four kids—two of which are human. (The others are furry and adorable.)

Find Erica on:

• EricaWiggenhorn.com
• Instagram
• Facebook

The True Story at Simon's Table

This true story is found in Luke 7:36-50 in your Bible. It's an absolutely astonishing story in so many ways.

• It's astonishing that this woman falls at Jesus's feet with reckless abandon, and is willing to be utterly humiliated and "make a scene" to honor him.
• It's astonishing that Jesus doesn't push her away, but rather uses her as the positive example.
• It's also astonishing that Jesus turns Simon's eyes to look at this scandalous scene.
• It's amazing that Jesus tells her, "Go in peace."

LIVE the Story
Jesus asked Simon, "Do you see this woman?" Simon saw her as an annoyance. He looked at her with disdain. Living like this story is true is looking at "that sort" and saying, "Jesus loves her and died for her." It's seeing her as someone who was created with an eternal soul, and will either spend eternity with Jesus in peace, or eternity apart from him in hell.

I’d love to hear from you!

What fears do you struggle with? What anxieties hold you back? Do you worry about the things you can't control?

Kristen Wetherell joins me to talk about Jesus's responses to our fears in Luke 12. If you only live once, there's a lot to protect and so much to fear. But if you live twice? If you know that you'll live forever? Well, then. What is there left to fear?

Guest: Kristen Wetherell

Bible Passage: Luke 12:4–7, 22–32

Freebie: Live Like It's True Workbook

Mentioned Resources: Fight Your Fears by Kristen Wetherell

Music: Cade Popkin Music

Kristen Wetherell is a pastor’s wife, mother, writer, and speaker. She is the author of Humble Moms (April 2022), Fight Your Fears, co-author of the award-winning book Hope When It Hurts, and editor of 12 Faithful Women. Kristen lives in Chicagoland with her husband Brad and two kids where they are members of The Orchard.

Find Kristen on:

• Website
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Twitter

A Sermon About Fear

You may notice that this episode is a little different from the others because in Luke 12, Luke isn’t sharing a story, but rather a teaching of Jesus that gives us some insight into the about the overall story the Bible tells.

According to this overarching story that we’re part of, what should we fear? What shouldn’t we fear? I think you’re going to find so much encouragement in listening to Kristen share some of her fears, and in how she teaches us to fight our fears by reminding ourselves of a story of God, that is so much bigger and goes so far beyond the things that we fear.