On this edition of One Single Story, Pastors Stephen Mizell and Sharon Schwartz discuss the question, "Do you think it is fair that God placed every person under the curse of sin for something that only one man, Adam, did?"

The reading for the day is Romans 5.

On this episode of Ask Us Anything, Pastor Alyssa Bream asks Pastor Stephen Mizell the following questions:

Why is Pentecost described as the birthday of the church? What would the church be like if the Holy Spirit did not exist?

Why was speaking in other languages chosen as the symbol for the Holy Spirit in the Bible?

Were they literal tongues of fire? Or were they hot?

Is speaking in tongues for today? It is something that anyone can do or is it only available for certain people?

If you have a question that you would like to be considered for an upcoming podcast, you can send us an email at onesinglestory@visitopendoor.com or submit a question in the Church Center app.

On this edition of One Single Story, Pastors Stephen Mizell and Sharon Schwartz discuss the following questions:

What are some responses people outside the church might give if you were to ask them to provide evidence from their daily lives that they are “good people”, worthy of going to heaven?

Theological discussion: How could Abraham be saved by believing on the promise that God would give him a son? This is a far cry from the Gospel message we must believe: Jesus loved us and died for our sins. Does this mean Abraham went to heaven without hearing the Gospel of Jesus? Are there people in the world today who may go to heaven even if they have never heard the gospel of Jesus?

The reading for the day is Romans 4.

On this edition of One Single Story, Pastors Stephen Mizell and Sharon Schwartz discuss the following questions:

How hard is it to convince people in the modern world that they are sinners?

Is the language of “sinner”, and the language Paul uses in Romans 3 (e.g. “their throat is an open grave”… “poison of snakes is under their lips”) too antiquated to be effective when we share the gospel with people who are outside the church?

Are church people harder to convince of their sin than non-churched people? Is this similar to how it was more difficult to convince the Jews of their need for Christ than the Gentiles?

The reading for the day is Romans 3.

On this edition of One Single Story, Pastors Stephen Mizell and Sheryl Daughety discuss the following questions:

We tend to read about the Jews and the Gentiles with our church glasses on, and fail to see that this is, in effect, a discussion about racial privilege. How does that perspective change the way you think and feel about Paul’s argument?

What are some other ways that Christians make assumptions about who needs to be saved? What are some assumptions we make about whether WE need to be saved, or why we need to be saved?

Are there categories of sin in your mind which would make some people more of a “sinner” than others? Have you deceived yourself about the category that you are in? The reading for the day is Romans 2.

On this edition of One Single Story, Pastors Stephen Mizell and Sheryl Daughety discuss the question, "If someone asked you, 'Why should I be saved?', would you be able to provide a reasonable explanation?" The reading for the day is Romans 1.

On this edition of One Single Story, Pastors Stephen Mizell and Sheryl Daughety discuss, "It is easy for us to assume that we are always on the side of the right concerning situations of warfare, terrorism, and necessary showings of strength. Is this a naive perspective?" The reading for the day is Psalm 18:31-50.

On this edition of One Single Story, Pastors Stephen Mizell and Sheryl Daughety discuss the question, "Do you think it is blasphemous, or at least insulting, to talk about God as a trickster, in as far as how he might respond to Satan’s schemes and tricks?" The reading for the day is Psalm 18:20-30.