Formed by Jesus Podcast

Peace By Teaching: Why Renewing Your Mind Matters
As we continue through the Peace by Piece series at Passion Creek Church, we’re exploring what it actually takes to become disciples who change—people filled with love, joy, and peace in a world that feels increasingly chaotic.
In a culture where the church often responds by becoming either consumer-focused or crusader-driven, we’re imagining a different way forward: a community whose hearts and minds are guarded by the peace of Christ.
The Tone Of Transformation
Ephesians 4:1 serves as the hinge point of Paul’s entire letter. After three chapters showing us the vastness of what God has done in Christ, he pivots to how we live in light of that grace. But notice three crucial words that set the temperature for everything:
Urge (parakaló) – This isn’t scolding or shaming. The word literally means “to call alongside,” carrying the tone of encouragement and comfort. It’s the same word Jesus uses for the Holy Spirit—the one who gently prompts and directs but never forces. Paul isn’t barking like a sheepdog; he’s beckoning like a shepherd.
Worthy (axios) – This isn’t about proving your worthiness to God. The word picture is a balancing scale—balancing what you’ve received with how you respond. You’re only accountable for what you’ve received, and that grows as you grow. When our walking and God’s calling are in balance, we’re whole—living maturely, living congruent with the way God calls us into being.
Calling (klēsis) – Our calling is to encounter and then embody peace (shalom). In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and it was shalom. We were at peace with God, with others, with creation, with ourselves. But sin disrupted that shalom. Since Genesis 3:15, God promised to send a Savior to restore it. Jesus is our shalom, and the church is called to embody shalom in and to the world.
The Gap Between Vision And Reality
Here’s the rub: what we see described in Ephesians typically isn’t what we see in the church. The picture on the puzzle box looks nothing like the pieces we have on the table. We quit on the vision of peace because all we see and feel is chaos.
How do we embark on truly becoming peace in such an anxious and evil world? How do we “grow into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness”?
Three Frameworks That Have Failed Us
In our lifetime, popular streams of the church have given us three frameworks for fullness that, while containing truth, have ultimately failed to deliver complete transformation:
Bible Study – “If we just knew more truth, we’d be transformed.” Yes, to an extent. But Scripture itself says, “Knowledge puffs up; love edifies.” We have more information at our fingertips than ever and we’re still not at peace.
Encounter – “If we just encounter God in worship, we will be changed.” We live for the next conference or summer camp, putting pressure on worship experiences to deliver transformation. But experiences fade and don’t seem to work on the deeper issues of maturity.
Missional Movement – “If we just multiplied ourselves, maturity would come.” But what are we bringing people into? Are we sure we’re not just a spiritual pyramid scheme?
We’ve made transformation too simplistic, and it has failed us. But it can’t be too complex, or we’ll quit before we begin.
A Better Framework
Our framework for fullness is: Teaching, Community, Practice, Holy Spirit, Moments & Marathons.
These aren’t revolutionary or novel—they’re essential pieces that, when done faithfully over time, lead to real transformation. Today, we’re focusing on why teaching is such a crucial piece (but still not the whole piece).
Why Teaching Matters
Ephesians 4:14 warns that children are gullible and easily fall for lies. But Paul is implying that adults are just as easily duped. Without proper doctrine, we stay stuck in immaturity, instability, and gullibility. Our lives become like a storm, tossed back and forth by every new deceitful teaching.
Here’s what’s critical to understand: deception happens without us looking for it.
This is unintentional spiritual formation. Just by existing in 2026, certain presuppositions shape your life. Consider this: In the Middle Ages, people didn’t trust their desires. The assumption was, “If I follow my desires, I will wreck my life.” But in the modern world, we’ve flipped that completely. Our default assumption is, “If I don’t follow my desires, I will wreck my life.” Most of us never consciously chose that belief—it’s just the air we breathe.
Ephesians 4:17-19 describes those who walk with futility in their thoughts, darkened in their understanding. Sinful behavior always starts in the mind. If your mind is devoid of truth, it leads to destructive actions.
Ideas and Images
This deception doesn’t just come from obviously false religious teaching. It comes through the stories we tell ourselves, movies we watch, books we read, heroes we glorify. It’s primarily through ideas and images.
Dallas Willard puts it this way: “Ideas and images are, accordingly, the primary focus of Satan’s efforts to defeat God’s purposes with and for humankind… When he undertook to draw Eve away from God, he did not hit her with a stick but with an idea.”
Ideas and images are subtle ways we are sabotaged and deceived. Many have the image of God as an angry traffic cop waiting to bust them for mistakes. Others are stuck in the idea that they must earn their salvation. Some imagine the church should be like a wild meadow with no structure, no planning, no budgeting—when Scripture says it’s a body that needs sustenance, a family that needs leadership, a vineyard that is pruned regularly.
Some of the greatest destroyers of peace in your life aren’t circumstantial; they’re intellectual.
If we don’t start here, it doesn’t matter if you do the practices or live in community. If we don’t allow truth to penetrate and change our ideas and images, we’ll be tossed about like immature children.
The Call To Renewal
Ephesians 4:20-24 calls us to renew our minds, and this happens over a lifetime. Sometimes there are lightbulb moments. But more often, it’s the slow and steady marathon of Scripture that changes us from the inside out.
Showing up to church is a great start. But that’s probably not enough when it comes to transforming the big stuff: overcoming sins you’ve promised God you’d never commit again, breaking free from bitterness and anger, no longer living in catastrophic thinking or for people’s approval, feeling deep in your bones that you truly are forgiven.
Six Ways to Renew Your Mind
Read large chunks of Scripture
Memorize small portions of Scripture
Sit under the teaching at church
Read books
Listen to podcasts
Study Bible in community
This is the first step, but it’s not the last. This will take you pretty far in the beginning years of the Christian life. You can’t think your way to Christlikeness alone. You can’t skip this step, but you’ll starve yourself if it’s the only step.
Peace is possible because of the Prince of Peace. One major piece we must begin with is teaching—renewing our minds. We must walk worthy of the calling we’ve received, and that starts by confronting the lies we’re already believing.
What lies are you already believing?

Welcome to Season Nine of the Formed by Jesus podcast! This is our favorite part of the year — where we share conversations with real people from Passion Creek Church about how they’re living out the Practices of Jesus in everyday life.
We’re still in our Witness Practice, learning how to cultivate a heart for the lost, pray with persistence, and open our lives to meaningful relationships with non-believers. In this episode, Emily Heaton returns to the podcast to share her story of growing up in Christian circles, feeling convicted about not knowing many non-believers, and how God used prayer, presence, and unexpected opportunities (including LDS missionaries knocking on her door!) to stretch her faith.
We talk about:
How prayer leads to opportunities for witness
Why presence matters more than having all the perfect answers
What it means to show hospitality without fear
How to step into spiritual conversations with wisdom and discernment
Why God often answers our prayers slowly, then suddenly
Plus, we get into stories about neighbors, bracelet-making, visiting other faith traditions, and what it means to be a peaceful presence in a polarized world.

Welcome to Season 9 of the Formed by Jesus Podcast—our deep dive into the Ninth Practice that’s shaped the trajectory of our church. If you’re new to Passion Creek, our Nine Practices to Make Disciples book is now on Amazon—summarizing the first full run-through of the practices that form us for life between Sundays.

In this episode, Trey sits down with Ryan to explore the Witness Practice: sharing your story, inviting others into community, and living a credible, consistent life with Jesus. We talk vulnerability vs. transparency, forgiveness that actually frees, how marriage becomes a living gospel, and why consistency beats intensity in spiritual formation. If you’ve ever wondered how to witness without being weird—or how to heal from bitterness and lead from your real story—this one’s for you.

Join our church as we pursue the way of Jesus through 9 practices. To learn more, go to: https://formedbyjesus.com

Coffee Table Book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FWR249RY
Spiritual Health Survey: https://form.typeform.com/to/n5FDTU8I?typeform-source=formedbyjesus.com

Join our church as we pursue the way of Jesus through 9 practices. To learn more, go to: https://formedbyjesus.com