The Common Ground ABQ Podcast

June 7th, 2026 | Pastor Shaun Jaramillo | More Than Enough | Pull Up A Chair Week 6

This powerful message challenges us to shift our perspective from what we lack to who God is. At its core is the familiar story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 from John 6:1-13, but it invites us to see it with fresh eyes. When we face overwhelming circumstances, our natural instinct is to do the math—to count our resources, measure our abilities, and calculate whether we have enough. Philip looked at 5,000 hungry people and immediately thought about the impossibility of feeding them all. We do the same thing. We see the size of our problems and compare them to the size of our wallets, our talents, or our strength, and we panic. But this story reminds us that walking by faith means trusting that God is more than enough, even when our resources look laughably small. The boy's five loaves and two fish seemed insignificant in the face of such need, yet in Jesus's hands, they became more than sufficient. The miracle didn't happen while the lunch stayed safely tucked away—it multiplied as Jesus broke it and gave it away. This reveals a profound truth: God multiplies what we release, not what we hoard. Whether it's our time, energy, money, or talents, when we surrender our small offerings to God with faith as tiny as a mustard seed, He can move mountains. The challenge before us is to stop insulting our gifts because they seem small and instead place them in the hands of a big God who specializes in doing the impossible with the insufficient.

May 31st, 2026 | Pastor Matthew Whelan | What do you Bring to the Table | Pull up a Chair Week 5

This powerful message takes us deep into Luke chapter 7, where we witness a stunning collision of two radically different attitudes at the same dinner table. On one side sits a Pharisee named Simon, who invited Jesus to his home not out of genuine hospitality, but to test and potentially embarrass Him. On the other side stands a woman known throughout the city as a sinner, who crashes the dinner party with nothing but an alabaster flask of oil, tears streaming down her face, and a heart desperate for forgiveness. What unfolds is a masterclass in how our attitude shapes everything—the atmosphere we create, the actions we take, and ultimately the outcomes we experience. The Pharisee's attitude of judgment and self-righteousness caused him to withhold the customary signs of welcome: washing Jesus' feet, greeting Him with a kiss, and anointing His head with oil. Meanwhile, the woman's attitude of humility and desperation led her to wash Jesus' feet with her tears, dry them with her hair, and anoint them with precious oil. Jesus then tells a parable about two debtors—one owing 500 denarii, the other 50—both forgiven by a gracious creditor. The question He poses cuts to the heart: which one will love more? The answer is obvious, yet profound. We discover that recognizing our desperate need for forgiveness opens the door to experiencing God's transformative love. This isn't just an ancient story; it's a mirror held up to our own hearts, asking us what we're bringing to the table when we approach God.

May 24th, 2026 | Pastor Shaun Jaramillo | The Family Table | Pull Up A Chair Week 4

This powerful message takes us deep into Acts chapter 10, exploring what we might call the 'second Pentecost'—the moment when God dramatically expanded His family table to include the Gentiles. We're confronted with Peter's rooftop vision of unclean animals and God's revolutionary command: 'Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.' What unfolds is a beautiful collision between religious tradition and kingdom expansion, as Peter must literally walk across the threshold into a Roman centurion's home—something culturally forbidden—to discover that God's grace knows no ethnic, cultural, or social boundaries. The message challenges us to examine our own 'no, Lord' moments, those times when we claim Jesus as boss but argue with Him when He tells us to change. We're reminded that the interruptions in our lives—the unexpected knocks on the door, the inconvenient requests, the people who don't fit our comfortable circles—are often God's assignments in disguise. The table of Jesus now has legs, and we're called to carry it everywhere: to work, to the park, to the mall, into uncomfortable conversations and unfamiliar spaces. This isn't just ancient history; it's a living invitation to let God interrupt our schedules, challenge our biases, and expand our definition of family. The question we must wrestle with is simple yet profound: Are we willing to get uncomfortable enough to welcome everyone God is inviting to His table?

May 17th, 2026 | Pastor Matthew Whelan | The Misfit Table | Pull Up A Chair Week 3

This powerful message challenges us to move beyond comfortable Christianity into intentional engagement with those outside our circles. Drawing from Luke 5:27-32, we explore Jesus' radical choice to dine with tax collectors and sinners, demonstrating that God's invitation isn't just for us to come to His table, but for us to go to others' tables. The sermon brilliantly unpacks three progressive stages: first, accepting the open invitation to Jesus' table; second, sitting at His feet in intimate discipleship; and third, going to the misfit tables where others sit isolated and overlooked. The cafeteria metaphor resonates deeply—we all remember the social hierarchies of lunchrooms, the invisible boundaries between groups, the unspoken rules about who belongs where. Yet Jesus deliberately crossed those boundaries, choosing mercy over merit, scandalous socializing over safe fellowship. The challenge before us is profound: Are we willing to leave our comfortable tables and sit with those society labels as misfits? The worn, weathered table used as a sermon illustration perfectly captures this truth—what appears broken and unworthy often carries the most beautiful history and purpose. We're reminded that service doesn't end when we leave church; it's a constant living for Christ that extends into every relationship and interaction throughout our week.

May 10th, 2026 | Amir Whelan | A Seat At Jesus' Feet | Pull Up A Chair Week 2

This powerful message invites us to examine what happens when our service to God becomes disconnected from our relationship with Him. Through the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42, we discover a profound truth: we can be physically present with Jesus while being emotionally and spiritually distant from Him. Martha welcomed Jesus into her home with genuine hospitality, yet somewhere between the welcome and the work, her heart shifted from devotion to distraction. The message challenges us to recognize four critical patterns that emerge when we prioritize doing over being: the crushing weight of responsibility we were never meant to carry alone, the danger of distraction that fragments our attention and distorts our perspective, the tender invitation of Jesus who calls us by name in our exhaustion, and the intentional choice of devotion that Mary made to sit at His feet. What makes this story so relevant is that Martha wasn't distracted by sinful things—she was distracted by too many things. We learn that burnout often results not from doing too much, but from doing too much without being replenished by God's presence. The invitation is clear: come to Jesus first, be filled by Him, and let our service flow from that place of connection rather than depletion.