#5- T. Umbanhowar- June 6- 2023

The JIGGIN Podcast, which stands for Jesus is the Good News, aims to share the message of Jesus being the Good News. The host discusses Romans 8:1, which states that there is no condemnation for those in Christ. The host also explains the connection between JIGGIN and fishing, as Jesus called his disciples to be fishers of men. The guest, Tom Umbenhauer, shares his faith background and how he came to know Jesus. He expresses his happiness at Rochedale Christian Church and the joy he finds in attending Sunday school and hearing the sermons. The host encourages listeners to live out their faith and share the good news of Jesus with others. Well, it's a beautiful day. Welcome to the JIGGIN Podcast. JIGGIN, spelled J-I-G-G-I-N, stands for Jesus is the Good News. And Jesus is the Good News, that's the message that we hope to share on this podcast. And when we're thinking about Jesus being the Good News, you know, one of my favorite places in Scripture to refer back to or to think about the Good News comes from Romans chapter 8. And Romans 8 verse 1, here's what it says, Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. And Paul has a lot more to say about that, but there's no condemnation for those of us that are in Christ Jesus, and that's ultimately the Good News. And not just that, but JIGGIN is another name for fishing. You could go, you know, maybe you'd have a fishing jig. And so if you were going JIGGIN, you'd be fishing. And Jesus, when He first called His disciples, He said, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And again, that's something that we hope to do also here on the JIGGIN Podcast. So Jesus is the Good News, and we hope to do some JIGGIN for men. And this is Nate Bryan. I'm the preacher at Rochedale Christian Church. And today I have on one of our elders, Mr. Tom Umbenhower. Thanks for coming on the podcast, Tom. Thank you. Glad to be here. So Tom, just to get started here, I know a lot of people obviously know you. Not necessarily everyone might know you, but why don't you tell us a little bit just about your background, your faith background, and ultimately how you came to know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. All right. Well, I was raised in the Christian Church. I've been on the Christian Church all my life. And my earliest recollection of God and Heaven was with my mother. She was my spiritual leader. She's the one that got me started in the church, believing in God and Jesus. And we stayed here in Rochedale during the war. And when an old person says the war, they're of course speaking of World War II. And my dad was in the Army, and we stayed out here on the farm, which we still have, with my grandparents. And we were on, it's funny, I can remember this, but we were on 236 down almost to 231, which we called 43 back then. And my mother was telling me about death. And it didn't hold much appeal to me. I'd never known this. I thought this world would just go on like we were forever. And she could see I was kind of dejected, so she wanted to give me some hope. And she says, but if you believe in God and believe in Jesus Christ, you can be saved and you can live forever with Him in eternity. And that stuck with me. I mean, it rang a bell. So I learned a lot that day. That got me started. My mother taught Sunday school to mostly first graders for probably 50 years. And I've been in the church, like I said, all my life. I've served different capacities. Sunday school teacher, deacon, trustee, elder, youth group leader. And it's just been a way of life. There's been times when I was pretty weak in the face and kind of drifted away. But I never cut my ties with the church. I always stayed close enough, but I did come back completely and enjoy that life today in the hope that it holds for me. Well, so that story with your mom that was in the car on 236, is that right? 1944. Yeah, 1944. Okay, you remember the car. So that's an awesome story. I love hearing that. And all I can tell you is we are so glad to have you at Rochedale Christian Church. And with that in mind, why don't you tell us a little bit about what brought you here. You mentioned growing up in the area or at least being out here a lot. And so how did you end up at Rochedale Christian Church? Well, I inherited the farm that my grandparents owned. Being a spoiled only child, well, I got that. I was lucky enough. And I love it out here. This is my favorite place. And we come out here every weekend. Our other home is outside of Brownsburg, Indiana. We have a few acres there. But we come out here every Saturday night and mostly every Sunday night and stay. And we were going to a megachurch 30 miles away and driving past here every Sunday. And I said, this is kind of silly. I went to this church. My mother brought me here during the war. And I'd like to go back. And I've been out here, lived out here with my grandmother when I first got out of high school. And I would come out and stay when I was growing up a week or two with my grandparents. So I knew a few people around the community, and there were a few of them still alive. And a lot of people in the church remember my grandmother. There were three people that I met that remember my grandfather, which I think is remarkable since he died in 1954. And two of those persons are still alive. One of them was Clark's grandfather that knew my grandfather. Yeah, Clark. Yeah, my grandfather. So we started stopping in here sometimes instead of going back to Brownsburg. And then I found or discovered that the church was going through sort of a rough time. Things weren't going well. And I said, I think this church needs us more than the other church needs us. So we started coming. And after a while, I just decided to transfer my tithes here too. Because I figured they needed that worse than the megachurch did. And then we did finally become members. And I've enjoyed it ever since. It was a good move. Yeah, well, I'll tell you what, like I said, we're so glad you're here. And I think it's so interesting. I know you would agree how God works. And I think about how you were driving past here. And I firmly believe that God brought you and Annette here for a reason. And you have helped provide leadership. And like you said, we've been through some tough times in recent years but helped bring leadership and stability. And you've got just that background. And one thing I have noticed, I don't know if you've noticed, but when you speak, people listen. They do. They do listen. And so we are so, again, grateful to have you here. And so let's move on to the fun part now, what I think is the fun part, and just talk about Scripture a little bit. And I know that's what the biggest thing we hope to do with this podcast is to put this out there for the congregation to get to know us as people in the church, but to share the Word of God and to point people to Jesus. And so what is your favorite part or verse of Scripture? Well, I have to say that John 3.16 is probably the greatest. It gives us such a great hope, and we see what a sacrifice Jesus made for us, for us only. And then closely behind that, my favorite would be Philippians 4.13, and paraphrase, I can do all things through Christ who strengthened me. I was a distance runner for 30-some years, ran my last half marathon a couple years ago, and I can't tell you how many marathons and half marathons that Philippians 4.13 got me through. It would get tough, and I'd start repeating that, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. It was really a consolation. Yeah, no, that's good. A couple obviously of, well, a couple of my favorite verses also. When you bring up Philippians 4.13, I didn't know that you had been a runner and run marathons and things, but I have a sports background too, and football more so than anything, and that was one too that I remember in college we had to run a conditioning test the first day we reported to camp. And again, one of those verses that they constantly cling to when it's 100 degrees out on the turf and you've got to run, let's see, we had to run 480s, 660s, 850s, and 1240s. And anyway, it was broken up into four quarters. I just remember how hot it would seem it would be, but Christ has a way of strengthening us. With that in mind too, I wanted to share, I was going to read, I'm going to read a portion of this to those listening, and I'm going to start with Philippians 4.11 leading up to this. And here's what Paul says there. He says, I'm not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through Him who gives me strength. Again, we can look at that verse and relate to Paul in so many ways that we know where our strength comes from. But I think about the reminder that it gives us. Leading up to that, he talks about being content in any and every circumstance. Like you said, whether we're out on a running marathon or we're out running, and I guess in some ways being content, but knowing where our strength truly does come from Him, also just in our life that we've all probably, and if we could be in the middle of a hard time, we could be in a situation where we're well-fed or hungry, or maybe we're living in luxury, or maybe we're living in a time of need and want, but that we know that our strength comes from our Father in Heaven. So that's just, again, a good one always for us to keep in our minds. I just wanted to share that. So let's move on from there then. So after favorite verses, what is your favorite book of the Bible? I'd probably have to say it was Acts, how the early church got started, how Paul was converted, and what a strong Christian he became. Even when you mentioned his contentment, even the books he wrote while he was in prison displayed a certain attitude of contentment. You wouldn't even think, you wouldn't realize he was in prison. You think about ourselves, we'd be there complaining and saying, get me out and help me, and he had full confidence in God that God would lead him to whatever He wanted him to do or be, and he didn't complain or rebel or anything. You wouldn't really, even like I said, know that he was in prison when he wrote these books. Yeah, no doubt about it. No, I love Acts too. There's so many good things throughout the book of Acts, and I thought I'd also just dive in on a couple of different points along with things that you said. And Acts 2, just one of my favorites too, is when Peter stands up, he delivers that first real gospel sermon at the end. And I'm going to just pick up at verse 36 here actually. The last part of that sermon he gives, he says, God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah. When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, Brothers, what shall we do? Verse 38 says, Peter replied, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and all who are far off, for all whom the Lord our God will call. And that's just a message I like for us to remember and share, because that repenting and being baptized that Peter called them to 2,000 years ago is still what we're called to do here today. And anyone that may hear the gospel and be cut to the heart, you may ask that question, what shall we do? Just as they ask, you know, and Peter answers it very clearly. And just one other place in talking about the importance of baptism that came to mind as you mentioned the book of Acts is, and I preached on this here a couple of months ago, but the story of the Ethiopian eunuch is also one that just clicked into my head too. I love how, you know, here's Philip and he's told to go down the deserted road. He comes upon this Ethiopian eunuch and ultimately comes up beside him. And I love, I'm just going to share this little portion here. We'll read verse 34 on. It says, the eunuch asked Philip, please tell me who is the prophet talking about? As he had been reading out of the book of Isaiah. And he said, himself or someone else. And then Philip began with that very passage of scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. And so all it tells us is that Philip shared the good news about Jesus. And then it picks up the very next verse and it says, and as they traveled along the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, look, here's water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized? And so we know that he shared the good news about Jesus. They came up on water. That question always is one that sticks with me. What's standing in the way? What's stopping me? And, you know, that's a cool little story there. And then the last one that I wanted to just sort of dive into for a moment today was out of Acts chapter 20. And here I'm sitting with Tom. And Tom is, again, one of our elders that I just think so much of. But here Paul is giving a farewell to the elders in Ephesus. The Ephesian elders, he kind of bid them farewell. I just want to read a little bit about what he said here, starting with verse 22 in Acts 20. And Paul said, and now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me. My only aim is to finish the race and complete the task that the Lord Jesus has given me, the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace. And I just think of that being Paul's farewell. And I heard you earlier talk about the hope that you have in life and the hope that we all can have. What he had to say there is, I consider my life worth nothing to me. My only aim is to finish the race and to testify to the good news of God's grace. And anyway, if we could all be like Paul in that regard, I just think about what a different world we would be living in. So I just want to share that before we sort of close it up here today. So I guess one final question before we sort of close it up, Tom, is a lot of the congregation knows you. Maybe not all of them do. But what would you want the congregation, the people of Rochedale Christian Church, to know about you as one of their elders? Well, the main thing that I would like them to know is that of all the churches that I've attended and been a member of, I'm the happiest here of any church I've ever gone to. I look forward to Sunday more than I ever did. There have been times where I have to admit I kind of dread Sunday. Oh, I've got to go to church again. I don't have that feeling. I look forward to it. I look forward to the Sunday school class. We have an excellent teacher who is very interesting. And Sunday school has been a big help to me too. I've gotten to know more people. I've gained friends. And I look forward to the sermon, hearing it, and meeting around the table, hearing what the elders have to say, the stories they have to relate. To me, it's all very interesting. And I just want everybody to know that I'm the happiest here of any church that I've ever gone to, and I appreciate that. Well, again, we appreciate you more than I can express, Tom. And I'm probably not always good at, I guess, expressing that as much even as I should. But I also know that I can tell you that the congregation, people get excited when you give devotions. I don't know if you know that or not. Some of us are always guessing, is Tom going to have notes with him today or no notes with him today? But I appreciate you two talking about Sunday school. And you mentioned Bob. I know Bob Stockwell does a great job with Sunday school. And we've got several Sunday school classes going. I just want people to know, if you're not currently plugged into one, again, Bob Stockwell has a good class. There's another, Chris Rambis, one of our other elders, has a new class that started up. They're studying the Sermon on the Mountain. I know people are enjoying and learning there too. And then several of the other elders are also in another class, and Alan Zirkle and their wives and several others are helping teach that. And then we have youth. We've got a Sunday school class for our middle and high school students as well that my wife, Lynn, and I teach. And then there's also what we call our Wonderland and Kingdom Kids age group kids. So Wonderland is the 3-year-olds through kindergarten, and Kingdom Kids is the 1st through 5th grades. And I just wanted to share that once again because Sunday school, I believe, like Tom had shared, has really helped him. I know that it's a place where it gives us all an opportunity to get plugged in, to get in the Word, to spend time, like you said, around the table together in the Word of God. And that's important and something we need to be doing more and more of. So once again, Tom, I just want to thank you for coming on the Jigging Podcast. Thank you. And I just want to, I guess, give one final challenge to those that are listening here today. Go out and share the good news of Jesus Christ with others. Go and, first off, live out your faith so that others see. There's that old saying, but I think it's so true, that maybe the only Bible that someone's ever going to read is you and your life and how you treat them. And so let's start by living out our faith, and then let's tell them the good news. And remember, we're the Jigging Podcast, and our goal is to go out and to do some jigging, to do some fishing for men. And so that's a challenge to each of you as well, to go out and be fishers of men, share the good news, tell people about Jesus Christ and the grace and the forgiveness that's available to us, and only through him because he is the way and the only way and the truth and the life. So thanks again for listening to the Jigging Podcast.