Episodes

  • Church Planting in Dearborn, MI — Pastor Jerry Riendeau | Great Commission Today Season 2, Ep. 1

    Church Planting in Dearborn, MI — Pastor Jerry Riendeau | Great Commission Today Season 2, Ep. 1
    Apr 6 2026
    Planting a Church in America’s Most Arab City What does it look like to plant a church in America’s most Arab city — with no building, no elders, and no guarantees? Pastor Jerry Riendeau of Grace Presbyterian Church in Dearborn, Michigan has been finding out for the last four years. His story is honest, surprising, and full of grace. About This Episode Church planting is hard anywhere. In Dearborn, Michigan — a city of 110,000 where roughly half the population traces its roots to the Arab world — it might seem harder still. But Pastor Jerry Riendeau of Grace Presbyterian […]
    Show more Show less
    47 mins
  • A Tedious Chore During COVID Led His Old Friends to Christ | Rev. David Stewart

    A Tedious Chore During COVID Led His Old Friends to Christ | Rev. David Stewart
    Mar 9 2026
    What does faithfulness to the Great Commission look like when it doesn’t make headlines? In this episode of The Great Commission Today, our guest Rev. David Stewart, pastor of Grace PCA in Lake Suzy, Florida, reflects on discipleship, the ordinary means of grace, and what it means to trust God with the results of faithful ministry. The Great Commission Belongs to the Whole Church Rev. Stewart walks through Matthew 28:16–20 with careful attention, noting that the primary command is not to go but to make disciples — and that this commission belongs not just to ordained officers but to the […]
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 21 mins
  • Dr. Steve Hake on Discipleship, Outreach & the Great Commission

    Dr. Steve Hake on Discipleship, Outreach & the Great Commission
    Mar 2 2026
    What does it look like to live a life completely sold out to Christ—and still experience joy, peace, and fulfillment? In this episode of The Great Commission Today, we sit down with Dr. Steve Hake, a man who has pursued that question for over fifty years as a missionary, professor, and church elder. Dr. Hake’s journey began in the countercultural upheaval of the 1960s. As a self-described “wannabe hippie existentialist,” he entered college full of himself and spiritually lost. Then, in his words, “God smashed my life.” That divine disruption set him on a path that would include nearly twenty […]
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 16 mins
  • He Preached the Gospel in the Ruins of Babylon - Here’s Why It Matters Today (Guest: Rev. David Gilleran)

    He Preached the Gospel in the Ruins of Babylon - Here’s Why It Matters Today (Guest: Rev. David Gilleran)
    Feb 23 2026
    In this historically rich, and pastorally sober conversation, Rev. David Gilleran—Stated Clerk of the Presbytery of the Blue Ridge (PCA), longtime pastor, and former U.S. Army National Guard chaplain—joins The Great Commission Today to reflect on Christ’s command to make disciples in a fractured, isolated, and spiritually hungry age. Drawing from more than five decades of ministry, military chaplaincy in Iraq and Kuwait, presbytery leadership, and deep engagement with Scripture and church history, David offers a robust, church-centered vision of the Great Commission. He emphasizes Christ’s authority and presence as the foundation of mission, the necessity of both proclamation and […]
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 48 mins
  • Not Flashy, Still Faithful: Patience and Creativity in Great Commission Ministry (Interview with Rev. John “Penny” Pennylegion)

    Not Flashy, Still Faithful: Patience and Creativity in Great Commission Ministry (Interview with Rev. John “Penny” Pennylegion)
    Feb 16 2026
    PCA pastor John “Penny” Pennylegion (Christ the King PCA, Roanoke, VA) joins the conversation for a warm and highly practical discussion, guiding church leaders through a grounded vision for Great Commission faithfulness—one that’s deeply biblical, patiently relational, and confident in Christ’s authority and presence. Penny shares his powerful conversion story, the mentors God used to shape his ministry, and why disciple-making must include both evangelism and ongoing sanctification. He also reflects on the challenges of a post-Christian cultural moment—especially among younger adults—and offers wise, steady counsel: embrace a posture of exile, cultivate long-term relationships, practice tangible hospitality, and don’t be […]
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 25 mins
  • They Worshiped… and They Doubted: Why Jesus Gave the Great Commission Anyway (Guest: Chris Tapp)

    They Worshiped… and They Doubted: Why Jesus Gave the Great Commission Anyway (Guest: Chris Tapp)
    Feb 9 2026
    Chris Tapp, pastor of Stanmore Chapel in London, England, joins The Great Commission Today to explore what faithful disciple-making looks like in a global city shaped by diversity, secularism, immigration, and spiritual searching. Drawing from his own testimony, years of pastoral ministry, and deep engagement with Matthew’s Gospel, Chris helps listeners recover a worship-centered, church-shaped understanding of the Great Commission. He shows how disciple-making flows naturally out of worship, is sustained by Christ’s authority and presence, and is carried forward by ordinary believers living faithfully together as the people of God. From reflecting on the disciples as worshipers and doubters, […]
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 40 mins
  • Why Social Media Is Failing the Church—and What to Do Instead (Guest: Rev. Richard Dalton)

    Why Social Media Is Failing the Church—and What to Do Instead (Guest: Rev. Richard Dalton)
    Feb 5 2026
    In this visionary, wide-ranging, and deeply pastoral conversation, Rev. Richard Dalton—church planter, Anglican minister, and founder of Look Up Detroit—joins The Great Commission Today to explore how Christians can reclaim a faithful, visible, and redemptive presence in the digital public square. Drawing from his conversion story, decades of ministry, and a growing burden for cities, Richard presents Look Up Detroit as a compelling experiment in Christian collaboration, hospitality, and civic blessing. Rather than another siloed church website or algorithm-controlled social media feed, Look Up Detroit functions as a city-wide digital front porch—a place where churches, service organizations, libraries, nonprofits, and […]
    Show more Show less
    29 mins
  • The Church Knows the Great Commission—So Why Aren’t We Doing It? (Guest: Rev. Pete Hurst)

    The Church Knows the Great Commission—So Why Aren’t We Doing It? (Guest: Rev. Pete Hurst)
    Feb 2 2026
    In this thoughtful and deeply pastoral conversation, Rev. Pete Hurst—retired Presbyterian minister, businessman, writer, and founder of PeteHurst.com—joins The Great Commission Today to reflect on a lifetime of ministry, vocation, and obedience to Christ’s Great Commission. Drawing from decades of pastoral service, involvement in the early formation of the PCA, current membership in an OPC church plant, and years of experience in business and real estate, Pete offers a rich, whole-life vision of disciple-making rooted in the authority and presence of Christ. He explores how the Great Commission encompasses not only evangelism and church planting, but also stewardship, work, worldview […]
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 29 mins