Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide. In 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul urges believers to live in a way that pleases God and to keep growing more and more in their walk with Christ. This is not about reaching a point where we’ve “arrived,” but about continually maturing in three key areas: faith, hope, and love. We grow in faith by obeying God’s Word and pursuing holiness, trusting Him in every area of life. We grow in hope by fixing our eyes on the risen Lord, who conquered death. We gr...
Aug 11, 2025•35 min
Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide. How do you respond when life turns up the heat—when the trials and tribulations inevitably come? Do you find yourself reacting in fear, scrambling for answers and stability? Or are you able to respond with faith, drawing from a place of preparation and strength? In his second letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul offers a powerful reminder: Scripture is not merely a sacred text or a religious tradition—it is the very word of God (2 Timothy 3:16)....
Aug 04, 2025•26 min
Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide. In this week’s sermon on Matthew 5:9-10, we explore the deep meaning of shalom—a peace that is more than just the absence of conflict but the presence of wholeness, justice, and the right relationship with God and others. Jesus calls us to be peacemakers, not by passively avoiding confrontation, but as active agents of reconciliation in a broken world. True peacemaking often leads to resistance, even persecution, because it challenges systems o...
Jul 28, 2025•31 min
Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide. Do you ever struggle to see how God is at work? Not just in the world, but in your own story? Though God is never mentioned by name in the book of Esther, His presence is unmistakable through every twist and turn of the story, revealing that God is at work even when we can’t see it or understand. This week’s sermon shifts our perspective and reminds us that God isn’t part of our story—we are part of His redemptive story, and it is still being w...
Jul 21, 2025•34 min
Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide. During difficult or trying seasons, there’s power in showing up. All of us are moved by stories of people who go beyond their own security and sense of comfort to show up for people in need. In this message, we’re asking ourselves this question: What does it look like to be people who show up for others but also as those who are fully alive in our own stories? Esther’s story reminds us that, while there is often a cost to showing up for others,...
Jul 14, 2025•31 min
Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide. In the midst of suffering and tragedy, the example of Stephen in Acts 7:55–56 offers a profound glimpse of hope and perspective. As he faced death, Stephen, "full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God." Even while being unjustly stoned, he fixed his eyes on the risen and exalted Lord. This vision reminds us that in our darkest moments, Christ is not distant—he is with us. T...
Jul 07, 2025•35 min
Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide. We all face moments in life when we feel uncertain, overwhelmed, or simply unsure of what to do next. Whether it’s a major decision, a season of suffering, or a quiet struggle, those moments can leave us feeling stuck or unprepared. In this week’s sermon, we learn what it looks like to couple wisdom with action to navigate the difficult seasons of life. It’s not enough to just know what’s right—we need the courage and capacity to live it out. W...
Jun 30, 2025•34 min
Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide. Have you ever asked, “Why am I going through this? What is God doing?” No matter the season we’re in, testing is inevitable. Some trials come from our own decisions; others are allowed—or even designed—by God to shape us. James 1:2-4 urges us to “consider it pure joy” when we face these trials, because they produce endurance and maturity. But let’s be honest, finding joy in hardship isn’t our natural response. That’s why perspective matters. Pe...
Jun 23, 2025•39 min
Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide. All of us make decisions all the time. You make thousands of small decisions every day, a handful of important decisions every year, and a few truly life-altering decisions throughout your life. The environment we create is a direct result of the source of wisdom that we allow to influence our decisions. Where are you getting the wisdom it takes to make the best decisions for yourself and for those around you? In this week’s sermon, we learn a ...
Jun 16, 2025•35 min
Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide Have you ever said something and immediately wished you hadn’t? If that’s you, you’re not alone. James, one of the letters in our New Testament, says, “You can tame a tiger, but you can’t tame a tongue—it’s never been done.” Words are powerful. The way we speak can give life to those around us. But if we’re not careful, our words can also leave cuts and bruises that last a lifetime. How are you using your words? And how on earth can we tame the ...
Jun 09, 2025•34 min
Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide. What is something you can never get enough of? We all have insatiable desires, and no matter how much we have or accumulate, we still want a little more. Not just more material things like money, more shoes, more trips—it’s the deeper longings for things like affirmation, security, and love. What do we do with our deep desires? Is satisfaction even possible? In this week’s sermon, we learn that only Jesus, the bread of life, can satisfy our hun...
Jun 02, 2025•27 min
Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide. Have you ever experienced a moment when things didn’t work out the way you thought they would? You expected the situation to go one way, but it went in a totally different direction— and you were left wondering, “What just happened?” Maybe it was a job you thought for sure you’d get, but didn’t. Or a relationship that fizzled out when you believed it would go the distance. Or a business deal that showed every sign of success, but failed unexpec...
May 28, 2025•30 min
Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide All year, we’ve explored what it looks like to cultivate a life with God, where the Holy Spirit grows good things in us and around us. You know the yield: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Who doesn’t need more of these blessings in their lives? While we recognize that only God can grow us in these areas, it does require our participation. As we seek to keep in step with the Spirit, we must t...
May 21, 2025•31 min
Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide. Family can be messy and complicated. In this week’s sermon, we look at the story of Sarai, Abram, and Hagar in Genesis 16. Sarai tries to control God's timing, Abram goes along without resistance, and Hagar finds herself exploited and abandoned. Yet, God shows up, reminding us that God does not ignore the suffering of the vulnerable. In fact, the first person in Scripture to name God is Hagar—a pregnant, runaway servant. Being in the middle of ...
May 12, 2025•26 min
Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide. We often think about self-control in terms of being from something—to not say this or not do that. But what about self-control for something? God is calling us into life with Him, yet there are so many pressures and voices calling us away. Cultivating self-control allows us to say yes to God and orient our lives to the things that matter the most. In this next season to come, what might God be wanting from you and for you?...
May 05, 2025•29 min
Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide. Over the past year, we’ve been learning what it means to cultivate lives that bear the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and finally, self-control. Self-control is about mastery over our own desires. It’s the strength to say “yes” when everything in us wants to say “no” and to say “no” when our impulses push us toward “yes.” In Romans 7, Paul describes the tension between his intentio...
Apr 28, 2025•33 min
Apr 20, 2025•25 min
Apr 18, 2025•15 min
Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide. Jesus stood on a hill overlooking Jerusalem—the Kidron Valley spread from right to left before him, the temple mount rising up on the other side of the valley, and the walls of Jerusalem encircling the capital city. From that hill, Jesus would descend into the valley, up again into the city, and into the temple itself. Everyone who knew him, and many who had only heard of him, were asking themselves, “What will he do?” They believed he would be...
Apr 14, 2025•35 min
Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide. What does Jesus mean when he says, “gentle”? Jesus says he has a gentle heart and that the gentle (or “meek,” the same word in Greek) will inherit the earth. So, what is it that Jesus means when he uses the term "gentle”? The gentleness question has taken me from the New Testament to the Old. Through word studies and commentaries and desperate Google searches, to times in prayer and many, many conversations. In this message, we explore what it ...
Apr 07, 2025•32 min
Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide. What tone do you imagine when you think about God speaking to you? Our past experiences and current circumstances often shape the tone or how we hear God’s voice. Yet, the clearest way to understand God's nature is by looking at the life of Jesus, who shows us gentleness in how he carries his authority with both care and humility. Instead of delivering hard truths with harsh words or condemnation, Jesus speaks with compassion....
Mar 31, 2025•32 min
Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide. In Romans 4:19-25, the Apostle Paul recounts the faith of Abraham and explains that righteousness is granted by faithfulness. Despite setbacks and seemingly impossible circumstances, Abraham remained faithful and trusted in God’s promise, which is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness” (v. 19-22). Not only was this true for Abraham—it is true for us as well (v. 23-24). Belief in God fundamentally changes how we live, no matter the ...
Mar 24, 2025•27 min
Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide. What are you afraid of? How does fear hold you back or keep you from living by faith? In this week’s sermon, we look at the family of Moses whose faith toppled the most powerful empire in the world. They had much to fear, but by putting their hope in the right place, and being faithful in ordinary moments, this family changed the course of history. If we are to cultivate lives that produce faithfulness, our fear of God must be greater than our ...
Mar 17, 2025•35 min
Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide. What do you do when it seems like faith has failed you? How do you handle disappointment, difficulty, and doubt that inevitably comes when things do not turn out how you thought they would? In this week’s sermon, we examine the life and faith of Abraham (Hebrews 11). Although he encountered uncertainty, setbacks, doubt, and fear, Abraham stayed the course and ultimately trusted God with the outcome. Similarly, our faith should guide us to obedi...
Mar 10, 2025•33 min
Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection guide. The author of Hebrews likens living a faithful life to running a race with perseverance, throwing off anything that hinders or entangles us (Hebrews 12:1). The Christian life is a relay race, in which someone else handed us the baton that we will inevitably hand off to someone else. We are called to be faithful with our stretch of the race! In the preceding chapter, the author explains that faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the con...
Mar 03, 2025•31 min
Feb 24, 2025•26 min
Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide. Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and mother… How are you doing with these? In Mark 10:17-22, a rich young ruler who seemingly had it all and had it all together, asks Jesus what he must do to live a good life. Jesus then reminded him of the commandments, all of which he claims to have kept since he was young. But there was one thing he lacked—covetousness. He lacke...
Feb 17, 2025•33 min
Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide. In a world that emphasizes individualism and autonomy, everyone has their own definition of what is good. And without even realizing it, we can also choose heteronomy, in which others tell us what’s good. Whether it is ourselves or another human being, we must consider the source and confront the possibility that our ideas of right and wrong might be flawed. In fact, Jesus tells us that “no one is good—except for God alone” (Mark 10:18). We oft...
Feb 10, 2025•36 min
Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide What is good? We each have our own ideas of what’s good and what’s bad, and it’s often where these differences collide that we run into problems. In this week’s sermon, we discover that true goodness isn’t about our actions or outward appearances. In Mark 7, Jesus teaches his disciples that goodness doesn’t come from what’s external but from what’s inside. It’s a matter of the heart. To cultivate goodness within us and in the world around us, we...
Feb 03, 2025•26 min
Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide. “What difference does it make?” We have all asked that question at some point. It’s easy for us to think about what we lack rather than what we have. However, this mindset is a kindness killer, causing us to miss out on opportunities for God to work through us and within us. In this week’s sermon, we explore the passage leading up to Jesus’ miracle of feeding the 5,000 with just five loaves of bread and two fish (Mark 6:30-38). Although the dis...
Jan 28, 2025•29 min
