Pastor Tim Johnson opens with a simple but weighty challenge: write down two words — rise up. Drawing from Psalm 20, a battle hymn sung by Israel before marching into conflict, Pastor Tim makes the case that God is calling His church to rise above fear, discontentment, and the trap of self-reliance. He defines discontentment as "a feeling of unhappiness, dissatisfaction, or a restless desire for better circumstances," and argues that its true opposite is not satisfaction, but surrender. God, he reminds us, did not create us for comfort or contentment — He created us for conformity to His purpose and His will.

From there, Pastor Tim unpacks an acronym built around the phrase RISE UP. To rise, we must first reject false confidence — identifying whatever we've been leaning on besides God, whether reputation, finances, intelligence, or the hope that circumstances will simply change. We must then invest our trust in the Lord, boasting not in chariots or horses but in the name of the Lord our God, as Psalm 20:7 declares. We are called to seek God's presence, because as Pastor Tim puts it, "purpose is found in presence." We must endure with expectant faith, even when — especially when — life is painful and nothing seems to be moving. We are to understand where our victory comes from, recognizing that the people of God rise not because they are stronger, but because God is their defender. And finally, we must persevere and rise, remaining steadfast through hardship rather than merely surviving it.

Pastor Tim closes with a stirring call to action rooted in Psalm 20:5 — "We will sing for joy over your victory" — a declaration made before the battle was won. He invites the church to stand and raise a banner, claiming the name of Jehovah Nissi, God our banner, over every fear, frustration, and impossibility. Victory, he reminds us, has already been established in God's heart and mind. The invitation is simply to trust Him enough to believe it.

Pastor Steve Smith opens his Father's Day sermon with a humorous and self-deprecating story about spoofing an email to motivate his son Nathan to apply for college — a plan that backfired in memorable fashion. From that lighthearted moment, Pastor Steve pivots to a deeper truth: just as his son was briefly heartbroken, all of us carry real and serious wounds — loss, rejection, abuse, divorce, unfaithfulness, and more. Psalms 34:19 reminds us that "many are the afflictions of the righteous," and Pastor Steve makes clear that the question is not whether we have been broken, but whether we have allowed the healer to heal our broken hearts.

Pastor Steve anchors his message in the prophetic words of Isaiah 61:1-2, fulfilled by Jesus in Luke 4:16-21, where Christ declares He was anointed to heal the brokenhearted and set the captives free. He also points to Isaiah 53:3-6, the portrait of the suffering servant, reminding the congregation that every stripe Jesus bore on His back was for our healing — including the healing of our hearts. The enemy, Pastor Steve warns, wants nothing more than to keep us from the one person who can truly mend what is broken in us.

Pastor Steve closes by laying out practical steps toward healing: repentance, forgiving others, drawing near to God, leaving ultimate justice to Him, trusting in His healing, praising Him even in pain, and refusing to let brokenness define our identity. He uses the Japanese art of kintsugi — the practice of repairing broken pottery with gold — as a beautiful picture of what Christ does in our lives, making us more beautiful and more glorious than we were before, and pointing others back to the One who did the healing.

In this sermon on Psalm 121, Pastor Jonathan reminds us that God is not just a good God — He is a more than enough God, El Shaddai. Drawing from personal stories and Scripture, he challenges the false teaching that God won't give us more than we can handle, pointing us instead toward total dependence on the Lord. When we empty ourselves of pride, shame, and rebellion, God fills us up and causes our cups to overflow.

Drawing from Psalm 130, Pastor Johnathan opens with a vivid picture of climbing a massive sand dune in Namibia — every step sinking, every footfall threatening to pull him down — as a metaphor for how the enemy works in our lives. Just as C.S. Lewis wrote that "human history is the long, terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy," we keep stepping toward things that promise happiness while the sand rises around us. Pastor Johnathan reminds us that the greatest attacks often come just before a breakthrough, pointing to Psalm 71:20, which says, "You have allowed me to suffer much hardship, but you will restore me to life again and lift me up from the depths of the earth."

Pastor Johnathan then walks through two of Satan's primary strategies against us: confusion and accusation. Referencing 2 Corinthians 4:4, he explains that Satan has "blinded the minds of those who don't believe," bringing spiritual ignorance into our marriages, our understanding of authority, and even our identities. As the accuser, Satan bottles up our past sins and holds them up as a mirror, trying to convince us that our failures define us. But Pastor Johnathan reminds us that the moment the enemy accuses, Jesus stands as our intercessor — and his blood has already covered it.

The sermon closes with a powerful call to true repentance rather than mere remorse. Remorse keeps us in the depths, but godly sorrow leads us to turn from sin and run to Adonai with our whole hearts. As 1 John 1:9 promises, "If we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness." The promise has come in Jesus Christ, and because of his unfailing love and full redemption, we no longer have to wear our sin, agree with the accuser, or live in the depths. We are set apart, and today is the day to step into that new identity.

In "Barely Standing," Pastor Johnathan opens by sharing his recent mission trip to Namibia, where he ministered to roughly 40 pastors from nine different countries — some of whom traveled from nations where Christians are actively persecuted and murdered. He also recounts the humbling experience of attempting to climb Dune 7, the tallest sand dune in Namibia, where exhaustion overtook him before he reached the top. That moment on the dune became a spiritual mirror, showing him two perspectives: when he looked up, he felt discouraged by how far he had to go, but when he looked down, he was reminded of how far he had already come. It's a picture Pastor Johnathan brings straight into the pew — many of us are so focused on what's still ahead that we forget to look back and remember how far God has already brought us.

The heart of the message is anchored in Psalm 139:10, which says, "even there, your hand will guide me and your strength will support me." Pastor Johnathan walks through David's raw, honest cries in the Psalms — from Psalm 13:1-2 to Psalm 142:1 — showing that wrestling with God in the middle of a trial is nothing new. He also draws on the story of Hagar in Genesis 16, pointing out that God pursued her even when she wasn't pursuing Him, revealing Himself as El Roi — the God who sees. The sermon's central challenge is this: stop hiding from God, stop letting excuses block your breakthrough, and instead run toward the One whose hand is always reaching out, ready to guide and strengthen you.

Pastor Joe opens with a personal story about organizing gospel events in Zambia that left him buried in debt, setting the stage for a sermon rooted in real-life struggle. Using Psalm 3 — David's psalm written while fleeing his own son Absalom's coup — Pastor Joe asks the central question: how can we position ourselves for victory when life falls apart? His answer unfolds in four practical points drawn straight from the text.

The first two points center on who God is and how we relate to Him. Pastor Joe makes a sharp distinction between knowing about God and truly knowing God — describing the latter as "a deep experiential and personal relationship that leads to a complete transformation of one's life from the inside out." He emphasizes that David called God Lord, a word that carries the weight of both covenant relationship and supreme rulership, meaning full surrender is required. From that place of surrender, trust naturally grows — just as David shifts his focus in Psalm 3 from his overwhelming enemies to the God who is his shield.

The final two points remind us that God is present in the storm and that He genuinely answers prayer. Pastor Joe draws from Matthew 14 to show that even the disciples, who were squarely in the will of God, hit a fierce storm on the water. Being in God's will doesn't guarantee smooth sailing, but it does guarantee His presence. He closes with a remarkable personal story of being stranded, robbed, and penniless in a foreign country — only for God to send an old roommate, out of nowhere, to meet every single need. The sermon lands with a challenge: surrender your life to Jesus fully, put in the daily work of relationship with Him, and watch what He does.

On Mother's Day, Pastor Daniel brings a word rooted in Psalm 40:1-3, opening with Lamentations 3:25-26 — "The Lord is good to those who depend on Him...so it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord." Rather than preaching a traditional Mother's Day message, Pastor Daniel speaks directly to those in a quiet, stagnant season — not a dramatic storm, but the kind of silent desert where prayers feel like they're hitting the ceiling and nothing seems to be moving. He reminds the church that silence doesn't mean God is absent, and that quiet seasons are not empty seasons, because God still works where we cannot see.

Pastor Daniel builds his message around three movements found in Psalm 40. First, patience proves whether God is truly your source or just your last resort — what you do while waiting reveals what you believe about God. Second, God's power begins where self-sufficiency ends, because David didn't climb out of the pit on his own; he was lifted out. Surrender isn't losing control — it's where freedom begins. Finally, your waiting becomes your witness, because what God brings you through, He will use to bring others out as well.

Closing with his own testimony of drug addiction and God's faithfulness to restore him, Pastor Daniel invites the congregation to the altar, reminding them that God never wastes the process — He turns it into a platform for His glory.

Pastor Steve Smith opens by reframing what it means to prosper as a Christian. Drawing on Ephesians 2:10, he reminds the congregation that each person is God's masterpiece, created for good works planned in advance. True prosperity, he argues, isn't the "prosperity gospel" of wealth and ease, but rather the fruitfulness, maturity, and forward progress described throughout Scripture — the kind of soul-deep flourishing that 3 John 1:2 speaks of when John prays that his friend would prosper even as his soul prospers.

Using Psalm 1 as his guide, Pastor Steve traces a path of spiritual regression — from walking in ungodly counsel, to standing in agreement with sin, to sitting in the seat of the scornful. He challenges the congregation to honestly examine where they might find themselves on that path, whether it's turning to social media, ungodly friends, or even AI for counsel instead of the Holy Spirit. He warns that the seat of the scornful is a dangerous place to get stuck, especially when a root of bitterness takes hold and blinds a person to the goodness of God at work in their own life and in others.

The good news, Pastor Steve declares, is that God offers a path forward — seated with Christ in authority (Eph. 2:6), standing firm in the full armor of God (Eph. 6), and walking in step with the Holy Spirit, who John 16:13 promises will guide us into all truth. Like the tree in Psalm 1:3, planted by rivers of water and bearing fruit in every season, those who delight in God's Word and meditate on it day and night will find that whatever they do shall prosper — not because life will be easy, but because they are rooted in the living water of Jesus Christ and running the race set before them with their eyes fixed on Him.

Pastor Johnathan launches a new series on the Psalms, explaining how he personally turns to them when feeling stuck in prayer or needing peace. He addresses how Satan tries to steal believers' identities through stress and discouragement, noting that the enemy "has a PhD in capturing our imaginations" and doesn't discriminate between believers and unbelievers. Using Psalm 42 as his main text, Pastor Johnathan tackles harmful myths about Christian mental health, particularly the false teaching that Christians shouldn't struggle with anxiety, depression, or stress, pointing out that "every Biblical hero in this book was messed up."

The sermon centers on Psalm 42, written by descendants of Korah who had learned from their ancestor's rebellion against God. Pastor Johnathan emphasizes that stress itself isn't sin - even Jesus experienced stress in the Garden of Gethsemane - but how we respond to stress matters greatly. He warns against self-condemnation and negative thinking patterns, reminding the congregation that "no one is more influential in your life than you are because no one talks to you more than you do." The pastor concludes with five practical steps from Psalm 42: don't surrender to discouraging emotions but fight back with hope in God, remember God's faithfulness and gather with other believers, talk truth to yourself out loud, communicate honestly with God from the depths of your heart, and thirst for more of the Lord rather than just asking Him to remove problems.

Pastor Johnathan's Easter sermon emphasizes that believers must live from a place of victory rather than defeat because Jesus is alive and has given us all authority. Using the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from Daniel 3, he demonstrates how these three young men maintained a victory mentality even when facing the fiery furnace, declaring "even if he doesn't" save us, we will never bow to worldly gods. The message calls Christians to recognize that Jesus, the fourth man in the fire, walks with us through every trial and that we must never bow to the things of this world but only to the resurrected King.

In this opening message of the "From Victory" series, Pastor Johnathan addresses the tendency of Christians to pray and live from a position of defeat rather than embracing the victory that comes from Jesus' resurrection. He begins by explaining that everyone has a "here I am" desire - a longing to be recognized, known, and noticed. Drawing from Ephesians 6:10-12, he reminds the congregation to "be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power" because the enemy is a defeated foe with limited time, authority, and power.

The heart of the message centers on Abraham's response in Genesis 22 when God called him to sacrifice Isaac. Pastor Johnathan emphasizes that Abraham could immediately respond "here I am" because he knew God's voice through spending time with Him. The pastor draws powerful parallels between Isaac's sacrifice and Jesus' crucifixion - both involving an only son, both on mountains in the land of Moriah (where Jerusalem now stands), and both connected to the third day. He challenges the congregation to learn the difference between trusting God's promises and trusting the Promiser Himself, noting that Abraham named the place "Jehovah Jireh" (the Lord will provide) in reference to what God did, not what Abraham experienced. The message concludes with a call to lay personal hurts, rejections, and struggles on the altar, trusting that the Lord gives victory to His anointed.

Pastor Daniel delivered a powerful message titled "Unshakable" from Daniel chapter 6, focusing on how to develop unshakable faith in our current shaking world. Drawing from Daniel's experience in the lion's den, Pastor Daniel emphasized that every generation faces its own "lions" - whether ridicule, isolation, temptation, or persecution - and the question isn't whether we'll face opposition, but whether we'll stand against it or bow down to it.

The sermon highlighted three key principles from Daniel 6:10-22. First, consistency builds conviction - Daniel's character wasn't developed in the lion's den but through his consistent daily habit of praying three times a day. Pastor Daniel taught that public courage is built through private discipline, moving from inspiration to discipline to habit to a scheduled commitment with God. Second, faithfulness speaks louder than accusations - rather than defending himself, Daniel remained silent and obedient, allowing God to do the defending. Finally, obedience positions you for divine protection - when we do our part through surrender and faithfulness, God does what only He can do, just as He sent His angel to shut the lions' mouths for Daniel. The message concluded with a call for believers to trust God with the outcomes while remaining consistently obedient, knowing that "greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world" (1 John 4:4).

In this powerful message from the "Lessons from Legends" series, Pastor Joe takes us through Abraham's incredible journey, revealing 10 life-changing lessons for believers today. Starting with his own testimony of coming to America on faith when his scholarship was cancelled, Pastor Joe reminds us that "God is faithful when he says he will do something" regardless of circumstances.

Abraham's story begins in Genesis 11-12 when God calls him to leave everything familiar in Mesopotamia - a godless society where even his wife's name, Sarai, meant "wife of the moon God." The first lesson hits hard: we must leave our past behind because "your identity is not tied to where we're coming from" but to who God says we are. Pastor Joe emphasizes that we can't keep hanging with unbelieving friends and expect to go God's direction.

The sermon reveals how Abraham faced famine right after receiving God's promises, teaching us that "the presence of faith does not equal absence of trouble." Through Abraham's mistakes - like lying about Sarah being his sister and having a child with Hagar through human wisdom rather than waiting on God - we learn that partial obedience leads to strife and conflict. Yet God's grace remained constant. The ultimate test came when God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, proving that God must be number one in our lives. Pastor Joe concludes that the Christian life is a pilgrimage - we're not here to stay, and the blessings we receive are meant to bless others and advance God's kingdom.

Pastor Johnathan begins a new series called "Lessons from Legends," focusing on how Biblical heroes built their faith through trials just like we do today. Using the story of Elijah and the widow in 1 Kings 17, he challenges us to stop collecting spiritual "junk" like worry, anger, and bitterness that clutters our hearts, and instead live with faith in the "right here, right now" moment. The message emphasizes that God provides for us even in drought seasons when we obey Him and declutter our spiritual lives.

Pastor Johnathan delivered a passionate message on serving the church as part of the ongoing "Serve" series for 2026. Drawing from his personal experience of growing up serving in church, he addressed the concerning trend of 86 Protestant churches closing weekly in America and the dangerous lie that Christians can love Jesus but not need the church. He emphasized that loneliness kills an estimated 100 people every hour globally, making the church's role as a community vital for combating isolation.

Using Acts 2:41-47 as his primary text, Pastor Johnathan outlined four foundational truths of the church: the apostles' doctrine (teaching God's unchanging Word), fellowship (koinonia - contributing to others' needs), communion of saints (designed for community, not commodity), and prayer (corporate prayer with expectation of miracles). He challenged the congregation to change their perspective from "what's in it for me?" to "how can I serve?" when attending church. The pastor concluded by explaining three practical ways to serve the church: inviting people (noting that 80% attend because of personal invitation), serving with a comforting spirit through the Holy Spirit's power (2 Corinthians 1:3), and serving with the gift of hope as "more than conquerors" through Christ who loves us (Romans 8:35-37).

In this message from the ongoing "Serve" series, Pastor Johnathan addresses how Christians must serve Jesus by serving their families, anchoring his teaching in Joshua 24:15 where Joshua declares, "But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Pastor Johnathan explains that Satan specifically targets the family unit because he knows that strong families create strong churches, and he hates that believers are the bride of Christ and children of God—privileges he can never regain.

The pastor establishes several non-negotiables for Christian families: believing in Biblical family structure rather than cultural redefinitions, and standing firmly on the truth of God's Word as their foundation. Using Jesus' parable from Matthew 7:24-27 about building on rock versus sand, he emphasizes that families must be grounded in Scripture to withstand life's storms. Pastor Johnathan then addresses Biblical roles in marriage from Ephesians 5:21-33, clarifying that submission means serving one another in an orderly manner with Jesus as the head of the marriage, not domination. He challenges both husbands to love sacrificially like Christ and wives to respect and support their husbands. Regarding children, he references Ephesians 6:1-4, emphasizing that parents must lead rather than negotiate with their children, while asking the crucial question: "Are your kids going to have to recover from you or are they going to be blessed by you?"

Pastor Johnathan launched a new sermon series on serving, emphasizing that believers are called to serve like Jesus under the banner of Jehovah Nissi. Using Matthew 20:28 as the foundation, he explained that serving shows God's character, shares His goodness, and spreads the gospel, even when we face opposition from the enemy who doesn't want us to succeed.

Pastor Tim Johnson delivers a powerful message on fasting and prayer as we enter a new season. He explains that fasting shifts our hunger from earthly satisfaction to a deeper desire for God's presence and Word. Mentioned over 70 times in Scripture, fasting was a common practice in the early church, and Jesus expects us to fast, saying "when you fast" in Matthew 6. Pastor Tim emphasizes that fasting isn't just about food - it's about removing distractions to make room for God to speak and transform us.

The second focus is on prayer, which Pastor Tim describes as deciding dominion. Drawing from Luke 10:19, he reminds us that Jesus has given believers authority to trample on snakes and scorpions - the principalities and powers of the enemy. When we pray, we activate this delegated authority and surrender our own dominion to God's. Pastor Tim outlines five types of prayer: simple prayer (starting where you are), prayer of the desert (when God seems silent), prayer of examination (inviting God to search our hearts), prayer of tears (honest emotional expression), and prayer of relinquishment (surrendering our will to God's). He challenges listeners to consider what dominates their thinking, because whatever dominates has dominion over us.

In his sermon "The Great Adventure," Pastor Johnathan presents prayer as the cornerstone of Christian living, especially during the Christmas season which celebrates the ultimate answered prayer—Jesus coming to Earth. Drawing from Colossians 1:9-14, he warns against making prayer our last resort when we become too busy or independent, pointing to Jesus who, despite His packed ministry, always made time to pray before daybreak (Mark 1:35).

Pastor Johnathan outlines the benefits of relational prayer: letting God be God, deepening our relationship with Him, releasing pressure, and transferring burdens. He emphasizes that Christians are born into a battleground, not a playground, and prayer is how we enforce Christ's victory in our lives. The sermon concludes with a practical exercise where congregants write down prayer requests—whether strongholds needing to be broken or promises to hold onto—and bring them to the altar, encouraging everyone to "keep on asking, seeking, and knocking" as Matthew 7 instructs.

In the conclusion of his series on the Gospel of John, Pastor Johnathan focuses on how Jesus's resurrection distinguishes Christianity from all other religions. As he notes, "Confucius died 479 BC, Buddha died 483 BC... Muhammad died 632 AD... and the common factor with all of them is that they are still in their tombs." Jesus's resurrection becomes our restoration, freeing us from the bondage of sin and the lies of the enemy who, according to John 8:44, "is a liar and the father of lies."

The sermon examines how Jesus restored His disciples with peace (John 20:19), appearing to them behind locked doors saying "Peace be with you." Pastor Johnathan emphasizes that peace is "not the absence of something, but the presence of someone" - Jesus Himself. The sermon culminates with Jesus's restoration of Peter in John 21, where Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves Him, corresponding to Peter's three denials. With each affirmation, Jesus commissions Peter to "Feed my lambs... Take care of my sheep... Feed my sheep," reminding us all that we are the disciples Jesus loves, called to declare in every circumstance, "It's the Lord."