https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/channels/29297 Welcome to The Sanctuary Church Sermon of the Week Podcast. We live in a world that loves to put labels on people. At the Sanctuary, we want to help you experience God's love in a tangible way that helps you realize that the label and truth He wants you to live under is simply, "loved." If you are looking for hope, healing, or freedom in your life, you've come to the right place. You've come to a safe place, a Sanctuary. For more information about our church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, go to www.tscwest.org. en-us The Sanctuary Church worship@thesanctuarywestside.org The Sanctuary Church false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/681973 Drawing on three biblical mothers—Rachel weeping for her children (Jeremiah 31:15, Matthew 2:18), Rizpah keeping her relentless vigil over her sons (2 Samuel 21), and Deborah, "a mother in Israel," who led the fearful toward courage (Judges 4-5)—this Mother's Day message holds space for the full range of what the day stirs: joy, grief, longing, and unhealed wounds. Each woman's story reflects the very heart of God, who Scripture says will never forget us (Isaiah 49:15), fiercely protects the vulnerable (Hosea 13:8), and longs to gather wounded people close like a mother hen shelters her chicks. The invitation is simple and tender: you don't have to pretend to be anywhere other than where you are, and whatever you carry, you don't have to carry it alone.

]]> Drawing on three biblical mothers—Rachel weeping for her children (Jeremiah 31:15, Matthew 2:18), Rizpah keeping her relentless vigil over her sons (2 Samuel 21), and Deborah, "a mother in Israel," who led the fearful toward courage (Judges 4-5)—this Mother's Day message holds space for the full range of what the day stirs: joy, grief, longing, and unhealed wounds. Each woman's story reflects the very heart of God, who Scripture says will never forget us (Isaiah 49:15), fiercely protects the vulnerable (Hosea 13:8), and longs to gather wounded people close like a mother hen shelters her chicks. The invitation is simple and tender: you don't have to pretend to be anywhere other than where you are, and whatever you carry, you don't have to carry it alone.

]]> Sun, 10 May 2026 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/681973 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682557 Drawing on Matthew 25:31-46, this message unpacks "the margins" as the people society pushes to the edges and treats as powerless, and reminds us that Jesus moves them to the center of his table. Being a church for the margins means meeting real practical needs while leading with mercy over judgment, empathy and grace over legalism, safety to confess without secrets, and unity in our differences rather than sameness. The takeaway lands as a simple invitation: love God and love people by serving others, starting right where you are in your own church family.

]]> Drawing on Matthew 25:31-46, this message unpacks "the margins" as the people society pushes to the edges and treats as powerless, and reminds us that Jesus moves them to the center of his table. Being a church for the margins means meeting real practical needs while leading with mercy over judgment, empathy and grace over legalism, safety to confess without secrets, and unity in our differences rather than sameness. The takeaway lands as a simple invitation: love God and love people by serving others, starting right where you are in your own church family.

]]> Sun, 08 Sep 2024 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682557 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682558 In a culture marked by constant overwhelm and the endless pursuit of "more," our one true priority as believers should be hosting and stewarding God's presence in everyday life. Drawing on Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac in Genesis 22 and Jesus' own rhythms of prayer, this message offers three practical ways to put God first: prayer (where we listen as much as we speak), worship (a costly, outward act of attributing worth—because fire only falls on sacrifice), and Sabbath rest that reminds us we are sons and daughters, not slaves to our work. The invitation is to start small and pick one thing this week, trusting that as we prioritize His presence, everything else begins to shift.

]]> In a culture marked by constant overwhelm and the endless pursuit of "more," our one true priority as believers should be hosting and stewarding God's presence in everyday life. Drawing on Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac in Genesis 22 and Jesus' own rhythms of prayer, this message offers three practical ways to put God first: prayer (where we listen as much as we speak), worship (a costly, outward act of attributing worth—because fire only falls on sacrifice), and Sabbath rest that reminds us we are sons and daughters, not slaves to our work. The invitation is to start small and pick one thing this week, trusting that as we prioritize His presence, everything else begins to shift.

]]> Sun, 15 Sep 2024 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682558 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682560 Drawing on Acts 2:42 and the calling of Jesus' wildly mismatched disciples, this message names loneliness as one of the deepest aches of our culture and points to the church as God's answer: a family where no one loses hope and no one is alone. We are formed not in isolation but through relationship, because real transformation happens in community where shared love and joy reshape our character into the likeness of Christ. The invitation is simple and costly: stop trying to follow Jesus alone, step into the messy, beautiful work of community, and let yourself be known, healed, and changed alongside others.

]]> Drawing on Acts 2:42 and the calling of Jesus' wildly mismatched disciples, this message names loneliness as one of the deepest aches of our culture and points to the church as God's answer: a family where no one loses hope and no one is alone. We are formed not in isolation but through relationship, because real transformation happens in community where shared love and joy reshape our character into the likeness of Christ. The invitation is simple and costly: stop trying to follow Jesus alone, step into the messy, beautiful work of community, and let yourself be known, healed, and changed alongside others.

]]> Sun, 22 Sep 2024 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682560 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682568 Drawing on N.T. Wright's book "Jesus and the Powers" and grounded in Galatians 5, this message reminds us that our true struggle is never against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12) but against the powers that sow division through fear. The kingdom of God works opposite to worldly Empire — uniting people, sharing resources, and setting them free rather than controlling them — so we're called not to lord our convictions over others but to leaven society with quiet Christian influence. The takeaway, echoing Jeremiah 29's call to seek the peace and prosperity of the city: hold your views humbly, remember you could be wrong, reduce the news that stokes anxiety, and let the fruit of the Spirit shape every conversation, even the political ones.

]]> Drawing on N.T. Wright's book "Jesus and the Powers" and grounded in Galatians 5, this message reminds us that our true struggle is never against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12) but against the powers that sow division through fear. The kingdom of God works opposite to worldly Empire — uniting people, sharing resources, and setting them free rather than controlling them — so we're called not to lord our convictions over others but to leaven society with quiet Christian influence. The takeaway, echoing Jeremiah 29's call to seek the peace and prosperity of the city: hold your views humbly, remember you could be wrong, reduce the news that stokes anxiety, and let the fruit of the Spirit shape every conversation, even the political ones.

]]> Sun, 29 Sep 2024 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682568 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682569 Beginning a months-long journey through the Gospel of John, this message opens on John 1 and the disciple who calls himself simply "the one Jesus loved" — an invitation to find our truest identity not in our name or accomplishments but in being beloved by God. Tracing the Word made flesh, God's faithfulness toward people who don't always recognize Him, and John the Baptist's humble grace-and-truth witness, it lands on a practical challenge drawn from Jesus' own inner circle of Peter, James, and John: name your "three" — the trusted people who will stand with you in your hardest seasons. The takeaway is that God remains faithful even when we are faithless, still pursuing your heart even when faith starts to feel routine.

]]> Beginning a months-long journey through the Gospel of John, this message opens on John 1 and the disciple who calls himself simply "the one Jesus loved" — an invitation to find our truest identity not in our name or accomplishments but in being beloved by God. Tracing the Word made flesh, God's faithfulness toward people who don't always recognize Him, and John the Baptist's humble grace-and-truth witness, it lands on a practical challenge drawn from Jesus' own inner circle of Peter, James, and John: name your "three" — the trusted people who will stand with you in your hardest seasons. The takeaway is that God remains faithful even when we are faithless, still pursuing your heart even when faith starts to feel routine.

]]> Sun, 06 Oct 2024 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682569 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682570 Becoming Beloved continues in the Gospel of John as guest teacher Ben Sledge ties together two of Jesus' most famous moments—the wedding at Cana, where he turns water into wine (John 2), and the cleansing of the temple. Far from being separate stories, both point to the cross: Jesus is the Lord of the Feast who came to bring lasting joy, and also the Lord of the Whips whose loving authority clears away what would destroy us. The invitation is to let Jesus be both in our lives, surrendering not our behavior but our hearts, because real and lasting joy can only be entered through his suffering and his rightful place as Lord.

]]> Becoming Beloved continues in the Gospel of John as guest teacher Ben Sledge ties together two of Jesus' most famous moments—the wedding at Cana, where he turns water into wine (John 2), and the cleansing of the temple. Far from being separate stories, both point to the cross: Jesus is the Lord of the Feast who came to bring lasting joy, and also the Lord of the Whips whose loving authority clears away what would destroy us. The invitation is to let Jesus be both in our lives, surrendering not our behavior but our hearts, because real and lasting joy can only be entered through his suffering and his rightful place as Lord.

]]> Sun, 13 Oct 2024 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682570 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682571 Drawing on the Gospel of John, Pastor Tyler unpacks Jesus' nighttime conversation with Nicodemus in John 3 and the book's stated purpose in John 20:31 — that we might believe Jesus is the Messiah and have life in his name. The heart of the message is that real belief isn't just what we know in our heads but a whole-life transformation: to be "born of water and spirit" is to embody the way of Jesus, not merely study it. As Father Vince put it, we can't think our way into new living; we have to live our way into new thinking — practicing prayer and rest, faithfulness over success, care for the margins, and a love that is accessible to everyone.

]]> Drawing on the Gospel of John, Pastor Tyler unpacks Jesus' nighttime conversation with Nicodemus in John 3 and the book's stated purpose in John 20:31 — that we might believe Jesus is the Messiah and have life in his name. The heart of the message is that real belief isn't just what we know in our heads but a whole-life transformation: to be "born of water and spirit" is to embody the way of Jesus, not merely study it. As Father Vince put it, we can't think our way into new living; we have to live our way into new thinking — practicing prayer and rest, faithfulness over success, care for the margins, and a love that is accessible to everyone.

]]> Sun, 20 Oct 2024 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682571 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682572 Walking through the entirety of John 4, this message centers on Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well in Sychar — a place rooted in God's ancient promises to Abraham and Jacob. Jesus crosses every barrier of race, gender, and reputation to offer her living water, and her brokenness becomes no obstacle: she drops her water jar and runs to her city as the first preacher in John's Gospel. The takeaway is that no past, wound, or label disqualifies us from God's calling — when we spend time in His presence and step into what He's called us to, He transforms us, satisfies our deepest thirst, and brings dead things back to life.

]]> Walking through the entirety of John 4, this message centers on Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well in Sychar — a place rooted in God's ancient promises to Abraham and Jacob. Jesus crosses every barrier of race, gender, and reputation to offer her living water, and her brokenness becomes no obstacle: she drops her water jar and runs to her city as the first preacher in John's Gospel. The takeaway is that no past, wound, or label disqualifies us from God's calling — when we spend time in His presence and step into what He's called us to, He transforms us, satisfies our deepest thirst, and brings dead things back to life.

]]> Sun, 27 Oct 2024 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682572 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682573 Drawing on Matthew 5:14-16 ("You are the light of the world"), guest speaker Arjun Tall, a Nepal leader with Serve Now, shares how he went from a broken, orphaned boy worshiping idols to encountering Christ through John 3:16, and now ministers to vulnerable children and at-risk women across Nepal through Lighthouse centers offering education, job skills, and the gospel. His central charge is that because we are saved by Jesus and "created in Christ Jesus to do good works" (Ephesians 2:10), we are called to both be good and do good, letting our actions reflect God's goodness even amid hardship and opposition. The lasting takeaway: if not now, then when, and if not us, then who — we are called to be light in the darkness and put our faith into action for the sake of the lost.

]]> Drawing on Matthew 5:14-16 ("You are the light of the world"), guest speaker Arjun Tall, a Nepal leader with Serve Now, shares how he went from a broken, orphaned boy worshiping idols to encountering Christ through John 3:16, and now ministers to vulnerable children and at-risk women across Nepal through Lighthouse centers offering education, job skills, and the gospel. His central charge is that because we are saved by Jesus and "created in Christ Jesus to do good works" (Ephesians 2:10), we are called to both be good and do good, letting our actions reflect God's goodness even amid hardship and opposition. The lasting takeaway: if not now, then when, and if not us, then who — we are called to be light in the darkness and put our faith into action for the sake of the lost.

]]> Sun, 03 Nov 2024 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682573 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682574 Drawing from the healing at the pool of Bethesda in John 5, where Jesus asks a man crippled for 38 years "Do you want to be healed?", Pastor Sledge confronts the way we so often come to Jesus wanting a cosmic butler to fix our problems rather than a Savior and King. The good news is that God's faithfulness never depends on our right intentions: just as the whole story of Scripture is God remaining faithful to an unfaithful people, He heals and meets us by grace alone. And for those whose healing feels slow or impeded, our very wounds become the source of our power to serve others, because healing people heal people, and even one-degree turns add up to real transformation over time.

]]> Drawing from the healing at the pool of Bethesda in John 5, where Jesus asks a man crippled for 38 years "Do you want to be healed?", Pastor Sledge confronts the way we so often come to Jesus wanting a cosmic butler to fix our problems rather than a Savior and King. The good news is that God's faithfulness never depends on our right intentions: just as the whole story of Scripture is God remaining faithful to an unfaithful people, He heals and meets us by grace alone. And for those whose healing feels slow or impeded, our very wounds become the source of our power to serve others, because healing people heal people, and even one-degree turns add up to real transformation over time.

]]> Sun, 10 Nov 2024 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682574 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682575 Drawing on John 6:1-15 and the feeding of the five thousand, this message frames our lives as part of God's grand, unfolding story—the movement of shalom created, lost, pursued, and finally restored through Jesus. When the crowd is hungry, Jesus tests Philip not to trip him up but to teach him to trust the Master, and a boy's five loaves and two fish become more than enough in Jesus' hands. The takeaway: offer God whatever little you have—your time, talents, or mustard-seed faith—and live by a green light, looking first to Jesus when challenges and temptations knock, trusting Him to multiply the ordinary and let you play your part in restoring shalom to a broken world.

]]> Drawing on John 6:1-15 and the feeding of the five thousand, this message frames our lives as part of God's grand, unfolding story—the movement of shalom created, lost, pursued, and finally restored through Jesus. When the crowd is hungry, Jesus tests Philip not to trip him up but to teach him to trust the Master, and a boy's five loaves and two fish become more than enough in Jesus' hands. The takeaway: offer God whatever little you have—your time, talents, or mustard-seed faith—and live by a green light, looking first to Jesus when challenges and temptations knock, trusting Him to multiply the ordinary and let you play your part in restoring shalom to a broken world.

]]> Sun, 17 Nov 2024 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682575 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682576 Frank Sinclair shares the unvarnished story behind his 41 years of faith — from a childhood marked by abuse and segregation in rural North Carolina, to a meteoric Air Force career undone by addiction, to homelessness in Colorado Springs where a stranger named Richard Brooks led him to Christ — to make the case that God loves us enough to give us a difficult plan, because pain is what creates purpose. Drawing on Jesus being driven into the wilderness right after his baptism in Mark 1, he distinguishes between our "history" (everything we've come through) and our "testimony" (living for Jesus in the present moment), warning that history is voided without a present-tense faith. The takeaway, grounded in Jesus' command to love one another (John 13:34-35) and 1 Corinthians 13: disobedience breeds distance and distance breeds dryness, so draw close to God and to his people rather than running from relationships, and beware the "cold within" that lets us withhold warmth from one another.

]]> Frank Sinclair shares the unvarnished story behind his 41 years of faith — from a childhood marked by abuse and segregation in rural North Carolina, to a meteoric Air Force career undone by addiction, to homelessness in Colorado Springs where a stranger named Richard Brooks led him to Christ — to make the case that God loves us enough to give us a difficult plan, because pain is what creates purpose. Drawing on Jesus being driven into the wilderness right after his baptism in Mark 1, he distinguishes between our "history" (everything we've come through) and our "testimony" (living for Jesus in the present moment), warning that history is voided without a present-tense faith. The takeaway, grounded in Jesus' command to love one another (John 13:34-35) and 1 Corinthians 13: disobedience breeds distance and distance breeds dryness, so draw close to God and to his people rather than running from relationships, and beware the "cold within" that lets us withhold warmth from one another.

]]> Sun, 24 Nov 2024 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682576 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682577 Joseph stands at the center of the Advent story this week, not as background noise in the nativity scene but as a model of hope and humility. Drawing from Matthew 1 and Luke 2, the message traces how Joseph risked his reputation, trusted God's word through a series of dreams, and accepted a life of obscurity to raise Jesus, the very traits his son would later embody. The takeaway, anchored in the reminder of Romans 5 that hope does not disappoint, is an invitation to dare to hope and become less this Christmas season, trusting that the Father who sees us in secret is the one who lifts us up.

]]> Joseph stands at the center of the Advent story this week, not as background noise in the nativity scene but as a model of hope and humility. Drawing from Matthew 1 and Luke 2, the message traces how Joseph risked his reputation, trusted God's word through a series of dreams, and accepted a life of obscurity to raise Jesus, the very traits his son would later embody. The takeaway, anchored in the reminder of Romans 5 that hope does not disappoint, is an invitation to dare to hope and become less this Christmas season, trusting that the Father who sees us in secret is the one who lifts us up.

]]> Sun, 01 Dec 2024 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682577 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682578 Peace is not a feeling we manufacture or a calm that arrives once life finally settles down, but a fruit of the Spirit we receive by abiding in Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Drawing on Mark 4 and 5, where Jesus first speaks "peace, be still" to the storm before bringing peace to the demon-possessed man on the far shore, we're reminded that we can only carry peace into a chaotic world if we first hold it within. The invitation this Advent is to stop fighting for peace and surrender to it through a simple daily rhythm: get alone with God, tell him the truth, receive his word to you, and respond in obedience.

]]> Peace is not a feeling we manufacture or a calm that arrives once life finally settles down, but a fruit of the Spirit we receive by abiding in Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Drawing on Mark 4 and 5, where Jesus first speaks "peace, be still" to the storm before bringing peace to the demon-possessed man on the far shore, we're reminded that we can only carry peace into a chaotic world if we first hold it within. The invitation this Advent is to stop fighting for peace and surrender to it through a simple daily rhythm: get alone with God, tell him the truth, receive his word to you, and respond in obedience.

]]> Sun, 08 Dec 2024 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682578 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682579 Joy isn't the same as laughter or good circumstances, and the Christmas story proves it: God announced the birth of Jesus first to shepherds, outlaws and outcasts living in the dark, declaring through the angel in Luke 2 "do not be afraid... good news that will cause great joy for all people." That message is that God isn't mad at us, and His life and light are best birthed in the darkest, most chaotic places of our lives. The antidote to a joyless season is gratitude, so this Advent, practice counting your blessings and inviting Christ into every burdened part of your life, and you'll find that real joy and peace come together.

]]> Joy isn't the same as laughter or good circumstances, and the Christmas story proves it: God announced the birth of Jesus first to shepherds, outlaws and outcasts living in the dark, declaring through the angel in Luke 2 "do not be afraid... good news that will cause great joy for all people." That message is that God isn't mad at us, and His life and light are best birthed in the darkest, most chaotic places of our lives. The antidote to a joyless season is gratitude, so this Advent, practice counting your blessings and inviting Christ into every burdened part of your life, and you'll find that real joy and peace come together.

]]> Sun, 15 Dec 2024 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682579 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682580 Love comes to us first as a gift from God, never something we earn, and learning to receive it like a child changes everything. Drawing on 1 John 4 and Jesus' call in Matthew 22 to love God, neighbor, and self, this Advent reflection unpacks the "love triangle" where each kind of love feeds the others, with self-rejection named as the great enemy that contradicts God's voice calling us beloved. The invitation: stop trying to earn love, accept it with open hands, and let it overflow into how we treat ourselves and everyone around us.

]]> Love comes to us first as a gift from God, never something we earn, and learning to receive it like a child changes everything. Drawing on 1 John 4 and Jesus' call in Matthew 22 to love God, neighbor, and self, this Advent reflection unpacks the "love triangle" where each kind of love feeds the others, with self-rejection named as the great enemy that contradicts God's voice calling us beloved. The invitation: stop trying to earn love, accept it with open hands, and let it overflow into how we treat ourselves and everyone around us.

]]> Sun, 22 Dec 2024 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682580 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682581 Drawing on Jesus' words at the Feast of Tabernacles in John 7—"whoever speaks on their own authority does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth"—this message confronts us with a single searching question: whose glory are you seeking? Looking to King David, who entered Jerusalem not in royal robes but in priestly garments, dancing before the Ark and making the presence of God the center of his city and his reign, we're invited to do the same: humble ourselves rather than build our own kingdoms, and prioritize prayer over productivity. The challenge is deeply practical—commit to daily prayer, dedicate a time and place, and pray impossible prayers—trusting Jesus' promise that rivers of living water will flow from those who come to Him.

]]> Drawing on Jesus' words at the Feast of Tabernacles in John 7—"whoever speaks on their own authority does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth"—this message confronts us with a single searching question: whose glory are you seeking? Looking to King David, who entered Jerusalem not in royal robes but in priestly garments, dancing before the Ark and making the presence of God the center of his city and his reign, we're invited to do the same: humble ourselves rather than build our own kingdoms, and prioritize prayer over productivity. The challenge is deeply practical—commit to daily prayer, dedicate a time and place, and pray impossible prayers—trusting Jesus' promise that rivers of living water will flow from those who come to Him.

]]> Sun, 05 Jan 2025 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682581 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682582 Grace and truth aren't rivals — they're inseparable, and the way of Jesus always leads with grace. Drawing from John 8 and the woman caught in adultery, where the only one with the right to condemn refuses to, this message wrestles with why the church so often hands out judgment when people are starving for mercy. The challenge is personal: forgive what you hate in yourself so you can become grace to someone else, because only after grace is received are people ever willing to hear the truth that sets them free.

]]> Grace and truth aren't rivals — they're inseparable, and the way of Jesus always leads with grace. Drawing from John 8 and the woman caught in adultery, where the only one with the right to condemn refuses to, this message wrestles with why the church so often hands out judgment when people are starving for mercy. The challenge is personal: forgive what you hate in yourself so you can become grace to someone else, because only after grace is received are people ever willing to hear the truth that sets them free.

]]> Sun, 12 Jan 2025 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682582 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682583 Drawing on the story of the man born blind in John 9, this message reframes how we read our circumstances: rather than seeing God's love through the lens of our pain, we're called to view our pain through the unchanging lens of his love, refusing the old lie that suffering means God is angry with us. The central image is the "mud test" — Jesus often asks us to trust him through what feels uncomfortable, embarrassing, or painful before he sends us out changed. The takeaway is an invitation to surrender the one thing God is asking you to give up, knowing that your transformed life becomes your testimony: "I once was blind, but now I see."

]]> Drawing on the story of the man born blind in John 9, this message reframes how we read our circumstances: rather than seeing God's love through the lens of our pain, we're called to view our pain through the unchanging lens of his love, refusing the old lie that suffering means God is angry with us. The central image is the "mud test" — Jesus often asks us to trust him through what feels uncomfortable, embarrassing, or painful before he sends us out changed. The takeaway is an invitation to surrender the one thing God is asking you to give up, knowing that your transformed life becomes your testimony: "I once was blind, but now I see."

]]> Sun, 19 Jan 2025 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682583 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682584 Drawing on what Jesus did rather than only what he said, this message turns to John 11 and the raising of Lazarus to trace "the Jesus way"—a lifestyle his disciples were invited to imitate, close enough to be "covered in the dust of their rabbi." Jesus refuses to hurry, weeps alongside Mary and Martha instead of rushing to fix their grief, walks in trust even as others doubt, and then invites the community to help unbind Lazarus and set him free. The takeaway: resurrection isn't only the miracle moment but the whole unhurried, present, compassionate life surrounding it, and we're all called to bring that life into the dead and dark places of those around us.

]]> Drawing on what Jesus did rather than only what he said, this message turns to John 11 and the raising of Lazarus to trace "the Jesus way"—a lifestyle his disciples were invited to imitate, close enough to be "covered in the dust of their rabbi." Jesus refuses to hurry, weeps alongside Mary and Martha instead of rushing to fix their grief, walks in trust even as others doubt, and then invites the community to help unbind Lazarus and set him free. The takeaway: resurrection isn't only the miracle moment but the whole unhurried, present, compassionate life surrounding it, and we're all called to bring that life into the dead and dark places of those around us.

]]> Sun, 02 Feb 2025 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682584 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682585 Emily Sledge shares how the enemy attaches lies to our identity — for her, that worth is earned through success, perfection, and meeting others' expectations — leaving her checking every spiritual box while still feeling empty, abandoned, and unworthy. Anchored in Jesus' greatest commandment to love God and neighbor as yourself (and the call to abundant life and freedom in John 10:10 and Galatians 5:1), her story traces a slow journey through depression, recovery, and surrender into the truth that God's love isn't earned but freely given. The invitation: name the lies you've believed about yourself, God, and the abundant life, and stop hiding behind expectations so you can instead hide in Christ — who calls you beloved, accepted, redeemed, and forgiven.

]]> Emily Sledge shares how the enemy attaches lies to our identity — for her, that worth is earned through success, perfection, and meeting others' expectations — leaving her checking every spiritual box while still feeling empty, abandoned, and unworthy. Anchored in Jesus' greatest commandment to love God and neighbor as yourself (and the call to abundant life and freedom in John 10:10 and Galatians 5:1), her story traces a slow journey through depression, recovery, and surrender into the truth that God's love isn't earned but freely given. The invitation: name the lies you've believed about yourself, God, and the abundant life, and stop hiding behind expectations so you can instead hide in Christ — who calls you beloved, accepted, redeemed, and forgiven.

]]> Sun, 09 Feb 2025 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682585 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682586 Drawing on the life of Mary of Bethany in John 12:1-8, this message asks the question beneath all our distraction: not "what are you living for" but "what are you willing to die for?" When Mary breaks an entire bottle of perfume worth a year's wages over Jesus' feet, she models a devotion that discerns the moment, costs something, fills the room with its fragrance, and trusts Jesus to defend it. The invitation is to trade duty for wholehearted devotion and comfortable, reasonable Christianity for an all-in life poured out on the One who is worth it.

]]> Drawing on the life of Mary of Bethany in John 12:1-8, this message asks the question beneath all our distraction: not "what are you living for" but "what are you willing to die for?" When Mary breaks an entire bottle of perfume worth a year's wages over Jesus' feet, she models a devotion that discerns the moment, costs something, fills the room with its fragrance, and trusts Jesus to defend it. The invitation is to trade duty for wholehearted devotion and comfortable, reasonable Christianity for an all-in life poured out on the One who is worth it.

]]> Sun, 16 Feb 2025 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682586 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682587 Drawing from John 13, where Jesus lays aside his garment to wash his disciples' feet — a task so lowly it was reserved for Gentile slaves — this message confronts our modern hunger for power, influence, and prestige with the upside-down way of Christ: greatness is found in becoming the least. Through vivid stories of military service and sacrifice, Pastor Daniel shows that true love always means "taking the hit" for others, even those who may betray us, just as Jesus washed Judas's feet and ultimately gave his life on the cross. The challenge for the church is to serve not for recognition but out of genuine humility, trusting that those willing to kneel and wash feet will, in God's eyes, be remembered as the truly great.

]]> Drawing from John 13, where Jesus lays aside his garment to wash his disciples' feet — a task so lowly it was reserved for Gentile slaves — this message confronts our modern hunger for power, influence, and prestige with the upside-down way of Christ: greatness is found in becoming the least. Through vivid stories of military service and sacrifice, Pastor Daniel shows that true love always means "taking the hit" for others, even those who may betray us, just as Jesus washed Judas's feet and ultimately gave his life on the cross. The challenge for the church is to serve not for recognition but out of genuine humility, trusting that those willing to kneel and wash feet will, in God's eyes, be remembered as the truly great.

]]> Sun, 23 Feb 2025 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682587 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682588 Becoming Beloved - Part 14 settles into John 14:1-6, where Jesus tells His disciples, "Do not let your hearts be troubled" -- a passage that never promises a heart free of trouble, but does promise a remedy for it. Drawing on 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 John 3:2, the message rests on three steadying truths: Jesus has gone to prepare an eternal home for us, He is coming again to bring us to be with Him, and in the meantime He has given us the Holy Spirit as a Comforter who lives not just beside us but inside us. The takeaway for anxious hearts is simple and warm: this world isn't home, you are never alone, and peace comes through continually believing in Christ and obeying the Spirit's leading.

]]> Becoming Beloved - Part 14 settles into John 14:1-6, where Jesus tells His disciples, "Do not let your hearts be troubled" -- a passage that never promises a heart free of trouble, but does promise a remedy for it. Drawing on 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 John 3:2, the message rests on three steadying truths: Jesus has gone to prepare an eternal home for us, He is coming again to bring us to be with Him, and in the meantime He has given us the Holy Spirit as a Comforter who lives not just beside us but inside us. The takeaway for anxious hearts is simple and warm: this world isn't home, you are never alone, and peace comes through continually believing in Christ and obeying the Spirit's leading.

]]> Sun, 02 Mar 2025 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682588 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682589 Drawing on John 15:1-12, Pastor Tyler unpacks Jesus' image of the vine and the branches, centering on the word "remain" (the Greek meno, to abide and live in union with God). The fruit of the Spirit doesn't come from striving, hustle, or our circumstances but from staying continually connected to Christ as our source, and the "commands" Jesus gives function less like rules to fear and more like a trellis, a rule of life that creates space and keeps us healthy enough to bear fruit. The invitation is to slow down, abide in God's already-abundant love rather than earn it, and live out the one command that ties it all together: love one another deeply, just as Christ has loved us.

]]> Drawing on John 15:1-12, Pastor Tyler unpacks Jesus' image of the vine and the branches, centering on the word "remain" (the Greek meno, to abide and live in union with God). The fruit of the Spirit doesn't come from striving, hustle, or our circumstances but from staying continually connected to Christ as our source, and the "commands" Jesus gives function less like rules to fear and more like a trellis, a rule of life that creates space and keeps us healthy enough to bear fruit. The invitation is to slow down, abide in God's already-abundant love rather than earn it, and live out the one command that ties it all together: love one another deeply, just as Christ has loved us.

]]> Sun, 09 Mar 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682589 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682590 Drawing on Joshua's call to be "strong and courageous" and the fall of Jericho, Rachel Enos reframes obedience as the doorway to promise: just as the Israelites had to circle the city in silence for seven days and then surrender it back to God, we are often asked to lay down the very things we hold most valuable. Weaving in her own years-long battle with autoimmune illness and a healing she prayed for but did not receive, she invites us to trust that God's promises still hold even when they look different than we imagined. The takeaway is one of perseverance and surrender — your obedience today sets the stage for your inheritance tomorrow, so keep marching, choose to praise, and let God redefine what your life was meant to look like.

]]> Drawing on Joshua's call to be "strong and courageous" and the fall of Jericho, Rachel Enos reframes obedience as the doorway to promise: just as the Israelites had to circle the city in silence for seven days and then surrender it back to God, we are often asked to lay down the very things we hold most valuable. Weaving in her own years-long battle with autoimmune illness and a healing she prayed for but did not receive, she invites us to trust that God's promises still hold even when they look different than we imagined. The takeaway is one of perseverance and surrender — your obedience today sets the stage for your inheritance tomorrow, so keep marching, choose to praise, and let God redefine what your life was meant to look like.

]]> Sun, 23 Mar 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682590 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682591 Drawing on Jesus' high priestly prayer in John 17, where he prays that his followers would be one as he and the Father are one, this message argues that real Christian unity is rooted not in institutional mergers or agreement on secondary doctrines but in the gospel itself. Using the example of natural enemies like Matthew the tax collector and Simon the Zealot, and the early church's sacrificial love during plague, the teaching warns against "othering" those who differ from us and challenges believers to be able to clearly explain the good news. The takeaway: true unity begins at the cross, the gospel is everyone's invitation to belong, and you can't live the mission if you don't know the message, so the question is simply whether you'll say yes to the call.

]]> Drawing on Jesus' high priestly prayer in John 17, where he prays that his followers would be one as he and the Father are one, this message argues that real Christian unity is rooted not in institutional mergers or agreement on secondary doctrines but in the gospel itself. Using the example of natural enemies like Matthew the tax collector and Simon the Zealot, and the early church's sacrificial love during plague, the teaching warns against "othering" those who differ from us and challenges believers to be able to clearly explain the good news. The takeaway: true unity begins at the cross, the gospel is everyone's invitation to belong, and you can't live the mission if you don't know the message, so the question is simply whether you'll say yes to the call.

]]> Sun, 30 Mar 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682591 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682592 Walking through John 18:1-11, this message follows Jesus into the garden across the Kedron Valley, where He willingly meets His betrayer and arresting mob, declaring "I am" (the divine name from Exodus 3:14) with such authority that hundreds of armed soldiers fall to the ground. We see a Savior fully in control, enduring Judas's intimate betrayal without retaliation and using His power not for self-preservation but to secure His disciples' release. The challenge for us is to cross our own Kedron Valley, letting idols die in the prayer closet so that, by His blood and not our own strength, we can love others through hurt and betrayal just as Christ did.

]]> Walking through John 18:1-11, this message follows Jesus into the garden across the Kedron Valley, where He willingly meets His betrayer and arresting mob, declaring "I am" (the divine name from Exodus 3:14) with such authority that hundreds of armed soldiers fall to the ground. We see a Savior fully in control, enduring Judas's intimate betrayal without retaliation and using His power not for self-preservation but to secure His disciples' release. The challenge for us is to cross our own Kedron Valley, letting idols die in the prayer closet so that, by His blood and not our own strength, we can love others through hurt and betrayal just as Christ did.

]]> Sun, 06 Apr 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682592 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682593 Palm Sunday marks the beginning of the story, when the crowds cried "Hosanna"—save us—welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem, and into our own lives, as the guide who transforms us. Walking through John 18-19, Pastor traces Jesus' path of surrender, the cost of being abandoned by those closest, radical vulnerability, and ultimately death, showing that Holy Week isn't just a story to remember but a blueprint to live: to become like Jesus, we follow his pattern through every act, including the painful middle. The invitation this week is not to try harder but to let something die—our false self, our masks, our need for control—trusting that love will not leave us in the grave so that something new can rise.

]]> Palm Sunday marks the beginning of the story, when the crowds cried "Hosanna"—save us—welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem, and into our own lives, as the guide who transforms us. Walking through John 18-19, Pastor traces Jesus' path of surrender, the cost of being abandoned by those closest, radical vulnerability, and ultimately death, showing that Holy Week isn't just a story to remember but a blueprint to live: to become like Jesus, we follow his pattern through every act, including the painful middle. The invitation this week is not to try harder but to let something die—our false self, our masks, our need for control—trusting that love will not leave us in the grave so that something new can rise.

]]> Sun, 13 Apr 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682593 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682594 Drawing on Mark 6:45-52, where Jesus walks across the storm-tossed lake to His struggling disciples, this Easter message reframes the wind not as the enemy but as the lesson, and reminds us that God does not watch our struggles from a distance, He climbs into the boat with us. The cross is the price paid for our freedom and the resurrection is the proof of payment, so whatever storm or sentence has been weighing on you, the same God who raised Jesus moves into your life and brings you alive in Him. As Romans 8 promises, when the Spirit who raised Christ lives in you, you are set free from a dead life and as alive as Christ is alive.

]]> Drawing on Mark 6:45-52, where Jesus walks across the storm-tossed lake to His struggling disciples, this Easter message reframes the wind not as the enemy but as the lesson, and reminds us that God does not watch our struggles from a distance, He climbs into the boat with us. The cross is the price paid for our freedom and the resurrection is the proof of payment, so whatever storm or sentence has been weighing on you, the same God who raised Jesus moves into your life and brings you alive in Him. As Romans 8 promises, when the Spirit who raised Christ lives in you, you are set free from a dead life and as alive as Christ is alive.

]]> Sun, 20 Apr 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682594 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682595 Drawing on the story of Peter in John 21, this message explores how Jesus restores us in the very places we've failed. After his denial, Peter retreats to the familiar comfort of fishing, but the risen Jesus meets him on the shore, recreates the scene of his failure around a charcoal fire, and asks three times "Do you love me?" — once for each denial — inviting Peter into honest love rather than empty bravado. The takeaway: our failures are never final; Jesus meets us where we are, heals our wounds, and recommissions us with the same call to "feed my sheep" and "follow me" — fixing our eyes on our own journey rather than comparing ourselves to others.

]]> Drawing on the story of Peter in John 21, this message explores how Jesus restores us in the very places we've failed. After his denial, Peter retreats to the familiar comfort of fishing, but the risen Jesus meets him on the shore, recreates the scene of his failure around a charcoal fire, and asks three times "Do you love me?" — once for each denial — inviting Peter into honest love rather than empty bravado. The takeaway: our failures are never final; Jesus meets us where we are, heals our wounds, and recommissions us with the same call to "feed my sheep" and "follow me" — fixing our eyes on our own journey rather than comparing ourselves to others.

]]> Sun, 27 Apr 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682595 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682596 Tony LaMouria shares his testimony of being adopted, unwanted as a child, and finding Christ in a small Southern Baptist church, tracing how a "cheap grace" later hardened into self-righteousness as he tried to balance the scales of his good deeds against hidden sin rather than rest in the finished, incorruptible righteousness of Christ. Drawing on Romans 5, Hebrews 12:11, 1 John 1:9, 2 Chronicles 7:14, and Jesus' threefold questioning of Peter on the beach in John 21, he shows that God's discipline isn't a light switched on to shame us but an invitation out of the darkness. The takeaway: when we stop fearing exposure and instead confess, repent, and seek God's face, He breaks us down gently and compassionately, as Jesus restored Peter, leading us into healing, peace, and the freedom of His finished work.

]]> Tony LaMouria shares his testimony of being adopted, unwanted as a child, and finding Christ in a small Southern Baptist church, tracing how a "cheap grace" later hardened into self-righteousness as he tried to balance the scales of his good deeds against hidden sin rather than rest in the finished, incorruptible righteousness of Christ. Drawing on Romans 5, Hebrews 12:11, 1 John 1:9, 2 Chronicles 7:14, and Jesus' threefold questioning of Peter on the beach in John 21, he shows that God's discipline isn't a light switched on to shame us but an invitation out of the darkness. The takeaway: when we stop fearing exposure and instead confess, repent, and seek God's face, He breaks us down gently and compassionately, as Jesus restored Peter, leading us into healing, peace, and the freedom of His finished work.

]]> Sun, 04 May 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682596 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682597 Guest speaker Brandin Reed shares his decade-long battle with crippling OCD and the journey toward freedom, woven through stories of his late father's radical conversion out of addiction and his own surprising doors of ministry from Brazil to Denmark to Jamaica. Anchored in 2 Corinthians 12, where God tells Paul "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness," Brandin testifies that the songs and ministry God used were the ones born in his valley, not his victories. The takeaway is an invitation to bring our weaknesses into the light rather than hide them, trusting that the Holy Spirit comes alongside us as comforter and that real, lasting change is rooted in love that bears all things and never fails.

]]> Guest speaker Brandin Reed shares his decade-long battle with crippling OCD and the journey toward freedom, woven through stories of his late father's radical conversion out of addiction and his own surprising doors of ministry from Brazil to Denmark to Jamaica. Anchored in 2 Corinthians 12, where God tells Paul "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness," Brandin testifies that the songs and ministry God used were the ones born in his valley, not his victories. The takeaway is an invitation to bring our weaknesses into the light rather than hide them, trusting that the Holy Spirit comes alongside us as comforter and that real, lasting change is rooted in love that bears all things and never fails.

]]> Sun, 11 May 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682597 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682598 A faith-building message from The Sanctuary Church featuring the personal testimony of Gulshad Ayub, sharing the story of God's work in their life.

]]> A faith-building message from The Sanctuary Church featuring the personal testimony of Gulshad Ayub, sharing the story of God's work in their life.

]]> Sun, 11 May 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682598 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682599 Healthy things grow, but what does it actually mean to be healthy? Kicking off a new series, Pastor Derek contrasts our culture's exhausting "age of authenticity"—where self is god and self-fulfillment leads to self-exhaustion—with the model of Jesus, who lived rooted in his identity as the beloved Son. Drawing on John 15's true vine and John 12:24's kernel of wheat that must fall and die, the message calls us to pull the weeds of wrong belief, unrepented sin, and isolation, and to grow through remaining in Christ, knowing the truth, living in community, and prayer—because the path to real life runs through dying to self.

]]> Healthy things grow, but what does it actually mean to be healthy? Kicking off a new series, Pastor Derek contrasts our culture's exhausting "age of authenticity"—where self is god and self-fulfillment leads to self-exhaustion—with the model of Jesus, who lived rooted in his identity as the beloved Son. Drawing on John 15's true vine and John 12:24's kernel of wheat that must fall and die, the message calls us to pull the weeds of wrong belief, unrepented sin, and isolation, and to grow through remaining in Christ, knowing the truth, living in community, and prayer—because the path to real life runs through dying to self.

]]> Sun, 18 May 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682599 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682600 Drawing on Ephesians 1 and the stories of Gideon, Moses, and Jacob, this message wrestles with the question "Who gets to tell you who you are?" Pastor Derek reminds us that God speaks only to our true identity, never the false one we or others put on us, and that we become not what we want but what we behold. The invitation is to silence the lies, rehearse our identity in Christ daily, stay rooted in community, and ask God directly for the name He calls us, so we can live as the chosen, redeemed, and beloved sons and daughters we already are.

]]> Drawing on Ephesians 1 and the stories of Gideon, Moses, and Jacob, this message wrestles with the question "Who gets to tell you who you are?" Pastor Derek reminds us that God speaks only to our true identity, never the false one we or others put on us, and that we become not what we want but what we behold. The invitation is to silence the lies, rehearse our identity in Christ daily, stay rooted in community, and ask God directly for the name He calls us, so we can live as the chosen, redeemed, and beloved sons and daughters we already are.

]]> Sun, 25 May 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682600 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682601 Healthy maturity is never accidental — it's life-giving change over time, the fruit of following Christ rather than simply waking up Christlike. Drawing on Genesis 1-2 and Ephesians 2, the message frames life in three phases: God builds a container (you, made for a purpose), fills it (with grace, truth, and the Spirit rather than money or applause), and finally calls you to give the container away, just as Jesus emptied and poured himself out in Philippians 2. The takeaway: invest your time and self now so you finish well, and honor those further along the road — for as Psalm 92 promises, the righteous still bear fruit in old age.

]]> Healthy maturity is never accidental — it's life-giving change over time, the fruit of following Christ rather than simply waking up Christlike. Drawing on Genesis 1-2 and Ephesians 2, the message frames life in three phases: God builds a container (you, made for a purpose), fills it (with grace, truth, and the Spirit rather than money or applause), and finally calls you to give the container away, just as Jesus emptied and poured himself out in Philippians 2. The takeaway: invest your time and self now so you finish well, and honor those further along the road — for as Psalm 92 promises, the righteous still bear fruit in old age.

]]> Sun, 08 Jun 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682601 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682602 Continuing the Healthy Things Grow series, Anelise turns to marriage as God's first and foundational institution, walking through Ephesians 5:21-33 to show that mutual submission, a husband's sacrificial agape love, and a wife's role as ezer (helper, the same word God uses for himself) are God's design for two becoming one flesh. Drawing on Genesis 2, Proverbs 22:6, and Gottman's research on the patterns that damage relationships, she offers practical antidotes—gentle communication, a culture of appreciation, taking accountability, and regular quality time. The takeaway: healthy marriages and homes don't happen by accident but through daily, intentional choices that make both spouses more like Christ and lay a foundation for how the next generation will connect with God.

]]> Continuing the Healthy Things Grow series, Anelise turns to marriage as God's first and foundational institution, walking through Ephesians 5:21-33 to show that mutual submission, a husband's sacrificial agape love, and a wife's role as ezer (helper, the same word God uses for himself) are God's design for two becoming one flesh. Drawing on Genesis 2, Proverbs 22:6, and Gottman's research on the patterns that damage relationships, she offers practical antidotes—gentle communication, a culture of appreciation, taking accountability, and regular quality time. The takeaway: healthy marriages and homes don't happen by accident but through daily, intentional choices that make both spouses more like Christ and lay a foundation for how the next generation will connect with God.

]]> Sun, 08 Jun 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682602 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682603 Healthy spirituality isn't about doing more—it's about loving God with your whole self. Drawing from Jesus' answer to the greatest commandment in Mark 12:30, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and all your strength," this message explores engaging God with our affections, emotions, intellect, and energy rather than settling for ritual, religious performance, or one-dimensional faith. The invitation is to build a "trellis" of life-giving practices—silence and solitude, scripture, prayer, Sabbath, confession, community, and simplicity—not as a scoreboard to earn God's favor, but as scaffolding that supports a real, abiding relationship with Jesus, marked by consistency over intensity, until our lives bear the fruit of becoming people of love.

]]> Healthy spirituality isn't about doing more—it's about loving God with your whole self. Drawing from Jesus' answer to the greatest commandment in Mark 12:30, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and all your strength," this message explores engaging God with our affections, emotions, intellect, and energy rather than settling for ritual, religious performance, or one-dimensional faith. The invitation is to build a "trellis" of life-giving practices—silence and solitude, scripture, prayer, Sabbath, confession, community, and simplicity—not as a scoreboard to earn God's favor, but as scaffolding that supports a real, abiding relationship with Jesus, marked by consistency over intensity, until our lives bear the fruit of becoming people of love.

]]> Sun, 15 Jun 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682603 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682604 God's very nature as Trinity reveals that community isn't just something God does, it's something God is, and we were made in that communal image. Drawing on Genesis 1:26's "let us make humanity in our image," the Rublev icon of Abraham's three visitors, and the way Jesus tended his own concentric circles of three, twelve, and seventy-two, this message reframes our loneliness not as brokenness but as a sacred ache pulling us toward wholeness. The challenge: stop waiting to be invited and start building the community you long for, with realistic expectations for each circle of friendship, through consistency, diversity, and shared experience, because community is the very foundation of who God is.

]]> God's very nature as Trinity reveals that community isn't just something God does, it's something God is, and we were made in that communal image. Drawing on Genesis 1:26's "let us make humanity in our image," the Rublev icon of Abraham's three visitors, and the way Jesus tended his own concentric circles of three, twelve, and seventy-two, this message reframes our loneliness not as brokenness but as a sacred ache pulling us toward wholeness. The challenge: stop waiting to be invited and start building the community you long for, with realistic expectations for each circle of friendship, through consistency, diversity, and shared experience, because community is the very foundation of who God is.

]]> Sun, 22 Jun 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682604 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682605 Healthy growth always demands change, and while we love the idea of growing, we resist the discomfort that real transformation requires. Drawing on John 15's image of the vine and gardener, Pastor Derek reminds us that God prunes even fruitful branches so they bear more, and that new levels of growth often invite new opposition, especially from those closest to us. The invitation this week is simple but stretching: expect change and pressure, lean into prayer, assess your relationships, surrender control, and ask where God is calling you to grow and what change that requires.

]]> Healthy growth always demands change, and while we love the idea of growing, we resist the discomfort that real transformation requires. Drawing on John 15's image of the vine and gardener, Pastor Derek reminds us that God prunes even fruitful branches so they bear more, and that new levels of growth often invite new opposition, especially from those closest to us. The invitation this week is simple but stretching: expect change and pressure, lean into prayer, assess your relationships, surrender control, and ask where God is calling you to grow and what change that requires.

]]> Sun, 06 Jul 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682605 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682606 Consecration means being set apart and devoted wholly to God, and Pastor Johnny opens this first part of the series by tracing that idea from Genesis through the cross, showing there was never meant to be a divide between the sacred and the secular until sin fractured creation. Anchored in Romans 12:1 ("offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God") and woven through his own father's deliverance and his story of being dedicated to the Lord, the message presses one question: what have you been consecrated to? The call is to take honest inventory, surrender the idols and disordered desires that keep us double-minded, and step into the abundant life of having all of God in all of life.

]]> Consecration means being set apart and devoted wholly to God, and Pastor Johnny opens this first part of the series by tracing that idea from Genesis through the cross, showing there was never meant to be a divide between the sacred and the secular until sin fractured creation. Anchored in Romans 12:1 ("offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God") and woven through his own father's deliverance and his story of being dedicated to the Lord, the message presses one question: what have you been consecrated to? The call is to take honest inventory, surrender the idols and disordered desires that keep us double-minded, and step into the abundant life of having all of God in all of life.

]]> Sun, 13 Jul 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682606 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682607 Consecration isn't only about drawing closer to God personally; it's about preparing the way for Him to move through us and into our city, neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces. Drawing from Luke 3 and the lives of John the Baptist, Moses, David, Joseph, and Daniel, this message reminds us that God sanctifies people in hidden, wilderness seasons before sending them out, and that fasting positions us before Him, bringing a quieted soul, an amplified hunger for His Word, and breakthrough that comes no other way. The invitation is to take a step into fasting and prayer this week, asking God where we can partner with Him in the renewal of our city.

]]> Consecration isn't only about drawing closer to God personally; it's about preparing the way for Him to move through us and into our city, neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces. Drawing from Luke 3 and the lives of John the Baptist, Moses, David, Joseph, and Daniel, this message reminds us that God sanctifies people in hidden, wilderness seasons before sending them out, and that fasting positions us before Him, bringing a quieted soul, an amplified hunger for His Word, and breakthrough that comes no other way. The invitation is to take a step into fasting and prayer this week, asking God where we can partner with Him in the renewal of our city.

]]> Sun, 27 Jul 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682607 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682608 Drawing from Isaiah 6 and the prophet's vision of the Lord high and lifted up, this final installment of the Consecrated series traces a simple but costly path: encounter leads to transformation, transformation to consecration, and consecration to obedience. The heart of it is that God cares more about who we are than anything we do for Him, and that real surrender begins with intimacy at the cross, not striving, sacrifice apart from relationship only breeds religiosity and burnout. The invitation is to let Him deal with the inner places first, to watch the words we speak, and then to take the next step of obedience He's been asking of us, declaring with Isaiah, "Here I am, send me."

]]> Drawing from Isaiah 6 and the prophet's vision of the Lord high and lifted up, this final installment of the Consecrated series traces a simple but costly path: encounter leads to transformation, transformation to consecration, and consecration to obedience. The heart of it is that God cares more about who we are than anything we do for Him, and that real surrender begins with intimacy at the cross, not striving, sacrifice apart from relationship only breeds religiosity and burnout. The invitation is to let Him deal with the inner places first, to watch the words we speak, and then to take the next step of obedience He's been asking of us, declaring with Isaiah, "Here I am, send me."

]]> Sun, 03 Aug 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682608 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682609 The Book of Judges opens a seven-week series with a timeless pattern: Israel takes only about ten percent of the land God intended, settling for partial freedom and slipping into the cycle of rebellion, ruin, repentance, and rescue. Drawing on Judges 1-3 and early deliverers like Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar, the message reframes God not as an angry judge but as a relentless rescuer who invites rather than condemns, calling us to drive out the lingering compromises we keep half-hidden in case we want to return. The takeaway is grace over shame: replace what does us violence with something more beautiful in Christ, and trust that no matter how often we ask "how did I get here again," God's mercy is bigger than our cycles and He never gives up on us.

]]> The Book of Judges opens a seven-week series with a timeless pattern: Israel takes only about ten percent of the land God intended, settling for partial freedom and slipping into the cycle of rebellion, ruin, repentance, and rescue. Drawing on Judges 1-3 and early deliverers like Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar, the message reframes God not as an angry judge but as a relentless rescuer who invites rather than condemns, calling us to drive out the lingering compromises we keep half-hidden in case we want to return. The takeaway is grace over shame: replace what does us violence with something more beautiful in Christ, and trust that no matter how often we ask "how did I get here again," God's mercy is bigger than our cycles and He never gives up on us.

]]> Sun, 10 Aug 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682609 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682610 The story of Samson (Judges 13-16) confronts a lie many of us carry: that God can only use us once we've cleaned ourselves up. Samson breaks every part of his Nazirite vow, is ruled by anger, pride, and lust, and never truly repents, yet God repeatedly fills him with supernatural strength and even lists him among the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11. His life ultimately foreshadows Jesus, the strong One who became weak to save His people through death, reminding us that God works most powerfully not through our performance but through our weakness, so that wherever you feel unworthy or unqualified is exactly where He's ready to use you.

]]> The story of Samson (Judges 13-16) confronts a lie many of us carry: that God can only use us once we've cleaned ourselves up. Samson breaks every part of his Nazirite vow, is ruled by anger, pride, and lust, and never truly repents, yet God repeatedly fills him with supernatural strength and even lists him among the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11. His life ultimately foreshadows Jesus, the strong One who became weak to save His people through death, reminding us that God works most powerfully not through our performance but through our weakness, so that wherever you feel unworthy or unqualified is exactly where He's ready to use you.

]]> Sun, 17 Aug 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682610 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682611 Walking through the rise and fall of Gideon in Judges 6-8, Pastor Derek explores what it means to step out in faith when you feel small, hidden, or unqualified, set against the recurring cycle of rebellion, repentance, and rescue that runs through Judges. God meets the doubting Gideon with patience ("I will wait until you return"), calls him to tear down the idols in his own house before sending him into battle with only 300 men, trumpets, and torches—proof that God doesn't need the best, only the available. The challenge for us is the same: know the identity God gives you, surrender the idols you've tolerated, worship as a weapon in the middle of the fear, and guard against the pride that derailed Gideon by giving God alone the glory.

]]> Walking through the rise and fall of Gideon in Judges 6-8, Pastor Derek explores what it means to step out in faith when you feel small, hidden, or unqualified, set against the recurring cycle of rebellion, repentance, and rescue that runs through Judges. God meets the doubting Gideon with patience ("I will wait until you return"), calls him to tear down the idols in his own house before sending him into battle with only 300 men, trumpets, and torches—proof that God doesn't need the best, only the available. The challenge for us is the same: know the identity God gives you, surrender the idols you've tolerated, worship as a weapon in the middle of the fear, and guard against the pride that derailed Gideon by giving God alone the glory.

]]> Sun, 24 Aug 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682611 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682612 Drawing from Judges 4-5, this message introduces Deborah, the prophet and judge who held court under the palm tree, and unpacks how her quiet life of intercession was the hidden foundation beneath her public authority. Through Deborah's partnership with the reluctant Barack and Jael's decisive victory in her own tent, the story celebrates collaboration over ego, honesty over false bravado, and the sacred power of battles won at home with the ordinary tools God has already placed in our hands. The invitation is to root our lives in God's presence through prayer, to humbly lean on the people He has positioned beside us, and to keep hoping even in seasons of suffering, trusting that He brings His people back to a land of milk and honey.

]]> Drawing from Judges 4-5, this message introduces Deborah, the prophet and judge who held court under the palm tree, and unpacks how her quiet life of intercession was the hidden foundation beneath her public authority. Through Deborah's partnership with the reluctant Barack and Jael's decisive victory in her own tent, the story celebrates collaboration over ego, honesty over false bravado, and the sacred power of battles won at home with the ordinary tools God has already placed in our hands. The invitation is to root our lives in God's presence through prayer, to humbly lean on the people He has positioned beside us, and to keep hoping even in seasons of suffering, trusting that He brings His people back to a land of milk and honey.

]]> Sun, 31 Aug 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682612 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682613 Drawing from Judges 11 and the tragic story of Jephthah, who sacrificed his daughter after a rash vow, this message traces how unhealed wounds quietly shape the choices we make. Jephthah's rejection and need to prove himself became what mystics call the "false self" — the identity we construct out of fear, shame, and the constant bargaining of "if I just do this, then I'll be loved." The invitation is to break the cycle by noticing our patterns, surrendering our need for control, and learning to live from a place of belovedness rather than woundedness, trusting that our true identity is found as beloved children of God (1 John 3:1).

]]> Drawing from Judges 11 and the tragic story of Jephthah, who sacrificed his daughter after a rash vow, this message traces how unhealed wounds quietly shape the choices we make. Jephthah's rejection and need to prove himself became what mystics call the "false self" — the identity we construct out of fear, shame, and the constant bargaining of "if I just do this, then I'll be loved." The invitation is to break the cycle by noticing our patterns, surrendering our need for control, and learning to live from a place of belovedness rather than woundedness, trusting that our true identity is found as beloved children of God (1 John 3:1).

]]> Sun, 07 Sep 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682613 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682614 Drawing from the strange and troubling account of Micah and the Danites in Judges 17-18, this message confronts the danger of syncretism: the temptation to blend a little of Jesus with self-help, politics, consumerism, or cultural values until our faith becomes a counterfeit that assumes God's blessing while quietly living under a curse. When everyone does what is right in their own eyes, even consecrated leaders drift and trade integrity for influence, and our self-made idols prove powerless. The way forward is not legalism or church busyness but Jesus as the unquestioned King of our hearts, inviting Him to confront the areas where we've drifted, because if our version of Jesus always agrees with us, we may not be following the real one.

]]> Drawing from the strange and troubling account of Micah and the Danites in Judges 17-18, this message confronts the danger of syncretism: the temptation to blend a little of Jesus with self-help, politics, consumerism, or cultural values until our faith becomes a counterfeit that assumes God's blessing while quietly living under a curse. When everyone does what is right in their own eyes, even consecrated leaders drift and trade integrity for influence, and our self-made idols prove powerless. The way forward is not legalism or church busyness but Jesus as the unquestioned King of our hearts, inviting Him to confront the areas where we've drifted, because if our version of Jesus always agrees with us, we may not be following the real one.

]]> Sun, 14 Sep 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682614 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682615 Elizabeth Winfrey shares her testimony of moving from severe childhood trauma, addiction, and homelessness into healing, redemption, and complete sobriety, anchoring it all in Ephesians 4:1's call to "live a life worthy of the calling you have received." Drawing on the image of fixing her eyes on Jesus the way a weightlifter fixes her gaze to make the lift, she shows how pain, when seen by an empathetic witness, becomes the doorway to healing, and how the "push of pain" must become the "pull of purpose." Her invitation is to surrender pride, bring our wounds to the foot of the cross, and trust that our gifts are often buried in our deepest pain.

]]> Elizabeth Winfrey shares her testimony of moving from severe childhood trauma, addiction, and homelessness into healing, redemption, and complete sobriety, anchoring it all in Ephesians 4:1's call to "live a life worthy of the calling you have received." Drawing on the image of fixing her eyes on Jesus the way a weightlifter fixes her gaze to make the lift, she shows how pain, when seen by an empathetic witness, becomes the doorway to healing, and how the "push of pain" must become the "pull of purpose." Her invitation is to surrender pride, bring our wounds to the foot of the cross, and trust that our gifts are often buried in our deepest pain.

]]> Sun, 28 Sep 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682615 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682616 Worship is far more than the music we sing on Sunday morning. Drawing on the Hebrew and Greek words behind the word in Scripture, the very meaning of "worth-ship," and stories from Cain and Abel to Ananias and Sapphira, this message reframes worship as a whole-bodied, costly posture of love and submission that demands real expression. The takeaway: we all worship something, God weighs the heart and character behind our offering more than the form of it (Amos 5, Psalm 24), and true worship aligns our actions with what we claim our hearts believe, asking honestly, "What does your worship cost you right now?"

]]> Worship is far more than the music we sing on Sunday morning. Drawing on the Hebrew and Greek words behind the word in Scripture, the very meaning of "worth-ship," and stories from Cain and Abel to Ananias and Sapphira, this message reframes worship as a whole-bodied, costly posture of love and submission that demands real expression. The takeaway: we all worship something, God weighs the heart and character behind our offering more than the form of it (Amos 5, Psalm 24), and true worship aligns our actions with what we claim our hearts believe, asking honestly, "What does your worship cost you right now?"

]]> Sun, 05 Oct 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682616 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682617 James, the half-brother of Jesus who went from skeptic to martyr, opens his letter (chapter 1, verses 1-18) with a bracing call to count it all joy when trials come, because endurance forged in suffering is how God completes his work in us. The heart of the message is a warning against being "double-minded" — living with split loyalty between God and self — and an invitation to ask God for wisdom, a godly perspective under pressure that he gives generously to all who seek it. The takeaway for everyday life: don't measure yourself by your possessions but by your perseverance, lift your eyes off your problems and onto Jesus, and simply don't give up.

]]> James, the half-brother of Jesus who went from skeptic to martyr, opens his letter (chapter 1, verses 1-18) with a bracing call to count it all joy when trials come, because endurance forged in suffering is how God completes his work in us. The heart of the message is a warning against being "double-minded" — living with split loyalty between God and self — and an invitation to ask God for wisdom, a godly perspective under pressure that he gives generously to all who seek it. The takeaway for everyday life: don't measure yourself by your possessions but by your perseverance, lift your eyes off your problems and onto Jesus, and simply don't give up.

]]> Sun, 12 Oct 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682617 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682618 Drawing from James 1:19-27, this message calls believers to be "quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry," receiving God's Word like a mirror that reads our hearts and a perfect law of freedom that frees us to live at our fullest God-ordained capacity. The speaker weaves her own story as a burn survivor and recent moments of obedience, including ministering to a grieving cousin and an unexpected encounter with a widow, to show that pure religion is not bench-warming but active faith. The takeaway: don't merely hear the Word, do it, becoming the hands and feet of Jesus by caring for the orphan, the widow, and the vulnerable so the world sees heaven living inside us.

]]> Drawing from James 1:19-27, this message calls believers to be "quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry," receiving God's Word like a mirror that reads our hearts and a perfect law of freedom that frees us to live at our fullest God-ordained capacity. The speaker weaves her own story as a burn survivor and recent moments of obedience, including ministering to a grieving cousin and an unexpected encounter with a widow, to show that pure religion is not bench-warming but active faith. The takeaway: don't merely hear the Word, do it, becoming the hands and feet of Jesus by caring for the orphan, the widow, and the vulnerable so the world sees heaven living inside us.

]]> Sun, 19 Oct 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682618 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682619 Wisdom is the heartbeat of this fourth installment in our James series, drawn from the second half of James 3 (verses 13-18), where James distinguishes earthly wisdom rooted in ego, envy, and selfish ambition from the heavenly wisdom that is pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy, impartial, and sincere. Pastor Eric reminds us that true wisdom isn't about being the smartest or loudest voice in the room but about how we live it out, leading with love and embrace before theology, and that it is always available to anyone who simply asks God for it without fear of condemnation. The challenge is practical: let your ego die at the cross, walk into life's tensions with grace instead of reactivity, and love people as they are rather than as they should be.

]]> Wisdom is the heartbeat of this fourth installment in our James series, drawn from the second half of James 3 (verses 13-18), where James distinguishes earthly wisdom rooted in ego, envy, and selfish ambition from the heavenly wisdom that is pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy, impartial, and sincere. Pastor Eric reminds us that true wisdom isn't about being the smartest or loudest voice in the room but about how we live it out, leading with love and embrace before theology, and that it is always available to anyone who simply asks God for it without fear of condemnation. The challenge is practical: let your ego die at the cross, walk into life's tensions with grace instead of reactivity, and love people as they are rather than as they should be.

]]> Sun, 02 Nov 2025 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682619 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682620 Drawing on James 4 and the question "Why do you fight and quarrel?", this message reframes outward conflict as a symptom of unhealed wounds, fear, and unmet desires within us: "the fight out there is because there's a fight in here." With vulnerable stories from his own childhood and marriage, the speaker traces envy and selfish ambition (James 3:16) back to a distorted view of God, then points to the better way of James 4:6-7: God gives more grace to the humble, and submission isn't restriction but covering. The invitation is to stop white-knuckling and self-protecting, get honest about the conflict inside, and surrender it to God with the question, "Is there anything in me that's preventing me from receiving all that you have for me?"

]]> Drawing on James 4 and the question "Why do you fight and quarrel?", this message reframes outward conflict as a symptom of unhealed wounds, fear, and unmet desires within us: "the fight out there is because there's a fight in here." With vulnerable stories from his own childhood and marriage, the speaker traces envy and selfish ambition (James 3:16) back to a distorted view of God, then points to the better way of James 4:6-7: God gives more grace to the humble, and submission isn't restriction but covering. The invitation is to stop white-knuckling and self-protecting, get honest about the conflict inside, and surrender it to God with the question, "Is there anything in me that's preventing me from receiving all that you have for me?"

]]> Sun, 09 Nov 2025 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682620 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682621 Drawing on James 5:1-12, this message confronts the human heart's endless craving to acquire more, warning that all earthly wealth is in the process of decay ("moth and rust") and that misplaced security in riches breeds injustice toward the poor and laborers whose cries reach God. Echoing Jesus' words and the perseverance of Job, the call is to anchor our security in Christ rather than in wealth, and to wait patiently and faithfully through suffering, trusting the God who suffered alongside us on the cross to one day set every wrong right. The invitation is threefold: repent of misplaced security, repair what we can by living and paying justly, and resolve to wait with steadfast, prayerful hope until the Lord returns.

]]> Drawing on James 5:1-12, this message confronts the human heart's endless craving to acquire more, warning that all earthly wealth is in the process of decay ("moth and rust") and that misplaced security in riches breeds injustice toward the poor and laborers whose cries reach God. Echoing Jesus' words and the perseverance of Job, the call is to anchor our security in Christ rather than in wealth, and to wait patiently and faithfully through suffering, trusting the God who suffered alongside us on the cross to one day set every wrong right. The invitation is threefold: repent of misplaced security, repair what we can by living and paying justly, and resolve to wait with steadfast, prayerful hope until the Lord returns.

]]> Sun, 16 Nov 2025 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682621 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682622 Drawing from James 5:13-20, this message centers on prayer as the believer's lifeline in every season—turning to God first in suffering, singing in joy, and calling the elders to anoint and pray over the sick. A significant portion is devoted to confession (James 5:16), framed as the path to healing and freedom that breaks the isolating power of secret sin, illustrated through Elijah's earnest prayer and a live invitation for the congregation to confess aloud. The closing call is for the church to carry its "mantle"—using spiritual gifts in love and gentleness to restore those who have wandered and bring them home.

]]> Drawing from James 5:13-20, this message centers on prayer as the believer's lifeline in every season—turning to God first in suffering, singing in joy, and calling the elders to anoint and pray over the sick. A significant portion is devoted to confession (James 5:16), framed as the path to healing and freedom that breaks the isolating power of secret sin, illustrated through Elijah's earnest prayer and a live invitation for the congregation to confess aloud. The closing call is for the church to carry its "mantle"—using spiritual gifts in love and gentleness to restore those who have wandered and bring them home.

]]> Sun, 23 Nov 2025 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682622 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682623 Born out of the loss of his daughter Haven Rose and the joy of the daughter who followed her, Wild Hope, Pastor walks through the Advent theme of hope as the active confidence that the God who has acted before will act again. Drawing on Hannah's desperate prayer in 1 Samuel 1, the promise of Isaiah 40:31, and the Hebrew word kava ("to bind by twisting together"), he reframes hope not as passive wishing but as wrestling, remembering, and entangling our lives with God's faithfulness. The invitation is to look back at where God met you this year and let that fuel courage for what's ahead, holding unswervingly to the One who was and is and is to come.

]]> Born out of the loss of his daughter Haven Rose and the joy of the daughter who followed her, Wild Hope, Pastor walks through the Advent theme of hope as the active confidence that the God who has acted before will act again. Drawing on Hannah's desperate prayer in 1 Samuel 1, the promise of Isaiah 40:31, and the Hebrew word kava ("to bind by twisting together"), he reframes hope not as passive wishing but as wrestling, remembering, and entangling our lives with God's faithfulness. The invitation is to look back at where God met you this year and let that fuel courage for what's ahead, holding unswervingly to the One who was and is and is to come.

]]> Sun, 30 Nov 2025 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682623 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682624 Drawing on Isaiah 9:6 and the Hebrew name Sar Shalom, "Prince of Peace," this Advent message unpacks Jesus as the one who carries the very authority to administer peace, tracing God's presence from the tabernacle cloud in Numbers 9 to the manger and the resurrected Christ who greets his disciples with "Peace be with you" in John 20. The heart of it is that real peace can't be manufactured through relationships, money, jobs, or substances; it only comes as Jesus takes up residence within us, making us a dwelling place for his presence. The invitation is to first make peace with God through what Christ accomplished on the cross, and then to carry the peace of God into every circumstance, trusting that what is inside us can become greater than whatever we face in the world.

]]> Drawing on Isaiah 9:6 and the Hebrew name Sar Shalom, "Prince of Peace," this Advent message unpacks Jesus as the one who carries the very authority to administer peace, tracing God's presence from the tabernacle cloud in Numbers 9 to the manger and the resurrected Christ who greets his disciples with "Peace be with you" in John 20. The heart of it is that real peace can't be manufactured through relationships, money, jobs, or substances; it only comes as Jesus takes up residence within us, making us a dwelling place for his presence. The invitation is to first make peace with God through what Christ accomplished on the cross, and then to carry the peace of God into every circumstance, trusting that what is inside us can become greater than whatever we face in the world.

]]> Sun, 07 Dec 2025 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682624 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682625 Drawing from the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1, this Advent reflection on joy reframes Christ's family tree as a resume full of underdogs, outsiders, and moral failures, proving that the Messiah came not for the perfect but for the broken. By tracing the hidden "six sevens" pattern in the genealogy that marks Jesus as the ultimate Jubilee of Leviticus 25, the message reveals that real joy is not something we manufacture through effort or striving but a gift we receive when we rest in him. The invitation: stop earning, anchor your joy in Jesus's presence rather than your circumstances, and trust that if there was room in his lineage for scandal and shame, there is room for you.

]]> Drawing from the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1, this Advent reflection on joy reframes Christ's family tree as a resume full of underdogs, outsiders, and moral failures, proving that the Messiah came not for the perfect but for the broken. By tracing the hidden "six sevens" pattern in the genealogy that marks Jesus as the ultimate Jubilee of Leviticus 25, the message reveals that real joy is not something we manufacture through effort or striving but a gift we receive when we rest in him. The invitation: stop earning, anchor your joy in Jesus's presence rather than your circumstances, and trust that if there was room in his lineage for scandal and shame, there is room for you.

]]> Sun, 14 Dec 2025 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682625 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682626 Love that comes from God, not from us, stands as a fixed and unchanging source rather than something we define by our own shifting feelings and convenience. Working through Luke 6:32-36 and John 3:16, the message traces four kinds of love—from "scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" all the way to loving the enemy who stabs you in the back—and shows that this highest love is only possible because God didn't merely declare His love but demonstrated it by putting on flesh in Jesus at Christmas. The challenge lands close to home: who is God inviting you to love this way right now, especially the person who has wounded you, and the freedom to do so comes only once we've first received His love ourselves.

]]> Love that comes from God, not from us, stands as a fixed and unchanging source rather than something we define by our own shifting feelings and convenience. Working through Luke 6:32-36 and John 3:16, the message traces four kinds of love—from "scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" all the way to loving the enemy who stabs you in the back—and shows that this highest love is only possible because God didn't merely declare His love but demonstrated it by putting on flesh in Jesus at Christmas. The challenge lands close to home: who is God inviting you to love this way right now, especially the person who has wounded you, and the freedom to do so comes only once we've first received His love ourselves.

]]> Sun, 21 Dec 2025 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682626 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682627 Drawing on the story of Hosea and Gomer (Hosea 1-3), guest speaker Frank Sinclair traces how God commanded a faithful prophet to love and ultimately buy back an unfaithful wife from the slave block, a living picture of God's relentless love for a wayward, scattered people. Sinclair weaves in his own testimony of being homeless and far from God at 26 before the gospel found him, reminding us that Hosea's name means salvation and that the price paid for Gomer foreshadows the redemption of Christ. The takeaway is tender and direct: no matter how used up, scarred, or rejected you feel, God has already purchased your heart and is ready to lead you home, so don't begin the new year by saying no to the One calling you back.

]]> Drawing on the story of Hosea and Gomer (Hosea 1-3), guest speaker Frank Sinclair traces how God commanded a faithful prophet to love and ultimately buy back an unfaithful wife from the slave block, a living picture of God's relentless love for a wayward, scattered people. Sinclair weaves in his own testimony of being homeless and far from God at 26 before the gospel found him, reminding us that Hosea's name means salvation and that the price paid for Gomer foreshadows the redemption of Christ. The takeaway is tender and direct: no matter how used up, scarred, or rejected you feel, God has already purchased your heart and is ready to lead you home, so don't begin the new year by saying no to the One calling you back.

]]> Sun, 04 Jan 2026 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682627 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682628 Prayer is the most important thing we can do, yet distraction and fear keep us from it — which is exactly why the disciples asked Jesus, "Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke 11). Opening a new series on the Lord's Prayer, this first message lingers on the very first words, "Our Father," making the case that everything in prayer flows from knowing God as a loving Father who delights to give good gifts to His children (Matthew 6; Luke 11:13) — and that receiving that identity reshapes how we see ourselves and one another. The invitation is simple: just start praying, pray your best prayer, and begin every prayer by remembering you are the beloved of God.

]]> Prayer is the most important thing we can do, yet distraction and fear keep us from it — which is exactly why the disciples asked Jesus, "Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke 11). Opening a new series on the Lord's Prayer, this first message lingers on the very first words, "Our Father," making the case that everything in prayer flows from knowing God as a loving Father who delights to give good gifts to His children (Matthew 6; Luke 11:13) — and that receiving that identity reshapes how we see ourselves and one another. The invitation is simple: just start praying, pray your best prayer, and begin every prayer by remembering you are the beloved of God.

]]> Sun, 11 Jan 2026 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682628 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682629 Whatever captures your attention first tends to capture your allegiance, and Jesus teaches us to begin prayer not with requests but with reorientation: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name." Drawing on Revelation 4 and the fear of the Lord as wisdom's beginning, Pastor Derek explores how naming God as both intimate Father and holy King reorders our affections and casts out every lesser fear. The invitation is practical: awaken your soul to God's greatness, pray the Psalms aloud, and worship even when you don't feel like it, trusting that, like Paul and Silas singing in their cell (Acts 16), declaring God's reign sets us free not only for ourselves but for others.

]]> Whatever captures your attention first tends to capture your allegiance, and Jesus teaches us to begin prayer not with requests but with reorientation: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name." Drawing on Revelation 4 and the fear of the Lord as wisdom's beginning, Pastor Derek explores how naming God as both intimate Father and holy King reorders our affections and casts out every lesser fear. The invitation is practical: awaken your soul to God's greatness, pray the Psalms aloud, and worship even when you don't feel like it, trusting that, like Paul and Silas singing in their cell (Acts 16), declaring God's reign sets us free not only for ourselves but for others.

]]> Sun, 18 Jan 2026 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682629 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682630 Centered on the line "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" from the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:10), this message reframes that petition as active intercession rather than passive resignation—standing in the gap and inviting God's reign of justice, mercy, and grace to invade our broken systems and lives. Drawing on the comic series Kingdom Come, Matthew 25's call to care for the least of these, and even Jesus' own "no" in Gethsemane and Paul's thorn in the flesh, it reminds us that power without surrender only multiplies destruction, while the world is saved when the King surrenders Himself. The challenge for this week: replace your knee-jerk reactions with prayer, and choose one person, nation, or burden to faithfully intercede for, praying "not my will, but Your kingdom come."

]]> Centered on the line "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" from the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:10), this message reframes that petition as active intercession rather than passive resignation—standing in the gap and inviting God's reign of justice, mercy, and grace to invade our broken systems and lives. Drawing on the comic series Kingdom Come, Matthew 25's call to care for the least of these, and even Jesus' own "no" in Gethsemane and Paul's thorn in the flesh, it reminds us that power without surrender only multiplies destruction, while the world is saved when the King surrenders Himself. The challenge for this week: replace your knee-jerk reactions with prayer, and choose one person, nation, or burden to faithfully intercede for, praying "not my will, but Your kingdom come."

]]> Sun, 25 Jan 2026 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682630 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682631 Drawing from the line "Give us today our daily bread," this message explores what it means to depend on God day by day rather than grasping for control. Tracing the prayer back to God's provision of manna in Exodus 16 and Jesus' invitation to "ask, seek, and knock" in Luke 11, it reframes daily bread not as poverty theology but as dependence theology, where prayer reorders our anxious longing for control into trust in a near and attentive Father. The takeaway is an invitation to pray honestly about both the practical and the spiritual, naming our needs to a God who is moved by our prayers and longs to meet us today.

]]> Drawing from the line "Give us today our daily bread," this message explores what it means to depend on God day by day rather than grasping for control. Tracing the prayer back to God's provision of manna in Exodus 16 and Jesus' invitation to "ask, seek, and knock" in Luke 11, it reframes daily bread not as poverty theology but as dependence theology, where prayer reorders our anxious longing for control into trust in a near and attentive Father. The takeaway is an invitation to pray honestly about both the practical and the spiritual, naming our needs to a God who is moved by our prayers and longs to meet us today.

]]> Sun, 01 Feb 2026 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682631 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682632 Forgiveness rarely begins with a feeling—it begins with willingness and obedience, trusting that God's grace will do in us what we cannot do on our own. Drawing on Corinne ten Boom's famous choice to extend her hand to a former Nazi guard, the disciple Peter stepping out of the boat, and the prayer "forgive us as we forgive others," this message walks through what it means to lay down our anger, confess our own brokenness in honest community, and stop trying to "prune" the people who have hurt us. The invitation is simple and freeing: bring your weariness and your shackles to the cross, pray "God, I can't, but you can," and let Him strike off the chains link by link.

]]> Forgiveness rarely begins with a feeling—it begins with willingness and obedience, trusting that God's grace will do in us what we cannot do on our own. Drawing on Corinne ten Boom's famous choice to extend her hand to a former Nazi guard, the disciple Peter stepping out of the boat, and the prayer "forgive us as we forgive others," this message walks through what it means to lay down our anger, confess our own brokenness in honest community, and stop trying to "prune" the people who have hurt us. The invitation is simple and freeing: bring your weariness and your shackles to the cross, pray "God, I can't, but you can," and let Him strike off the chains link by link.

]]> Sun, 08 Feb 2026 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682632 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682633 Why would a good and all-powerful God allow so much evil and suffering in the world? Wrestling with the ancient Epicurean paradox and his own hard experiences of war and loss, Pastor Ben argues that God permits the possibility of evil because genuine love must be freely chosen rather than forced, and that the vast majority of suffering flows from human rebellion rather than from God. The heart of the answer is the cross: drawing on Habakkuk's lament, Jesus' words in John 15:12-13, and the story of Maximilian Kolbe, we meet a God who doesn't stay distant from our pain but enters it, suffers alongside us, and dies in our place, so that death itself begins working backwards, calling us to trust him and to step into others' suffering to bring healing and light.

]]> Why would a good and all-powerful God allow so much evil and suffering in the world? Wrestling with the ancient Epicurean paradox and his own hard experiences of war and loss, Pastor Ben argues that God permits the possibility of evil because genuine love must be freely chosen rather than forced, and that the vast majority of suffering flows from human rebellion rather than from God. The heart of the answer is the cross: drawing on Habakkuk's lament, Jesus' words in John 15:12-13, and the story of Maximilian Kolbe, we meet a God who doesn't stay distant from our pain but enters it, suffers alongside us, and dies in our place, so that death itself begins working backwards, calling us to trust him and to step into others' suffering to bring healing and light.

]]> Sun, 01 Mar 2026 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682633 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682634 Drawing from Romans 5:3-5, Tessa Harvey unfolds the "art of suffering well"—the practice of holding grief and joy together and trusting God to weave beauty into even our most painful seasons. Through her own story of being born out of family loss, chronic illness, and the devastating loss of her daughter Haven at 37 weeks, she shows how suffering produces perseverance, character, and hope, and why we can't heal in isolation but need empathetic witnesses to bear our burdens. The invitation is to surrender your messy, unfinished story to the Maker who, like an embroiderer working on the hidden side of the cloth, is making a crown out of the very threads we'd be tempted to discard.

]]> Drawing from Romans 5:3-5, Tessa Harvey unfolds the "art of suffering well"—the practice of holding grief and joy together and trusting God to weave beauty into even our most painful seasons. Through her own story of being born out of family loss, chronic illness, and the devastating loss of her daughter Haven at 37 weeks, she shows how suffering produces perseverance, character, and hope, and why we can't heal in isolation but need empathetic witnesses to bear our burdens. The invitation is to surrender your messy, unfinished story to the Maker who, like an embroiderer working on the hidden side of the cloth, is making a crown out of the very threads we'd be tempted to discard.

]]> Sun, 15 Mar 2026 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682634 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682635 Drawing on the early church's response to the Antonine plague in Rome, "All Things New: Part 1" opens a series on what the church truly is by starting at the end, in Revelation 21, where Jesus says "I am making everything new" — using the Greek kainos, meaning renewed and restored rather than scrapped and replaced. The central theme is that God moves toward us in our mess, calling his people to be a "colony of the future," a working model of new creation marked by generosity, presence, and honesty while the world flees. The takeaway is practical: show up embodied, bring your actual life without pretending, and carry that newness into one specific corner of your week.

]]> Drawing on the early church's response to the Antonine plague in Rome, "All Things New: Part 1" opens a series on what the church truly is by starting at the end, in Revelation 21, where Jesus says "I am making everything new" — using the Greek kainos, meaning renewed and restored rather than scrapped and replaced. The central theme is that God moves toward us in our mess, calling his people to be a "colony of the future," a working model of new creation marked by generosity, presence, and honesty while the world flees. The takeaway is practical: show up embodied, bring your actual life without pretending, and carry that newness into one specific corner of your week.

]]> Sun, 12 Apr 2026 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682635 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682636 Tracing the church's divine purpose like a train moving through Scripture, this message follows God's dwelling place from Jacob's dream at Bethel ("How awesome is this place... this is the gate of heaven," Genesis 28), through the wilderness tabernacle set at the center of every tribe (Exodus 25), to the Word becoming flesh in Jesus (John 1:14), and finally to us as "living stones" being built into a spiritual house (1 Peter 2:4-5). Anchored by the great multitude of every tribe and tongue in Revelation 7:9, the through-line is that God has always wanted a people, not a building, with Christ as the cornerstone and every kind of person granted equal access through Him. The takeaway: the church isn't where you go but who you are, so we gather as living stones pursuing God's presence not merely to grow, but to go and carry heaven's open gate into a broken world.

]]> Tracing the church's divine purpose like a train moving through Scripture, this message follows God's dwelling place from Jacob's dream at Bethel ("How awesome is this place... this is the gate of heaven," Genesis 28), through the wilderness tabernacle set at the center of every tribe (Exodus 25), to the Word becoming flesh in Jesus (John 1:14), and finally to us as "living stones" being built into a spiritual house (1 Peter 2:4-5). Anchored by the great multitude of every tribe and tongue in Revelation 7:9, the through-line is that God has always wanted a people, not a building, with Christ as the cornerstone and every kind of person granted equal access through Him. The takeaway: the church isn't where you go but who you are, so we gather as living stones pursuing God's presence not merely to grow, but to go and carry heaven's open gate into a broken world.

]]> Sun, 03 May 2026 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682636 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682662 What is the church really, and can it exist without you in the room? Tracing the Greek word ekklesia ("called out ones") and the history of how God's presence moved from a temple to a people, this message argues that church was never about content delivery you can stream from your couch, but about embodied presence—two nervous systems breathing the same air, spurring one another on. Anchored in Hebrews 10:24-25 and Ephesians 2:22, it calls us to show up as an act of theology, engage our bodies and not just our attention, and bring someone back into the room, because the temple only gets built when we are present.

]]> What is the church really, and can it exist without you in the room? Tracing the Greek word ekklesia ("called out ones") and the history of how God's presence moved from a temple to a people, this message argues that church was never about content delivery you can stream from your couch, but about embodied presence—two nervous systems breathing the same air, spurring one another on. Anchored in Hebrews 10:24-25 and Ephesians 2:22, it calls us to show up as an act of theology, engage our bodies and not just our attention, and bring someone back into the room, because the temple only gets built when we are present.

]]> Sun, 19 Apr 2026 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682662 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682663 Drawing on Mother Teresa's words that "loneliness is the leprosy of the West," this message confronts how American individualism has quietly reshaped our faith, turning followers of Jesus into consumers who church-shop and ghost rather than commit. Rooted in the communal language of Scripture—the Lord's Prayer's "our Father," Paul's repeated "our Lord," the shared life of Acts 4, and Jesus' promise in John 13 that the world will know his disciples by their love for one another—it argues that the church was never meant to be a place you attend but a family you belong to, where "me becomes we." The takeaway is an invitation to decide whose family you belong to and then live it out: stay through the uncomfortable parts, show up for your people, and share a meal together, because people who stay grow and people who leave do not.

]]> Drawing on Mother Teresa's words that "loneliness is the leprosy of the West," this message confronts how American individualism has quietly reshaped our faith, turning followers of Jesus into consumers who church-shop and ghost rather than commit. Rooted in the communal language of Scripture—the Lord's Prayer's "our Father," Paul's repeated "our Lord," the shared life of Acts 4, and Jesus' promise in John 13 that the world will know his disciples by their love for one another—it argues that the church was never meant to be a place you attend but a family you belong to, where "me becomes we." The takeaway is an invitation to decide whose family you belong to and then live it out: stay through the uncomfortable parts, show up for your people, and share a meal together, because people who stay grow and people who leave do not.

]]> Sun, 26 Apr 2026 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682663 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682664 Suffering is not original to creation — Genesis begins with goodness, and pain entered the world through sin, not from the hand of God. Drawing on Hebrews 12, John 16:33, Romans 5, and Jesus' own path from the cross to glory, this message reminds us that Christianity doesn't promise escape from suffering but peace in the middle of it, from a God who is both tenacious and tender and who chose to suffer with us, for us, and even by us. As we enter the season of Lent, the invitation is to suffer well — to bring our pain to God through fasting, prayer, repentance, and almsgiving, making space for what He wants to do, and trusting that suffering produces perseverance, character, and hope, and that one day He will make everything new.

]]> Suffering is not original to creation — Genesis begins with goodness, and pain entered the world through sin, not from the hand of God. Drawing on Hebrews 12, John 16:33, Romans 5, and Jesus' own path from the cross to glory, this message reminds us that Christianity doesn't promise escape from suffering but peace in the middle of it, from a God who is both tenacious and tender and who chose to suffer with us, for us, and even by us. As we enter the season of Lent, the invitation is to suffer well — to bring our pain to God through fasting, prayer, repentance, and almsgiving, making space for what He wants to do, and trusting that suffering produces perseverance, character, and hope, and that one day He will make everything new.

]]> Sun, 22 Feb 2026 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682664 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682665 Suffering is not a question of whether but how—and whether we face it alone or together. Drawing on Psalm 22 (the same anguished cry, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?", that Jesus echoed from the cross) and Genesis 2's declaration that "it is not good for man to be alone," this fifth installment of the Suffering Well series weaves honest stories of devastating loss together with the truth that God enters our pain rather than merely fixing it. The invitation, especially in this Lenten season of remembering Christ's death, is to refuse silent, isolated grief and instead suffer well together—weeping with those who weep and trusting the faithfulness of a God who came down as a suffering Savior to be with us.

]]> Suffering is not a question of whether but how—and whether we face it alone or together. Drawing on Psalm 22 (the same anguished cry, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?", that Jesus echoed from the cross) and Genesis 2's declaration that "it is not good for man to be alone," this fifth installment of the Suffering Well series weaves honest stories of devastating loss together with the truth that God enters our pain rather than merely fixing it. The invitation, especially in this Lenten season of remembering Christ's death, is to refuse silent, isolated grief and instead suffer well together—weeping with those who weep and trusting the faithfulness of a God who came down as a suffering Savior to be with us.

]]> Sun, 22 Mar 2026 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682665 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682666 Drawing on Galatians 6:2-5 and years of walking with people through wildfires, refugee camps, and personal loss, this Palm Sunday message draws a vital distinction between a "burden" (baros, a crushing weight meant to be shared in community) and a "load" (the daily responsibilities each person is meant to carry themselves). The heart of it is an honest charge to those who care for others: to carry someone's burden is not to fix or rescue them but simply to step underneath the weight alongside them, just as Christ came under the weight of the cross for us. The practical invitation is to do good better and longer through presence over answers, consistency over grand gestures, and one simple question: "What would it look like for me to help you carry this burden right now?"

]]> Drawing on Galatians 6:2-5 and years of walking with people through wildfires, refugee camps, and personal loss, this Palm Sunday message draws a vital distinction between a "burden" (baros, a crushing weight meant to be shared in community) and a "load" (the daily responsibilities each person is meant to carry themselves). The heart of it is an honest charge to those who care for others: to carry someone's burden is not to fix or rescue them but simply to step underneath the weight alongside them, just as Christ came under the weight of the cross for us. The practical invitation is to do good better and longer through presence over answers, consistency over grand gestures, and one simple question: "What would it look like for me to help you carry this burden right now?"

]]> Sun, 29 Mar 2026 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682666 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682667 Closing out the Teach Us to Pray series with the Lord's Prayer's final line, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil," Pastor Derek opens up the reality of spiritual warfare for believers. Drawing on Ephesians 6, Daniel 10, and Jesus' own temptation in Matthew 4, he walks through three essentials: know your enemy, know your authority as one seated with Christ, and know how to fight. The encouragement is that the victory has already been won at the cross even as resistance remains real, and we stand firm by wielding the Word, blessing rather than cursing, fighting together, and standing in the opposite spirit, as St. Patrick did, to overcome darkness with light.

]]> Closing out the Teach Us to Pray series with the Lord's Prayer's final line, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil," Pastor Derek opens up the reality of spiritual warfare for believers. Drawing on Ephesians 6, Daniel 10, and Jesus' own temptation in Matthew 4, he walks through three essentials: know your enemy, know your authority as one seated with Christ, and know how to fight. The encouragement is that the victory has already been won at the cross even as resistance remains real, and we stand firm by wielding the Word, blessing rather than cursing, fighting together, and standing in the opposite spirit, as St. Patrick did, to overcome darkness with light.

]]> Sun, 15 Feb 2026 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682667 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682668 Drawing from James 2 and its warning against favoritism, this message reframes our instinct to attach ourselves to the wealthy, powerful, or like-minded as a symptom of not believing we ourselves are beloved by God. The challenge runs deeper than judging clothes or jewelry, surfacing in the subtle ways we favor people by politics, intellect, or lifestyle while quietly putting down the very neighbors we're called to love. Anchored in the royal law to "love your neighbor as yourself" and echoed through Psalm 139, John 15, and Romans 8, the takeaway is that real change begins with awakening to our own belovedness, because a love we genuinely receive is the only love that overflows into action toward others.

]]> Drawing from James 2 and its warning against favoritism, this message reframes our instinct to attach ourselves to the wealthy, powerful, or like-minded as a symptom of not believing we ourselves are beloved by God. The challenge runs deeper than judging clothes or jewelry, surfacing in the subtle ways we favor people by politics, intellect, or lifestyle while quietly putting down the very neighbors we're called to love. Anchored in the royal law to "love your neighbor as yourself" and echoed through Psalm 139, John 15, and Romans 8, the takeaway is that real change begins with awakening to our own belovedness, because a love we genuinely receive is the only love that overflows into action toward others.

]]> Sun, 26 Oct 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682668 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682670 Judges 19-21 delivers one of Scripture's most brutal stories: a Levite who sacrifices his concubine to a violent mob in Gibeah, the civil war that follows, and the near-destruction of the tribe of Benjamin, all because Israel "did what was right in his own eyes." Emily Sledge traces this collapse back to a total breakdown of accountability, the daily compromises and the willingness of God's people to look the other way as their brothers descended into sin, and shows how the loss of 40,000 men was God calling an entire nation to repentance. The challenge for us is the same invitation God extended to her: to ask where we are doing what is right in our own eyes, to humbly receive correction and lovingly give it, and to stop settling for a false abundance when Jesus offers true life.

]]> Judges 19-21 delivers one of Scripture's most brutal stories: a Levite who sacrifices his concubine to a violent mob in Gibeah, the civil war that follows, and the near-destruction of the tribe of Benjamin, all because Israel "did what was right in his own eyes." Emily Sledge traces this collapse back to a total breakdown of accountability, the daily compromises and the willingness of God's people to look the other way as their brothers descended into sin, and shows how the loss of 40,000 men was God calling an entire nation to repentance. The challenge for us is the same invitation God extended to her: to ask where we are doing what is right in our own eyes, to humbly receive correction and lovingly give it, and to stop settling for a false abundance when Jesus offers true life.

]]> Sun, 21 Sep 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682670 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682671 Consecration begins not on a public stage but in the secret place—because private roots fuel public fruit. Drawing on Jesus' words in Matthew 6 ("when you give, when you pray, when you fast") alongside Romans 12 and Colossians 3, this message invites us to honestly audit what our money, time, and bodies reveal we're truly devoted to, and to seek the reward of God's presence over the applause of people. The practical call: take up fasting this week as an act of surrender—starting with one meal or a 24-hour fast spent in prayer—and let your hunger for God grow in the hidden place where He forms your character for what He wants to do in the open.

]]> Consecration begins not on a public stage but in the secret place—because private roots fuel public fruit. Drawing on Jesus' words in Matthew 6 ("when you give, when you pray, when you fast") alongside Romans 12 and Colossians 3, this message invites us to honestly audit what our money, time, and bodies reveal we're truly devoted to, and to seek the reward of God's presence over the applause of people. The practical call: take up fasting this week as an act of surrender—starting with one meal or a 24-hour fast spent in prayer—and let your hunger for God grow in the hidden place where He forms your character for what He wants to do in the open.

]]> Sun, 20 Jul 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682671 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682672 Healthy conflict, far from being something to avoid, is one of the ways God grows us into the image of Christ. Drawing primarily from Galatians 6 and its call to "restore one another in a spirit of gentleness," this message confronts our culture's instinct to cut people off and end up isolated, offering instead a Spirit-led path: go to one another gently and humbly, bear each other's burdens, examine our own hearts before pointing out a brother's fault, and pursue reconciliation as far as it depends on us. The takeaway is simple but costly: love always carries the risk of being hurt, and healthy conflict isn't about being right, it's about being Christlike, the same Jesus who chose reconciliation over retaliation and bore our burdens at the cross.

]]> Healthy conflict, far from being something to avoid, is one of the ways God grows us into the image of Christ. Drawing primarily from Galatians 6 and its call to "restore one another in a spirit of gentleness," this message confronts our culture's instinct to cut people off and end up isolated, offering instead a Spirit-led path: go to one another gently and humbly, bear each other's burdens, examine our own hearts before pointing out a brother's fault, and pursue reconciliation as far as it depends on us. The takeaway is simple but costly: love always carries the risk of being hurt, and healthy conflict isn't about being right, it's about being Christlike, the same Jesus who chose reconciliation over retaliation and bore our burdens at the cross.

]]> Sun, 29 Jun 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682672 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682673 Drawing from John 10 and Jesus's declaration as the Good Shepherd who came that we "may have life, and have it to the full," this message explores what abundant life really means—not material wealth, but a heart fully His. The challenge is to examine our motives: do we obey God out of love or out of what we hope to gain, and are we chasing the gift instead of the Giver? The invitation is to receive the Father's love, loosen our grip through sacrifice and forgiveness, and stay hungry for Jesus Himself, trusting the abundance we long for waits on the other side of surrender.

]]> Drawing from John 10 and Jesus's declaration as the Good Shepherd who came that we "may have life, and have it to the full," this message explores what abundant life really means—not material wealth, but a heart fully His. The challenge is to examine our motives: do we obey God out of love or out of what we hope to gain, and are we chasing the gift instead of the Giver? The invitation is to receive the Father's love, loosen our grip through sacrifice and forgiveness, and stay hungry for Jesus Himself, trusting the abundance we long for waits on the other side of surrender.

]]> Sun, 26 Jan 2025 08:45:00 -0700 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682673 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682674 In John 16, Jesus prepares his disciples for a stormy season ahead, promising that though he is leaving, he will send the Holy Spirit as their Counselor — the one who convicts the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment. Drawing a clear line between conviction (which exposes a problem and lifts us toward grace) and condemnation (which crushes and pulls us into the pit), Pastor reminds us that the same Spirit who empowered Jesus now lives in us, making his peace and presence our own. When life drops its hardest news, slow down and listen to your Savior rather than your emotions: you may be living in the middle of the story, but you can hold on knowing how it ends — Friday gives way to Sunday, and Christ is with us always.

]]> In John 16, Jesus prepares his disciples for a stormy season ahead, promising that though he is leaving, he will send the Holy Spirit as their Counselor — the one who convicts the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment. Drawing a clear line between conviction (which exposes a problem and lifts us toward grace) and condemnation (which crushes and pulls us into the pit), Pastor reminds us that the same Spirit who empowered Jesus now lives in us, making his peace and presence our own. When life drops its hardest news, slow down and listen to your Savior rather than your emotions: you may be living in the middle of the story, but you can hold on knowing how it ends — Friday gives way to Sunday, and Christ is with us always.

]]> Sun, 16 Mar 2025 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682674 false https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682692 Walking through the road to Emmaus in Luke 24, where two grieving disciples confess "we had hoped," this Easter message sits in the often-skipped tension of Holy Saturday to ask not "why did this happen?" but "where is Jesus?" The resurrection is the proof that every promise Jesus declared in Luke 4 — good news for the poor, freedom for the captive, sight for the blind — is still on the table and available now. Even when we can't yet recognize him, hope is real and embodied in the risen Christ, and we're invited to choose it, to walk with one another, and to gather at the table where our eyes are finally opened.

]]> Walking through the road to Emmaus in Luke 24, where two grieving disciples confess "we had hoped," this Easter message sits in the often-skipped tension of Holy Saturday to ask not "why did this happen?" but "where is Jesus?" The resurrection is the proof that every promise Jesus declared in Luke 4 — good news for the poor, freedom for the captive, sight for the blind — is still on the table and available now. Even when we can't yet recognize him, hope is real and embodied in the risen Christ, and we're invited to choose it, to walk with one another, and to gather at the table where our eyes are finally opened.

]]> Sun, 05 Apr 2026 09:45:00 -0600 https://tscwest.churchcenter.com/episodes/682692 false