AVL City Church Podcast

Everybody wants to be known.

We live in the age of followers, views, likes, subscribers, platforms, and personal brands. But there is a massive difference between being known and simply being visible.

And there’s an even more uncomfortable truth: You can know a lot about Jesus without actually knowing Jesus.

As Jesus begins landing the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7, He turns from teaching about Kingdom life to demanding a response.

Two ways. Two trees. Two kinds of fruit. Two professions. Two foundations. Two outcomes.

Jesus is asking: What actually identifies someone who belongs to Me?

Not your Christian vocabulary.

Not your church attendance.

Not how much Bible you know.

Not how spiritual you appear.

Jesus gives us something much harder to fake: Your love. Your way. Your fruit. And ultimately, your relationship with Him.

In Matthew 7:12, Jesus begins with love. What we receive vertically from the Father should become visible horizontally in how we treat others, even our enemies.

Then Jesus says: Enter through the narrow gate.

Christianity was never meant to be merely a collection of beliefs about Jesus. The earliest Christians were literally known as people of *“The Way.” The Didache, one of the earliest Christian discipleship writings outside the New Testament, begins by describing **two ways: one of life and one of death.*

Jesus isn't inviting us merely to admire His way. He is calling us to enter it.

Grace is free, but following Jesus is not casual.

The narrow way isn't narrow because God's heart is small. It's narrow because our old life cannot come through unchanged.

So this message asks some deeply personal questions:

Is your Christianity something you believe or a Way you are actually walking?

And when people look at the fruit of your life, can they see evidence that you have been with Jesus?

There comes a moment when admiration of Jesus must become allegiance to Jesus.

ACCESS | Ask. Seek. Knock.

You can be three feet away from something you desperately need and still not have access to it.

You can see it. You can know it’s there. You can even need it desperately. But without access, proximity doesn't help you.

That’s what makes Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:7 so powerful: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

We often hear three commands: ASK. SEEK. KNOCK.

But underneath all three is one massive theological reality: ACCESS.

Jesus is revealing something astonishing about God. The holy God who once required restricted access to His presence now invites us to approach Him as Father.

In this message, Sergio unpacks what it means to live from the access Jesus has opened for us.

ASK means bringing our needs honestly into the presence of God.

SEEK means pursuing God Himself, not merely what God can give us.

KNOCK means continuing to come when the door hasn't opened yet.

And then Jesus brings it all back to one reality: Your Father.

Prayer isn't about manipulating God into giving us what we want. Access to God does not mean control over God. We don't pray because God is reluctant. We pray because He is Father.

The wilderness teaches us dependence. David teaches us how to seek God's face. Waiting teaches us how to trust. The torn veil points us to the Gospel.

Because through Jesus, the barrier has been broken.

Ephesians 2:18 “For through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.”

The Gospel is the story of access.

You couldn't earn it.

You couldn't perform for it.

You couldn't make yourself worthy of it.

Jesus opened the way. So when you're anxious, ask. When you're confused, seek. When you've prayed and the door still hasn't opened, knock. When you've failed, come. When you're ashamed, come. When you don't have the words, come.

You have access.

And the greatest gift isn't simply that God will give you something.

The greatest gift is that through Christ, you have been given access to the Father.

Not a formula for controlling God. An invitation to come near.

Few words of Jesus have been quoted more often and understood less.

In Matthew 7:1-6, Jesus confronts our tendency to see everyone else’s problems while remaining blind to our own. He isn’t telling us to abandon discernment, ignore sin, or never speak truth. He is teaching us to examine ourselves before we presume to correct someone else.

Jesus gives us a picture that is almost comical: someone with a massive log sticking out of their own eye trying to perform eye surgery on someone with a speck.

The point is painfully clear: Before you try to fix their vision, let Jesus examine yours.

In this message, we explore the difference between discernment and judgmentalism, correction and condemnation, forgiveness and trust, truth and love. We also look at Jesus’ warning about pearls and pigs and why wisdom knows when to speak, when to confront, and when to walk away.

Because the goal isn't to become better at finding what's wrong with people.

The goal is to become clear enough to love them well.

This Message:

• Why “judge not” does not mean “never discern”

• The difference between discernment and condemnation

• Why our blind spots can be the most dangerous things about us

• David, Nathan, and the danger of seeing everyone else's sin

• Why Jesus says to remove the log before addressing the speck

• How correction can restore instead of humiliate

• When to keep talking and when to stop throwing pearls

• Why forgiveness doesn't eliminate the need for wisdom and boundaries

• How the cross destroys our superiority complex

• How to invite God to expose what we cannot see in ourselves

Jesus isn't trying to make you better at finding what's wrong with people. He's trying to make you clear enough to love them well.

If this message challenges you, don't ask first, “Who needs to hear this?”

Ask: Jesus, what am I not seeing in me?

What does it really mean to belong completely to Jesus?

After 14 years of AVL City Church, we’re not just celebrating what God has done. We’re asking a deeper question:

Do we still belong completely to Jesus?

The Gospel doesn’t just tell you who you are. It tells you whose you are.

Romans 6 reminds us that we have been freed from sin and brought into a new kind of belonging: belonging to God. Paul calls himself a bond-servant of Christ before he ever talks about his assignment. Jesus Himself took the form of a servant and surrendered Himself completely to the Father.

This message explores four movements of a surrendered life:

WE ARE HIS: Our identity begins with belonging to Jesus.

HERE WE ARE: Like Isaiah, we respond to God's presence with availability: “Here am I. Send me.”

SEND US: Every disciple is called to live a sent life. We gather to be formed, and we scatter to be sent.

WHATEVER IT COSTS: Following Jesus means surrendering our plans, comfort, reputation, resources and future to His will.

Fourteen years behind us. Generations ahead of us. Jesus over us. Holy Spirit within us. Mission before us.

We don't want to simply become bigger. We want to become deeper.

The question isn't: What is God going to do through AVL City Church?

The question is: What is God asking of me?

Because the freest person isn't the person who belongs to nobody.

The freest person is the person who belongs completely to Jesus.

What kind of environment have you created for the presence of God?

We often ask God to come closer. We pray for Him to move. We seek another encounter, another moment, another visitation.

But what if God is asking a deeper question?

I’m willing to come close, but have you built a life where I am welcome to stay?

In this message, AT HOME, we explore Ephesians 2:19–22 and the biblical movement from visitation to habitation. God is not simply looking for a moment with His people, He is building a dwelling place.

From Eden to the Tabernacle, from the Temple to Jesus, from Pentecost to the promise of Revelation, Scripture tells one consistent story: God wants to dwell with His people.

But habits shape habitation.

What we repeatedly give our attention to forms us. Our prayer life, thought life, worship, relationships, distractions, and daily rhythms all shape the kind of environment we create within us.

This message explores:

• The difference between asking God to visit and inviting Him to dwell

• Why spiritual habits matter

• How Jesus can slowly move from the center to the margins

• The danger of crowding God out through small decisions

• What it means to open every room of your life to Jesus

• Why Revelation 3:20 is an invitation of love, not rejection

• How prayer, Scripture, worship, repentance, surrender, and community help us live aware of God’s presence

• What it means to diligently seek God, even when you don’t feel Him

You don’t have to clean the house before Jesus comes in. He already knows what’s behind every closed door. Your wounds. Your habits. Your failures. Your fears. Your past.

And He’s still knocking.

The question isn’t simply, Did you feel God today?

The deeper question is: Is God at home in you?

Maybe you don’t need another visitation.

Maybe you need to open a door you’ve already closed.

Don’t keep asking God to come close while building a life that gives Him nowhere to stay.

Visitation says, “God, come over.”

Habitation says, “God, move in.”

Open the door. Give Him the keys. Let God be at home.

Everybody’s got a front.

There’s the Instagram version. The TikTok version. The church version. The work version. The family version.

But what happens when life doesn’t go your way?

In Matthew 5:33-48, Jesus moves beneath the surface and exposes what our words, reactions, relationships, and responses reveal about our character. He confronts religious loopholes, manipulative speech, retaliation, conditional love, and the desire to look righteous without actually becoming righteous.

Jesus essentially says: No cap.

Your words reveal your integrity.

Your response reveals your heart.

Your love reveals your character.

And your character reveals who you are becoming.

In this message, we explore:

• YOUR WORDS: Why Jesus says your “Yes” should be yes and your “No” should be no.

• YOUR RESPONSE: How to respond when someone hurts, insults, or takes advantage of you without becoming like the person who hurt you.

• YOUR LOVE: Why Jesus commands us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.

• YOUR CHARACTER: What Jesus means when He says, “Be perfect,” and why teleios means becoming whole, mature, and complete.

• THE BIG REVEAL: Why Jesus isn’t merely changing behavior; He is transforming who we are.

The question isn’t simply, Are you doing the right things?

The deeper question is: What is coming out of you when life doesn’t go your way?

Because eventually, what comes out reveals what is inside.

And none of us can manufacture this kind of life through willpower alone.

We need Jesus, the One who told the truth when it cost Him everything, refused retaliation when He was falsely accused, prayed for His executioners, loved His enemies, and gave His life for people who didn’t deserve it.

The One who commands us to love, forgive and pray for our enemies is the One who demonstrated it from the cross.

LOOPHOLES: Following Jesus When Obedience Isn’t Convenient

What if the biggest danger to your faith isn’t rebellion but finding a loophole?

In Matthew 5:31–32, Jesus confronts divorce, but His teaching reaches far beyond marriage. He exposes something deeper: the human tendency to look for the minimum requirement necessary to justify what we already want.

The world asks, “What can I get away with?”

Religion asks, “What is technically permissible?”

Jesus asks, “What does love require?”

In this message, we explore:

• Why Moses regulated divorce without establishing it as God’s original design

• How the certificate of divorce was intended to protect vulnerable women, not provide men with an escape clause

• What Jesus meant by “hardness of heart”

• How hurt can become resentment, distance, justification, and eventually a decision

• Why major life decisions often begin long before the decision becomes visible

• How to recognize when you are seeking God’s will versus searching Scripture for permission

• How this applies not only to marriage, but to church, calling, relationships, and faith

• Seven questions to help you discern whether you are genuinely following God or simply asking Him to bless a decision you’ve already made

The goal isn’t simply to ask, Am I allowed to?

The Kingdom question is: What does faithfulness require of me?

Because Jesus didn’t come to teach us how close we can get to the line. He came to transform our hearts so deeply that we stop looking for the line. The way of Jesus may not always be the easiest way but it is always the way that leads to life.

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How does someone end up destroying their marriage, ministry, or future?

Jesus answers that question by exposing where sin really begins, not in our actions, but in our hearts.

In this episode, we unpack Matthew 5:27-30 and discover the anatomy of temptation, the power of the imagination, and why every outward failure begins with an inward affection. You’ll learn how Scripture, neuroscience, and the stories of David and Joseph reveal the hidden progression of sin, and how the Gospel offers lasting freedom.

Rather than focusing on behavior modification, Jesus invites us into heart transformation. The deepest question isn’t, “What are you looking at?” It’s, “What are you looking for?”

Does God see me? It’s one of the most honest questions a person can ask.

When prayers seem unanswered, life doesn’t go according to plan, and the future feels uncertain, it’s easy to wonder if God has forgotten you. In this message from Proverbs 3:5-6, we discover that faith isn’t about having every answer,it’s about trusting the character of God when you can’t understand His plan.

We’ll explore how Scripture answers one of life’s deepest questions through the stories of Joseph, Hagar, the disciples on the road to Emmaus, and ultimately through the Cross of Jesus Christ. If you’ve ever wrestled with disappointment, delay, unanswered prayer, or uncertainty, this message is for you.

You’ll discover:

• What it really means to “trust in the Lord with all your heart”
• Why God often works through seasons of uncertainty
• How leaders navigate disappointment with faith
• The difference between God’s agenda and our expectations
• Why the Cross is God’s final answer to the question, “Does God see me?”

No matter what season you’re in, God has not forgotten you. He sees your tears, hears your prayers, and is working in ways you cannot yet see.

If this message encouraged you, be sure to like, subscribe, and share it with someone who needs the reminder that God hasn’t forgotten them.

Anger is rarely the real problem. It’s often the symptom of something much deeper.

In this message from Matthew 5:21-26, Jesus takes the sixth commandment beyond outward behavior and exposes the condition of the heart. Murder doesn’t begin with an act, it begins with unresolved anger, contempt, bitterness, and a refusal to forgive.

We’ll explore the progression from hurt to anger, resentment, bitterness, contempt, and dehumanization, uncover the four layers beneath unhealthy anger, and discover why unresolved offenses don’t just damage relationships, they shape our identity and hinder our intimacy with God.

Jesus also makes a startling statement: before offering your gift at the altar, go and be reconciled. Worship and relationships are deeply connected, because the authenticity of our worship is revealed by the health of our relationships.

Finally, we’ll look to the cross, where Jesus absorbed the greatest injustice in history and responded with the words, “Father, forgive them.” Through His example and His grace, we learn that forgiveness is not pretending the pain never happened—it’s releasing judgment to God and refusing to let bitterness define our future.

Freedom begins where honesty meets the healing presence of Christ.