Celebration Church Podcast

In this week's episode of the podcast, Discipleship Pastor Jennifer Davis is joined by Pastor Mike Day and Associate Pastor Melissa Perry for a conversation on God's righteousness and justice — and what it means to actually live that out.

Jennifer opens up about something she's personally wrestled with: what do we do when we don't see justice carried out here on earth? The three work through it honestly, including a striking quote from Rachael Denhollander about trusting God's justice without going passive. From there the conversation opens up into what Christians are called to do — step outside comfortable walls, open their eyes to injustice beyond what personally affects them, and be active participants, not spectators.

This week on the Celebration Church Podcast, your host Discipleship Pastor Jennifer Davis is joined by Pastor Mike and Associate Pastor Melissa Perry for week 3 of the Unchanged series — and the topic is one we think we know well: love.

But what does it actually mean that God is love? And what does that mean for how we live?

The conversation centers on 1 John 4, where the characteristics of God's love come into focus — giving, generous, consistent, and transformative — and how we can see that love revealed through creation, through Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, and through other believers.

They also dig into one of the harder questions that comes with faith: How do I know I'm really following God? Whether you grew up with a specific date circled on a calendar or you've walked a less defined faith journey, this conversation offers real encouragement that the evidence of God's love in your life matters more than a formula.

Plus — a Generation X moment that you'll either immediately understand or completely miss. Either way, you're welcome.

In week two of our series Unchanged, the conversation turns to God's omniscience — the truth that He knows everything: past, present, and future. Discipleship Pastor Jennifer Davis talks with Pastor Mike and Associate Pastor Melissa Perry about how to hold that truth without being crushed by it or dismissive of it.

They work through Isaiah 46, Psalm 139, and Hebrews 4:13, and dig into the tension a lot of us feel — if God knows my every thought, is that conviction or comfort? They also wrestle with the harder question many non-believers raise: if God knows everything and could stop suffering, why doesn't He? Pastor Mike offers the embroidery analogy, and the team lands on something quietly freeing — we don't have to bring God our cleaned-up selves. The same God who sees all of us also chooses to stay.

Pastor Mike Day opens his new series Unchanged with Psalm 102 — a psalm written from a deep, dark place — and the question of what it means that God is immutable. What does it actually look like for us that God doesn't change? And how does that bring comfort when our own lives feel anything but constant?

Discipleship Pastor Jennifer Davis talks with Pastor Mike and Associate Pastor Melissa Perry about finding peace in God's presence during loss, how Jesus revealed God most fully while still being clothed in 1st century Palestine, and what it looks like to read scripture faithfully today. They also celebrate Melissa's recent ordination and have a candid conversation about women in ministry, denominational differences, and what it means to love fellow believers we disagree with.

Jennifer Davis, Pastor Mike Day, and Pastor Melissa Perry sit down for a Mother's Day conversation about Proverbs 23:22-25 and Proverbs 31 — and the women who shaped them. They share the practical wisdom passed down from their own moms, wrestle with the pressure many women feel when Proverbs 31 starts reading like a checklist, and Melissa offers a reframe that opens the passage up: the "trust" the text describes isn't one woman's burden but a whole community of mothers, aunts, teachers, and friends raising the next generation together. The episode closes with a charge to listeners — biological mothers or not — to think about whose spiritual life they're investing in, and how that legacy keeps moving forward.

Pastor Mike is back from Nicaragua, and the conversation picks up right where Week 4 of The Forgiveness Cycle left off. Jennifer, Mike, and Melissa unpack why this series has resonated so deeply — the way forgiveness reframes everything from how we see ourselves to how we treat the people around us.

From Ephesians 4, Mike reminded us that being forgiven leaves no room for comparison. So why is comparison still so loud in our culture, and even inside the church? The conversation moves into honest territory: the trap of ranking sins, the pressure to look like we have it all together, and what authentic community actually looks like when we're still in the middle of our own struggles.

The reminder underneath it all: we are the fragrance of Christ Monday through Saturday, not just Sunday morning. 

If you missed the sermon, watch here.

Discipleship Pastor Jennifer Davis sits down with Pastor Mike Day and Associate Pastor Melissa Perry this week to continue The Forgiveness Cycle with a look at what's often the hardest part of all — forgiving others. Together they work through Matthew 18:15–35, where Jesus lays out what life together actually looks like in this new community of faith. The conversation starts with the posture we're called to bring into every relationship: the humility of a child, arms open rather than crossed, with the dignity of each person held in view. That posture changes everything when conflict comes — and conflict will come anytime more than one person is in the room.

Together they wrestle with the harder questions. What does it look like to actually go to a brother or sister in private, without rehashing the hurt to three other friends first? Melissa shares a picture from her own family — her son calling it "broken hands" when something's come between them — and the way reconciliation begins long before the conversation does, with prayer and a heart already softened toward the other person. Mike addresses the question many of us are afraid to ask out loud: does forgiving someone mean the relationship has to be restored to what it was? The Greek word for forgiveness means releasing — letting go of the bitterness that would otherwise destroy us — and that's not the same as pretending nothing happened. 

If you missed the sermon, watch here.

Pastor Mike Day continued The Forgiveness Cycle this week with a closer look at the graced life — what it means to live as someone who's received the grace of Christ while still walking through a fallen world. Discipleship Pastor Jennifer Davis and Associate Pastor Melissa Perry join Mike to dig into the story of David in 2 Samuel 11–12 and the raw honesty of Psalm 51. The conversation opens with a question that hits close to home: how does a man after God's own heart end up this far off course? Sin rarely shows up as one big moment — it's the gradual misstep, the slow degree off the path. And introspection isn't a solo act. We need people in our lives with permission to say, something sounds different in your voice today.

Together they unpack why confession is so hard — the image we're trying to protect, and the shame waiting on the other side of being known. The group pushes back on the checklist mentality we bring to forgiveness, the sense that we have to earn what's already been freely given. They discuss the Japanese art of Kintsugi — pottery put back together with gold in the cracks, where the broken places become the most valuable part. We're not meant to project an image of being unshattered. We're people being put back together by grace

If you missed the sermon, watch here.

Pastor Mike Day kicked off a brand-new sermon series — The Forgiveness Cycle — and this week's conversation digs into the story of Peter and Cornelius in Acts 10. Discipleship Pastor Jennifer Davis and Associate Pastor Melissa Perry join Mike to unpack the cultural and religious context behind Peter's rooftop vision, and why it mattered so much for a devout Jewish man to be told that what he'd always considered unclean was now welcome. The group talks about what it looks like when God disrupts our fixed way of seeing things — and how easy it is to miss what He's doing when we're holding too tightly to the way we think it's supposed to work. 

Mike shares a gripping real-life story of a mother in Iran who was given the legal right to decide whether her son's killer would live or die — and the Christ-like moment that changed the course of that young man's life. The conversation lands on Acts 11:18 and the idea of "repentance that leads to life" — not just eternal life someday, but a real, present quality of life that comes from turning away from guilt, shame, and the need for retribution, and turning toward the grace God has already offered. Whether you've messed up in ways the world notices or in the quieter ways only you carry, this episode is a reminder: forgiveness is for everyone, and it's meant to be lived right now.

If you missed the sermon, watch here. 

He Is Risen — And That Changes Everything

The crowd at the tomb that first Easter morning left with fear and great joy — and honestly, that tension feels pretty familiar. In this week's episode, Discipleship Pastor Jennifer Davis sits down with Pastor Mike Day and Associate Pastor Melissa Perry to reflect on the resurrection and why it's still the hinge point of everything we believe.

They talk about the women who showed up at the tomb, why their presence matters more than we might realize, and what it means that Jesus entrusted the greatest news in history to them first. From there, the conversation turns to why the crucifixion and resurrection have to be held together — and how the resurrection isn't just our hope for eternity, but the catalyst for real life change now.

They close with a refreshingly honest conversation about sharing your faith.

If Easter left you full, this episode will help you carry it forward.