Steve DeNeff: Matthew 7:13-14, 21-29; Throughout Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, he calls for a deeper, more thorough transformation that occurs in layers. All are good but some are better. What are they? And how do we move from one to another?

Megan Swan: Jesus's teachings in Matthew 5:13-16 describe believers as the "salt of the earth" and the "light of the world". This isn't a command to become salt and light, but rather a statement of who followers of Christ already are because of their relationship with Him. By recognizing and celebrating the ways in which CWC is already salt and light, we can become more intentional about our Christian influence and experience the joy of making a difference in the world around us.

Steve DeNeff: According to Jesus, persecution, whether great or small, is inevitable. Rather than resisting it, he tells us to embrace it (“rejoice and be glad”), as a prophetic act that helps to establish the kingdom of God.

Steve DeNeff: It is almost a cliché to say that society is polarized. In fact, we are coming apart faster than any other Democratic nation. Yet a too heavy emphasis on this has kept most of us from tending the old, private, and still undisclosed conflicts of our own doing. These are the hardest places to make peace. Using a popular story of the OT (Jacob and Esau), we’ll look at what is involved in making peace and discovered that the conflict often lies, not in the space between us, but in the space within us.

Amanda Drury: In Matthew 5:8, Jesus declares, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” But what does this kind of purity actually look like? David, though deeply flawed, is remembered as a “man after God’s own heart” because of his relentless return to God in humility and repentance. Psalm 51 offers a window into David’s response to failure—not one of self-pity or denial, but of heartfelt confession and longing for a clean heart. We are invited to examine the state of our own hearts: Are we hiding, pretending, or drifting? Or are we allowing God to search, cleanse, and transform us from the inside out? Purity isn’t merely the absence of wrong—it is the presence of God’s refining work in our inner lives.

Nathan Metz: Joseph’s life was radically changed by the betrayal of those he loved. What must he have felt? Surely there are few people who can speak so powerfully on the topic of mercy than Joseph himself. Let’s look closely and gather wisdom from his story that may change our story.

Nathan Metz and his wife Jade and their children are members of College Wesleyan. Nathan is an ordained Wesleyan who has served as a pastor and a missionary. A graduate of Wesley Seminary, Nathan is now the Director of Chaplaincy and Leadership Development with TLC Management.

Vickie Conrad: What are you hungry and thirsty for? And how do our cravings affect the way we live? Is it possible that the way of Jesus invites us to a hunger and a thirst that also fills...

Ethan Linder: We’ve nearly discarded the word “meek” from our vocabulary: partly because we don’t understand what it means, and partly because it feels impractical, fragile… not fit for our moment. In every life, though, there comes a moment when we need a power that’s more than forcefulness, and a fortitude that’s based on more than blind optimism. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."

Steve DeNeff: Sooner or later there comes a hush in every person’s life, that moment when the unthinkable happens, when the last option has failed and we’re alone with our thoughts. What then? “Blessed are those who have lost what is most dear to them, for they are embraced by the One who is most dear to them.”

Steve DeNeff: Who are the most holy among us? It’s not always who we think it is and despite our intentions to become more holy, we have learned habits that move us in the opposite direction. What are those habits? And how do we unlearn them?