Why do the same struggles keep coming back, no matter how disciplined you try to be? What if the behavior you are fighting is only a symptom of something deeper?

In Week 1 of Kill the Spider, Scott Savage opens Genesis 3:1-7 to explain why trying harder doesn’t work. Beginning with a moldy loaf of bread hidden in a college apartment and the story behind Carlos Whittaker’s Kill the Spider, Scott shows how easily we can spend our lives covering a smell without ever confronting its source.

In Genesis 3, the serpent begins by questioning God’s words and character. Eve’s agreement with that lie shapes her behavior, and fear, shame, covering, and hiding follow. The passage reveals a pattern that still affects us: the enemy begins with belief, his lies become our agreements, and our behavior follows what we believe.

A spider is an agreement we make with a lie. Cobwebs are the habits and medicators we reach for to find temporary comfort. Anxiety, people pleasing, control, overwork, isolation, achievement, and endless distraction may be visible struggles that point toward something deeper. Jesus offers more than symptom management. He offers real freedom.

Whether you keep circling the same struggle, feel exhausted from trying harder, or wonder why change never seems to last, this message invites you to become curious about what is happening beneath the surface. What keeps happening? When does it show up? What are you hoping it will give you?

This week, the goal is not to fix everything. It is to pay attention and begin looking for the source.

Scripture: Genesis 3:1-7

Speaker: Scott Savage

Cornerstone Church, Prescott, AZ

Yavapai County | Evangelical Free Church of America

Series: Kill the Spider

Week Number: Week 1

September 13, 2026

Learn more or plan a visit: https://prescottcornerstone.com

What do you do when failure, loss, or disappointment leaves you wondering whether you can begin again? How do you move forward when you cannot yet see where a new beginning will lead?
In this standalone message, Why Failure Does Not Get the Last Word, Scott Savage turns to Lamentations 3:21-26 and the story of Theodore Roosevelt to show why starting over is rarely simple. In the middle of Jerusalem’s devastation, Jeremiah finds hope in God’s faithful love, mercy, and goodness.

The message explores four truths for a new beginning: God’s grace and mercy meet us in the mess, God meets us on every kind of morning, his faithfulness matters more than our achievements, and waiting on God calls us to faithful action. Through Peter’s restoration and Paul’s words about grace, we see that failure does not have to become the final chapter of our story.

Whether you are carrying regret from the past, pain in the present, fear about the future, or the weight of an unexpected transition, God’s mercy is new every morning. You can name where you need his grace, receive what you cannot earn, and take the next faithful step.

Scripture: Lamentations 3:21-26

Speaker: Scott Savage

Cornerstone Church, Prescott, AZ

Yavapai County | Evangelical Free Church of America

Series: Standalone Sermon

September 6, 2026

Learn more or plan a visit: https://prescottcornerstone.com

What is your anxiety trying to tell you? Is it the problem itself, or is it a warning light pointing toward something deeper?

In this follow-up conversation from Week 3 of At The Movies, Lead Pastor Scott Savage and Jake Downing discuss what Inside Out 2 gets right about anxiety, identity, emotional health, and the pressure to fit in.

The film gives memorable imagery to experiences that can be difficult to explain, including panic, grounding, performance pressure, and emotions that feel impossible to stop. Scott and Jake also talk honestly about the church’s changing relationship with mental health, the roles of therapy and medication, and why asking for appropriate help is not a source of shame.

Anxiety can be a warning light rather than the root problem. It may be pointing toward fear, insecurity, woundedness, or an identity built on performance and approval. God created our emotions, and they have a place in our lives, but they were never meant to control us. Our emotions can ride in the car, but they cannot drive.

Scripture: Mark 12:30; Romans 12:2; Romans 3:23-24; Philippians 4:6-7

Speakers: Scott Savage and Jake Downing’

Cornerstone Church, Prescott, AZ

Yavapai County | Evangelical Free Church of America

Series: At The Movies

Week Number: 3

August 30, 2026

Learn more or plan a visit: https://prescottcornerstone.com

Chapters:

0:00 Why Scott Chose Inside Out 2

1:10 Why This Movie Feels Personal

2:58 From Sadness to Anxiety

5:24 What the Movie and Church Get Right

5:52 Loving God with Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength

7:15 Mental Health, Therapy, and Trust

9:46 Anxiety as a Warning System

10:29 Looking Beneath Anxiety

12:38 Medication and Deeper Healing

13:37 Keeping Emotions Out of the Driver’s Seat

17:53 Looking Back at At The Movies 2026

What happens when feelings change after a promise has been made? How do we begin again when a vow has been broken?

In this follow-up conversation from Week 2 of At The Movies, Lead Pastor Scott Savage and Jake Downing discuss what The Vow reveals about marriage, commitment, broken promises, and the grace to start again..

After Paige loses her memory, Leo tries to rebuild their relationship and honor the life they chose together. His pursuit shows the importance of commitment, sacrifice, and perseverance. But the real story behind the movie did not end where Hollywood left it, raising honest questions about why marriage is hard and what our promises mean when feelings and circumstances change.

Human beings do not keep every promise perfectly. Hebrews 12:1-2 calls us to keep our eyes on Jesus, while 2 Corinthians 12 reminds us that God’s grace is sufficient and his power is made perfect in weakness. Our hope is not in becoming the hero of our own story, but in trusting the God who does not abandon his promises.

Whether someone has broken a vow to you, you are carrying regret over a promise you broke, or you recognize a gap between what you say and how you live, this conversation offers a practical next step: confess honestly, refuse shame, and depend on God’s grace to heal, transform, and help you begin again.

Scripture: Hebrews 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Speakers: Scott Savage and Jake Downing

Cornerstone Church, Prescott, AZ

Yavapai County | Evangelical Free Church of America

Series: At The Movies

Week Number: 2

August 23, 2026

Learn more or plan a visit: https://prescottcornerstone.com

Chapters:

0:00 Why Scott Chose The Vow

2:03 How The Vow Changed Scott’s View of Promises

4:41 Why Leo Is Not the Hero

6:03 The True Story Behind The Vow

7:45 What Happened After the Movie

8:31 Why Marriage Is So Hard

11:17 Can Good Lessons Come From Broken People?

14:54 When It Is Time to Let Go

16:06 Confession After a Broken Promise

19:01 Finding Support and Looking Ahead

What does revenge cost us when we refuse to let go? Can forgiveness set us free without excusing the person who hurt us?

In this follow-up conversation from Week 1 of At The Movies, Lead Pastor Scott Savage and Jake Downing discuss what True Grit reveals about revenge, bitterness, grace, and the difficult work of forgiveness.

The film follows 14-year-old Maddie Ross as she pursues the man who murdered her father. What begins as a desire for justice becomes a consuming quest for vengeance. Drawing from Hebrews 12:14-15 and Ephesians 4:31-32, Scott explains how bitterness takes root, poisons our relationships, and often costs us more than we expected to pay.

Forgiveness does not mean pretending the wrong never happened. It does not remove accountability, guarantee reconciliation, or immediately restore trust. Forgiveness means abandoning revenge, absorbing the cost of the wound, and choosing freedom through the grace Jesus has given us.

Whether you are carrying an old wound, struggling to trust again, or finding it impossible to stop replaying what someone did, this conversation will help you understand the difference between forgiveness, reconciliation, and trust while identifying a practical next step toward healing.

Scripture: Hebrews 12:14-15

Speakers: Scott Savage and Jake Downing

Cornerstone Church, Prescott, AZ

Yavapai County | Evangelical Free Church of America

Series: At The Movies

Week Number: 1

August 16, 2026

Learn more or plan a visit: https://prescottcornerstone.com

Why do people defend choices that cause obvious harm? How can something feel right to us while leading us farther from God?

In Week 11 of In Their Own Eyes, Scott Savage concludes the series by teaching through Judges 19–21, one of the darkest passages in the Bible. A Levite refuses responsibility for his actions, the tribe of Benjamin protects guilty men, and Israel’s pursuit of justice becomes an escalating cycle of vengeance, violence, and destructive decisions.

The final chapters of Judges show what happens when people repeatedly ignore God’s warnings and do whatever seems right in their own eyes. The deepest problem is not simply that Israel is missing a human king. The people have forgotten God, lost the standard that limits vengeance, and become unable to recognize how far they have fallen.

Judges leaves us in a dark and seemingly hopeless place. But the Bible does not leave us there. As the story of Scripture continues, every human king eventually fails, revealing our need for Jesus, the true King and the only hero who can answer the darkness exposed in Judges. Unlike the Levite who sacrifices someone else to save himself, Jesus sacrifices himself to rescue and forgive unfaithful people.

Whether you are struggling to admit a wrong decision, watching conflict spiral out of control, or realizing that your faith has begun to coast, this message will challenge you to stop justifying what merely feels right, return to God, and choose what is right in his eyes.

Scripture: Judges 19–21

Speaker: Scott Savage

Cornerstone Church, Prescott, AZ

Yavapai County | Evangelical Free Church of America

Series: In Their Own Eyes

Week Number: 11

August 9, 2026

Learn more or plan a visit: https://prescottcornerstone.com

What are you afraid to lose? If the person, possession, achievement, or plan that makes you feel secure disappeared, what would you have left?

In Week 10 of In Their Own Eyes, Scott Savage teaches from Judges 17–18, where Micah builds a religion designed to give him security and control. Using stolen silver, household idols, an ephod, and a hired Levite, Micah convinces himself that God must bless him because he has assembled the right religious pieces.

Meanwhile, the tribe of Dan avoids the land God gave them and searches for an easier path. They take Micah’s idols and priest, conquer a vulnerable city, and call their compromise God’s approval. When Micah watches everything he trusted disappear, he asks the question at the heart of this message: “What do I have left?”

These chapters show what happens when people seek God’s gifts without seeking God himself. Idolatry builds a god we can control, small compromises move us farther from God, and the things we trust for protection can eventually destroy us.

Whether your security comes from a relationship, career, home, achievement, bank account, or carefully controlled plan, this message will help you honestly name what you are depending on, turn from compromise, and return to the Lord before loss exposes what your life was built upon.

Scripture: Judges 17–18

Speaker: Scott Savage

Cornerstone Church, Prescott, AZ

Yavapai County | Evangelical Free Church of America

Series: In Their Own Eyes

Week Number: 10

August 2, 2026

Learn more or plan a visit: https://prescottcornerstone.com

What happens when a God-given strength becomes the place where you stop depending on God? Could you keep succeeding and never realize that you are operating on autopilot?

In Week 9 of In Their Own Eyes, Jake Downing teaches from Judges 16 and the final chapter of Samson's life. Samson had been set apart by God and given extraordinary strength, but years of compromise taught him to treat that gift as if it belonged to him. After carrying away the gates of Gaza and repeatedly escaping Delilah's traps, Samson became convinced that he could always shake himself free.

When Delilah finally learned the truth and Samson's hair was cut, the tragedy was deeper than the loss of his strength. Samson did not know that the Lord had left him. Captured, blinded, and forced to grind grain for the Philistines, Samson had to become blind before he could finally see that his strength had never come from his hair or from himself. Standing between the pillars of Dagon's temple, he humbled himself and asked God to strengthen him once more.

Samson's story warns us that one of the most dangerous places to live is in God's gifting without dependence on God's Spirit. The problem begins when we trust the strength instead of the God who gives it. Samson died with his enemies, but Jesus died for his enemies and completed the rescue Samson could only begin.

Whether you are relying on natural ability, past experience, professional success, or a gift that has always come easily, this message will help you identify where strength has become self-reliance, ask God to help you see clearly, tell someone where you have been trying to do it alone, and take one concrete step of obedience.

Scripture: Judges 16

Speaker: Jake Downing

Cornerstone Church, Prescott, AZ

Yavapai County | Evangelical Free Church of America

Series: In Their Own Eyes

Week Number: 9

July 26, 2026

Learn more or plan a visit: https://prescottcornerstone.com

What if the choices that shape your life are not the dramatic ones, but the small compromises you barely notice? What if visible success has convinced you that God approves of habits that are quietly pulling you away from Him?

In Week 8 of *In Their Own Eyes*, Dr. Brian Koning teaches from Judges 13-15 and the early life of Samson. Long before Delilah and Samson’s public collapse, God chooses him before birth, sets him apart as a Nazirite, and empowers him for a purpose. Yet Samson repeatedly follows what is right in his own eyes, allowing small compromises to become dangerous habits.

Through Samson’s calling, his pursuit of a Philistine wife, his disregard for his Nazirite commitment, and Israel’s acceptance of Philistine rule, this message shows how compromise slowly reshapes the heart. Samson’s victories reveal God’s faithfulness, but they do not prove God’s approval of Samson’s character. The better question is not simply, “Am I succeeding?” but, “Am I becoming more like Christ?”

Whether you are wrestling with a habit that once troubled you, looking for security in something other than God, or realizing that a small compromise has started to feel normal, this sermon will help you examine what is shaping your heart, confess one specific compromise, and replace the counterfeit with God’s better path.

Scripture: Judges 13-15

Speaker: Dr. Brian Koning

Cornerstone Church, Prescott, AZ

Yavapai County | Evangelical Free Church of America

Series: In Their Own Eyes

Week Number: 8

July 19, 2026

Learn more or plan a visit: https://prescottcornerstone.com

What if you know the truth about God but still struggle to trust Him? What if your faith has become more about control, bargaining, or performance than confidence in God’s character?

In Week 7 of In Their Own Eyes, Scott Savage continues through the book of Judges with the story of Jephthah in Judges 10-12. Jephthah is a complicated figure: rejected by his family, called back by his people, able to speak truth about God, yet still deeply shaped by pain, anger, and control.

Through Israel’s cycle of idolatry, Jephthah’s rash vow, and the violence that follows, this message shows how easy it is to know the right things about God without actually living like we trust Him. Jephthah’s story warns us that knowledge alone is not the same as faith, and that trying to control God can lead us away from the trust He invites us into.

Whether you are wrestling with old patterns, treating God’s love like something you have to earn, bargaining with Him for an outcome, or trying to control what you are afraid to entrust to Him, this sermon invites you to identify the gap between head knowledge and heart trust, and to take one concrete step toward trusting God’s character this week.

Scripture: Judges 10-12

Speaker: Scott Savage

Cornerstone Church, Prescott, AZ

Yavapai County | Evangelical Free Church of America

Series: In Their Own Eyes

Week Number: 7

July 12, 2026
Learn more or plan a visit: https://prescottcornerstone.com