Most of us have a running list of reasons why God wouldn't use us.

Not smart enough. Not bold enough. Don't have the right words. Haven't got it all figured out yet.

Maybe you're not even sure you believe any of this.

And yet… here's what keeps jumping off the page in this week's sermon: God has never once waited for the right person to show up. He just uses whoever's already there.

Pastor Sam Weitman is kicking off a brand new 12-week series through the Book of Acts this week, and in just three verses from Acts 1:1-3, one thing becomes really clear: The people who turned the world upside down weren't special.

They were scared, ordinary, and honestly pretty unqualified. And God used them anyway.

Here's what this message digs into:

›› Why so many of us are living like the resurrection didn't actually happen

›› What it looks like to see the people around you the way God sees them

›› Why your ordinary life might be exactly what God is looking for

›› Why your job isn't to make things happen — just to show up and be obedient

›› How ordinary people, gripped by something bigger than themselves, actually change the world

If you've ever wondered whether your life is supposed to mean something more, this message is worth your time. If you've been around church your whole life and somewhere along the way it started feeling a little hollow, this is for you too.

Because there's a difference between knowing about the resurrection and actually living like it's true.

We think you'll be glad you watched. 🙌

Acts 1:1-3

What's one reason you've told yourself God couldn't use you?

He Is Risen — but what does that actually mean for YOU?

Whether you are walking in faith or full of doubt — this message is for you.

This Easter, Pastor Sam Weitman preaches from John 20 and brings Easter to life in an honest, powerful way. No fluff, no empty religious phrases — just the raw, real story of an empty tomb and why it still matters nearly 1,993 years later.

In this message, you'll discover:

✝️ Why the stone was rolled away

✝️Why doubt doesn't disqualify you from faith (the first people at the tomb had the same questions you do!)

✝️Why going to church your whole life doesn't automatically mean you've gotten the point

✝️Why the Easter story is for the hurting, the skeptical, the burned, and the broken — not just the faithful

If you've been hurt by the church... this message is especially for you. Jesus gets it more than you know.

If you're walking through a hard season... the empty tomb has a word for you too.

The cross reveals the compassion of God. The empty tomb reveals the power of God. Together? That's not a victim. That's not a tyrant. That's a Savior.

John 20:1-10

So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

What's one word that describes where you are with Jesus right now — searching, skeptical, hopeful, grateful?

What if Good Friday isn't meant to be rushed? 🕊️

We live in a world that skips straight to Sunday. But what if slowing down and staying in the grief of Friday and Saturday is exactly what your soul needs this Easter season?

In this reflective and moving Good Friday service, Care Pastor Bryan Intemann invites us to resist the urge to fast-forward to the resurrection and instead do something countercultural: sit with the cross.

Drawing from Isaiah 53:7 and Mark 8:27-29, Bryan asks us to transport ourselves back to that Friday and truly take in what happened — the sights, the sounds, the silence, and the weight of it all.

This message centers on two truths Bryan doesn't want us to miss:

🐑 The Silent Savior — In a world that never stops talking, Jesus said almost nothing in his own defense. What does that mean for us?

👑 The Reigning King — He was mocked, beaten, and dismissed. But who did people say He really was — and who do you say He is?

Bryan's heart in this service is simple: don't celebrate Sunday on Friday. Let Saturday be Saturday. Let the weight of this moment do what it was meant to do — because the people who stood at that cross didn't get to skip ahead either.

Whether you've known Jesus for decades or you're just starting to wonder who He really is, this is a space to slow down, reflect, and encounter the cross honestly.

The next chapter is coming. But not yet.

Isaiah 53:7

Mark 8:27-29

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”

“But what about you?” He asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”

Additional scriptures referenced: Luke 23 | John 1, 6, 11, 12 | 1 John 4:10

Where are you this Easter — curious, doubting, believing, or somewhere in between?

Have you ever felt like things aren't going the way they were supposed to? 🌱

Life has a way of not matching our expectations — relationships that don't work out, dreams that never happen, a world that feels more broken than hopeful. And maybe you've wondered... if God is real, why does everything feel so uncertain?

You're not alone in asking that.

But this message isn't just for people who are far from God. It might actually hit harder if you've been in church your whole life.

In this message, Pastor Sam Weitman gets honest — about his own heart, his own idols, and the uncomfortable reality that you can spend decades in church, know all the right answers, and still have a heart that looks a lot more like the religious leader in the room than like Jesus.

Sam admits it about himself, and it's the kind of honesty that should have a way of making you look in the mirror too.

Starting in Luke 13:10-17, we see Jesus stop everything to heal a woman who had been suffering for 18 years — bent over, rejected, and written off by the very people who were supposed to represent God.

And the religious leader in the room? He wasn't evil. He was educated, experienced, and devoted. Yet when the miracle happened right in front of him, his heart was cold. He cared more about the rules than the broken woman he'd watched walk in pain for nearly two decades.

It's an uncomfortable picture. Because most of us have more in common with him than we'd like to admit.

Then in Luke 13:18-21, Jesus tells two small but stunning parables — a mustard seed and a bit of yeast — and makes a promise that's just as real today as it was then: God's kingdom is slow, but it is unstoppable.

In this sermon, you'll be challenged and encouraged by:

◦ How the Word of God exposes what's really in our hearts — and why that's good news

◦ Why real transformation looks more like slow-smoked BBQ than a microwave meal

◦ What to do when life hasn't gone the way you planned, and hope feels hard to hold onto

◦ The sneaky ways longtime believers lose their kingdom imagination — and how to get it back

◦ What it looks like to stop circling the wagons and start dreaming big again

Whether you've followed Jesus for decades or you've never stepped foot in a church, there's something in this message for you. Because the kingdom of God isn't just for the put-together people — it's for the bent-over ones, the overlooked ones, the ones who aren't sure what they believe yet, and honestly? The ones who think they have it all figured out.

The dream isn't dead. In fact, it's just getting started. 🕊️

Luke 13:10-21

Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”

The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”

When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.

Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.”

Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

Here's a question worth sitting with: Is your heart keeping up with the kingdom? Take some time to pray and see what God stirs in your heart.

Jesus didn't wait for people to clean themselves up. And neither should we.

What if the most important thing you could do with your life was simply to show up for the people around you, especially the messy ones?

In this message, College Pastor Scott Manning walks through Luke 19:11-27 — the Parable of the Ten Minas — where Jesus tells a story about a king who entrusts his servants with something valuable before he leaves, and then returns to see what they did with it. But before he even gets to the parable, we see Jesus stop everything to pursue Zacchaeus — a guy everybody else had written off.

That's the kind of God we serve. And the invitation inside this passage is for everyone — whether you've grown up in church your whole life or you feel like you're too far gone for any of this to be for you.

Here's what this message digs into:

🤍 Why Jesus actively pursues the messiest, most overlooked people — and what that means for how we live

🤍 The honest difference between building your own thing and joining something so much bigger than yourself

🤍 Why so many of us keep waiting for the "right time" to say yes to Jesus — and what that's actually costing us

🤍 Simple, real ways to start living with purpose and joy — not someday, but now

Scott gets refreshingly honest in this one — talking about years he spent avoiding the things that mattered most. If you've ever felt written off, too far gone, or just not sure Jesus is really for someone like you — come as you are. This message is for you.

👉 Hit play. You won't regret it.

Luke 19:11-27

When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by doing business.

The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten minas more.’ And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’

And the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made five minas.’ And he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’

Then another came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief; for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man. You take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ He said to him, ‘I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’

And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’ ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.’”

💬 What's one thing from this message that challenged or encouraged you?

What if the most broken person you know walked through your church doors this Sunday?

In this message, Pastor Sam Weitman takes us deep into Luke 15 — home of some of Jesus' most beloved stories: the Lost Sheep (Luke 15:3-7), the Lost Coin (Luke 15:8-10), and the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-24). But here's the twist: these aren't just feel-good tales. They're a mirror held up to our hearts, revealing the gap between how we see broken people... and how God sees them.

Here's what you'll discover in this message:

🔍 Why Jesus spent time with the people everyone else avoided — and what that means for you

🔍 The radical, unexpected way the Father responds when the Prodigal Son comes home

🔍 Why heaven throws a party every time someone who's lost finds their way home

🔍 What it really looks like to be a church that welcomes the messy, the broken, and the far-from-God

🔍 Why even faithful Christians can quietly drift into the heart of a Pharisee — and not even notice

Here's an honest question this sermon asks:

Do you love the broken ... as long as they don't sit next to you in church?

If you've followed Jesus for years, there's a good chance this message will make you uncomfortable in the best possible way (because God isn't just asking us to tolerate broken people from a distance. He's calling us to go find them, bring them home, and love them through every messy, complicated, beautiful step of the journey.)

And if you're still figuring out what you believe — Jesus is a lot more excited about you being here than you might think.

Luke 15:1-24

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

So he told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

The messiest person in your life didn't end up there by accident. God put them there on purpose. So what are you going to do about it?

What if the thing you're holding onto is the very thing keeping you from the life God has planned for you? 🤔

William Borden had it all — heir to a dairy empire, wealth, connections, and a future that most people only dream about. But he walked away from everything to chase something greater. At every crossroads, he wrote three simple phrases in the back of his Bible:

No reserves. No retreats. No regrets.

What makes a person live like that? And more importantly — could you?

In Luke 18:18-29, Pastor Sam Weitman unpacks one of the most surprising moments in Jesus' ministry: a wealthy, successful, genuinely good man walks up to Jesus asking the right question… and walks away sad.

No dramatic villain. No obvious sin. Just a guy who couldn't let go.

Here's what this message will challenge you with:

💰 Being a "good person" might be the very thing keeping you from the life God created you to live

🎁 What's holding you back probably isn't a sin — it's a blessing you've placed above the One who gave it

❤️ Jesus' most challenging words are actually His most compassionate ones

🤲 What it looks like to finally let go — and why it's not a sacrifice at all

Whether you've followed Jesus your whole life or you're just curious about what this whole faith thing is about, this message will meet you right where you are.

Because the question Jesus asked that wealthy ruler? He's asking you the same thing today.

Luke 18:18-30

A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“Why do you call me good?”Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”

“All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy.

Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”

Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!”

“Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.”

What are you holding onto — and is it actually delivering what it promised?

Be honest — anxiety is exhausting.

Whether it's your job, your relationships, your future, or just the general feeling that something could go wrong at any moment... most of us are carrying more than we let on.

In this message from Luke 12:22-34, Pastor Sam Weitman tackles one of the most quoted — and most misunderstood — passages in the entire Bible. You know the one. "Consider the lilies." It's on coffee mugs, wall art, and Instagram posts everywhere. But what if we've been reading it wrong this whole time?

Here's what this message will challenge you to think about:

🌿 Why "don't be anxious" isn't a promise that everything will work out the way you hope

💰 The surprising reason the rich man in Jesus' story was called a fool (it wasn't because he had money)

🔑 The difference between building your own kingdom and seeking God's — and why that changes everything

🪨 What your worry reveals about what you treasure most

❤️ The tender, unexpected thing Jesus says to his disciples in the middle of chaos

Whether you've followed Jesus for decades or you're just spiritually curious, this one is worth your time. Pastor Sam doesn't sugarcoat it, and he doesn't give you a tidy five-step fix.

But what he does give you is something better — an honest look at why we're anxious and what it might mean to actually live differently.

What's one thing you've been anxious about lately — and what kingdom does it point to?

Luke 12:22-34

Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

“Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

What if more people are ready to say "yes" to Jesus than anyone thinks?

Senior Pastor Sam Weitman spent 19 years in the Bible Belt — churches on every corner — and not one person ever sat down to explain the gospel to him, invited him to church, or offered to pray for him. Six months after someone finally did? His life was completely transformed. That's the heartbeat of this message.

Opening up Luke 10:1-20, Pastor Sam delivers a message that might just change the way you see the people around you — and the God who already knows them by name.

In this sermon, you'll discover:

🌾 Why Jesus says the harvest is STILL plentiful — and what that means for your neighbors, coworkers, and friends right now

🌾 The broken heart behind God's most urgent prayer — and why it reveals the distance between our hearts and his

🌾 Why you're more equipped than you think to have spiritual conversations (no training required)

🌾 What to do when people say no — and why rejection isn't your fault

🌾 The sneaky idol that even the most passionate Christians fall into without realizing it

Whether you've never set foot in a church or you've been following Jesus for decades, this message has something for you. Because at its core, it's not about what you do for God — it's about what he's already done for you. ❤️

Luke 10:1-20

“When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.

“When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’ I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades.

“Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”

He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Pastor Sam Weitman unpacks one of Jesus' most famous parables.

We love the idea of seeking God's kingdom. We get excited about transformation, breakthrough, and seeing God move. But what if the real question isn't "what should we do for the kingdom?" but "what kind of heart do we actually have?"

This message covers:

💡 The parable of the four soils (and why we all want to skip to soil #4)

Exploring Luke 8:4-15, Pastor Sam guides us through Jesus' parable about different types of soil—hard, shallow, distracted, and fruitful. But here's the twist: this isn't just a nice story. It's a mirror held up to our own hearts.

Hard hearts reject the gospel. Shallow hearts fall away when things get difficult. Distracted hearts are too busy for the kingdom. And the fourth soil? Available hearts that simply say "Lord, here I am. Send me."

The question isn't whether you know the Bible or show up on Sundays. The question is: what happens when God's word actually lands on your heart?

This message will challenge your heart if you've ever wondered:

Luke 8:4-15 (NIV)

💬 Are you ready to stop pretending and start asking God to actually change your heart?