Pastor Tony Liuzzo (Lead Pastor) - Acts 9:3-15 & 17-19; Luke 19:10; Matthew 28:19-20; 1 Corinthians 3:6

What does it take? This is a serious question when it comes to discipleship.

What does it take to reach the person who knows nothing about God? What does it take to help the struggling couple who is close to calling it quits? What does it take to see someone set free from an addiction they’ve battled for most of their life?

The answer is Jesus. YES! He is the answer. But what does that mean?

In Acts 9, Jesus does an amazing work in Saul’s life when He calls out to him on the road to Damascus. But God didn’t reach and disciple Saul in isolation. He brought people into Saul’s life.

God used Ananias to help Saul take his next steps. He used other believers to encourage him, teach him, and walk alongside him.

Jesus is the answer, but Jesus delivers His hope through us! He wants to use us to reach the lost, restore the broken, strengthen struggling marriages, and help people find freedom from the things that have held them captive.

So, what does it take to make disciples?

It takes the power of God working through you!

Pastor Tony Liuzzo (Lead Pastor) - ​​​​​​​​​​​Judges 4 & 5​ (Ezekiel 22:30; Judges 4:1-9, 12-20 & 22-24; 5:5-7, 20-21 & 24-27; Psalm 92:12; 1 Timothy 2:12-13; 3:1-7; Genesis 2:7 & 15-17; 3:8-9; 1 Corinthians 11:3; 15:21-22; Ephesian 5:22-23 & 25; 6:4; 1 Timothy 2:12; 5:8 & 17; Titus 1:5-9; Hebrews 11:32-34; 13:7 & 17; Exodus 28:1; Mark 3:13-19; Acts 6:3; 2 Timothy 2:2; Deuteronomy 3:22)

The book of Judges is filled with the unexpected! God repeatedly raised up unexpected people to do extraordinary things in order to rescue and restore His people.

Summer Teaching Series:

The book of Judges tells the story of Israel during one of the darkest periods in its history. Again and again, God's people turned from Him, experienced the consequences of their sin, cried out for help, and were graciously delivered through the judges God raised up.

Lesson 4 - Notes

Pastor Tony Liuzzo (Lead Pastor) - Luke 19:10; Acts 7:58; 8:1 & 3; 9:1-6; 16:30-31; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Matthew 7:22-23; 1 Timothy 1:13-15

Are there people in your life that you feel are too far gone to ever be reached with the Gospel? People who are so hard-hearted that they get angry just at the mention of Jesus?

In Acts 9, we encounter the story of God reaching the heart of a man who seemed completely unreachable. Saul had a terrible past, a hardened heart, and a deep hatred for followers of Christ. Yet God broke through all of it.

His story reminds us that God can reach anyone when we are willing to follow His plan. Sometimes the person we think is the least likely to respond to the Gospel may be the very person God is preparing to reach.

Pastor Tony Liuzzo (Lead Pastor) - ​​​​​​​​​​​Judges 3 (Judges 2:10 & 16; 3:1-31; 5:6; 17:6; 1 Timothy 6:12; Genesis 19:33-38; 35:17-18; 1 Kings 11:7; Leviticus 18:21; Exodus 4:10-12 & 14-16; 17:10-11, 13 & 16; Joshua 4:18-24)

We learn so many lessons from the book of Judges. Once we get into the lives of the judges that God used, we learn that God works through the unexpected. God uses unexpected people to do unexpected things in unexpected ways.

Why? All for the glory of God.

This is important because you might feel as if you have nothing to offer God, and yet how God made you unique is the very thing God plans to use in your life.

Judges 3 covers three judges who bring something to the table that you won’t see coming… this is just how our God works!

Summer Teaching Series:

The book of Judges tells the story of Israel during one of the darkest periods in its history. Again and again, God's people turned from Him, experienced the consequences of their sin, cried out for help, and were graciously delivered through the judges God raised up.

Lesson 3 - Notes

Pastor Tony Liuzzo (Lead Pastor) - Acts 8 (Acts 8:2-5, 7-11, 13 & 18-23)

A Spirit-empowered church isn’t just a church that experiences the power of God; it’s a church that guards the condition of its heart. In Acts 8, Simon witnessed the power of the Holy Spirit and even professed faith, yet his heart was filled with bitterness and selfish desires. The truth is, we all struggle with bitterness. Sometimes we convince ourselves that we’re okay—until that person’s name is mentioned or that subject comes up, and suddenly what is really in our hearts is revealed, whether we like it or not.

Pastor Tony Liuzzo (Lead Pastor) - ​​​​​​​​​​​Judges 1 & 2 (Joshua 24:15; Judges 1:1-7, 9-15, 17-19 & 28-36; 2:1-23; Exodus 23:29-33; Numbers 33:50-53; Deuteronomy 7:2-6; Psalm 78:5-7)

Israel didn’t begin by rejecting God, they began by compromising. This was a slow fade! What started as partial obedience eventually became a pattern of tolerating what God had commanded them to remove. In Judges 1–2, we see how compromise can slowly influence our hearts, how forgetting God can lead us away from Him, and why one generation must intentionally pass its faith to the next. Here is the good news! Even in Israel’s failure, we see a faithful God who responds with mercy and raises up deliverers. God is good and faithful, even when we are not!

Summer Teaching Series:

The book of Judges tells the story of Israel during one of the darkest periods in its history. Again and again, God's people turned from Him, experienced the consequences of their sin, cried out for help, and were graciously delivered through the judges God raised up.

Lesson 2 - Notes

Pastor Tony Liuzzo (Lead Pastor) - Acts 1:8; 6:3-15; 7:1-3, 20-21 & 47-60; 8:1 & 4; 9:31; 11:9, 19, 21 & 21; 13:49; 16:5; Matthew 12:34

Let’s fast-forward for a moment. As the book of Acts unfolds, churches are established throughout the surrounding regions, spiritual leaders are trained, people are reached, and lives are transformed. And it wasn’t just a handful of people—the Bible repeatedly tells us that believers multiplied. The church was on fire, and the gospel was spreading rapidly.

But when we trace that explosive growth backward, we discover a surprising catalyst in Acts 6 and 7. It did not begin with a great victory, a packed auditorium, or a powerful missionary campaign. It began with something that looked like a devastating setback. It began with persecution, suffering, and the death of a faithful servant named Stephen.

Stephen was not an apostle or a well-known leader. He was a church volunteer...a man of godly character, full of faith and filled with the Holy Ghost. Yet through his courageous faith and willingness to give his life for Christ, God ignited a gospel movement that would help change the world.

Matt Hodge (Discipleship Pastor) - ​​​​​​​​​​​Judges 1:1; 2:11-19; 17:6; 21:25; Acts 13:16-23; Hebrews 11:32-33

The book of Judges is filled with familiar stories—Deborah, Gideon, Samson, and others—but when we step back and look at the book as a whole, we discover something much bigger than a collection of stories about heroic leaders. Judges is a story of rebellion and redemption.

Summer Teaching Series:

The book of Judges tells the story of Israel during one of the darkest periods in its history. Again and again, God's people turned from Him, experienced the consequences of their sin, cried out for help, and were graciously delivered through the judges God raised up.

Lesson 1 - Notes

Logan Liuzzo (Student, Pensacola Christian College) - Proverbs 3:5-66; Romans 8:28; Ephesians 6:20

When life takes an unexpected turn, trusting God can be difficult. After being diagnosed with cancer at 18, Logan Liuzzo faced uncertainty that changed the path he had planned for his life. Through it all, God taught him to trust His purpose, even when the way forward was unclear.

Pastors Tony Liuzzo (Lead Pastor), Chris Andrews (Associate Pastor), & Matt Hodge (Discipleship Pastor)

In this final night of our summer series Counter Formation, we’re taking time to answer some of the questions submitted throughout the series.

Summer Teaching Series:

Every day, we are being shaped by the world, the culture around us, and even the people closest to us. Formation is happening whether we notice it or not, and left unchecked, it can pull us away from God’s design for our lives.

Lesson 10 - Notes