Fervent Church

What does "you shall not make for yourself a carved image" mean today? Pastor Mike Rosado unpacks Exodus 20:4-6 and the three ways we build a God we can conceive, control, and contain, plus why God banned every image of Himself: He already made one, and you are it.

Is the Sabbath a rule or is it advice? Pastor Mike Rosado breaks down what the Hebrew word for Sabbath actually means, why God gave a day of rest to people freed from slavery, what being tired costs you and the people closest to you, and why rest is really about trust.

Honor your mother and father is the hardest commandment in the series, because it runs straight through the wounds many of us carry. Pastor Mike Rosado walks through four wounds parents leave, why people aren't evil, they're broken, and what honor actually means when it isn't agreement, obedience, or access.

The letter of the law asks whether you have killed anybody. The spirit of the law asks whether you have buried anybody in your heart. Pastor Mike Rosado unpacks the sixth commandment as an anger problem, walks through the three ways we handle it wrong, and makes the case that suppression was never sanctification.

The seventh commandment is not a purity rule. In Hebrew it is a covenant word, and the prophets used the exact same word for what Israel did to God. Pastor Mike Rosado walks through three places where loyalty gets decided: the roof, the room, and the run. Nobody just falls.

The eighth commandment is bigger than shoplifting. Pastor Mike Rosado walks through why we take, what we take, and who we actually trust, and makes the case that stealing was never a money problem. It is a math problem, and the number you left out is God.

The ninth commandment is not a rule about lying. In its original context, before police, courts, or written records, your neighbor's mouth was the only thing standing between you and ruin. Pastor Mike Rosado unpacks what "do not bear false witness" actually meant, and why it makes you responsible for the people around you. Recorded on Fervent Church's 14th anniversary.

Why does it never feel like enough? Pastor Mike Rosado opens a new series on the Ten Commandments by starting at number ten and working backwards, and makes the case that these were never rules. They are advice from someone who already got you out.

In the finale of our FRIENDS series, Pastor Mike Rosado does something different. Less preaching, more seminar. He takes four real questions from that letter and answers every one of them from Scripture: What about friends who are not good to be around? What about friendships that end? What about the friends who never call back and you are always the one stepping toward them? And when do you know it is time to move on?Along the way he breaks down two things every believer needs and almost nobody has been taught. Your circles, the way Jesus ran them, and the seven connections that keep you from crushing one person with seven different jobs.Then it lands where the whole series was always headed. Jesus was called a friend of sinners, and it was an insult. He never denied it. He wore it as a résumé.BIG IDEA: Friendship stops being a transaction you are owed and becomes a service you offer.PRIMARY TEXTS: Matthew 11:19, Luke 15:1-2, Luke 17:11-19 SUPPORTING: Romans 12:18, Proverbs 22:24-25, 1 Corinthians 15:33, Proverbs 18:24, Mark 3:14, Luke 10:1THE THREE POINTS:He never denied the insult.He never guarded the table.There will be nine who never come back.THE THREE ASSIGNMENTS:Identify your circles.Establish the seven connections.Pick one person far from God. Pray for them by name daily. Initiate. Stay one year, September to September.

Rejection is a possibility. Isolation is a guarantee. Every close friendship you have right now exists because somebody was willing to be awkward first. Somebody sent the text. Somebody made the invite. Somebody moved before it was comfortable. And most of us have spent years waiting to be picked instead of doing the picking. In week 4 of our Friendship series, Pastor Mike Rosado gets brutally practical. No theory. No fluff. Four moves out of 1 Samuel 18 that will actually put people in your life, plus the reason most of us never make them. Because naming your fear feels like progress, but it is not. You have to go from awareness to activation. If you are lonely, guarded, busy, or just tired of surface level relationships, this one is for you. BIG IDEA: The remedy for your isolation is initiation. Stop looking for the right person. Start being the right person. PRIMARY TEXT: 1 Samuel 18:1-4SUPPORTING: Matthew 7:24-27, James 5:16, Ruth 1:16, John 1:1-14, 1 John 4:19 THE FOUR MOVES:1. Go First. Stop waiting to be chosen.2. Get In The Room. You cannot befriend people you never see.3. Give Something That Costs. Friendship without cost is just proximity.4. Stay Through The Awkward. Awkward does not mean wrong. It means not comfortable yet.