Flipside Christian Church

In this message, Pastor Karl walks through Matthew 19, where the Pharisees approach Jesus with pointed questions about divorce — testing him against the competing rabbinic schools of Shammai and Hillel. Rather than settling the debate on their terms, Jesus redirects them to God's original design for marriage from Genesis, addressing not just the surface question but the deeper issue underneath it: a hardened heart that looks for loopholes instead of surrendering to God's standard.

Pastor Karl unpacks what Scripture teaches about marriage, divorce, and remarriage with pastoral care and honesty about how difficult these teachings can be to live out. He also explores the chapter's turn toward children, and the story of the rich young ruler — a man who came asking about religious righteousness but was really wrestling with money and control.

The big idea: Jesus confronts the hardness of our hearts because his kingdom calls for commitment and sacrifice, while our natural tendency is to search for loopholes and excuses. This message is an invitation to let Scripture rebuke, correct, and train us — and to rely on the power of God's Spirit rather than our own willpower to live faithfully.

Join us in person 8:00am, 9:30am & 11:00am every Sunday morning.
37193 Ave 12 #3h, Madera, CA 93636
For more visit us at flipside.church

For more podcasts visit flipsidepodcasts.transistor.fm

How many times should we forgive someone who has wronged us? In this message, Pastor Karl explores Jesus' powerful teaching in Matthew 18:21–35, revealing that forgiveness is not about keeping score—it's about reflecting the incredible mercy we've received from God.

Through the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, Pastor Karl explains the immeasurable debt of sin that Christ has forgiven and why that forgiveness transforms the way we respond to those who hurt us. Discover the difference between forgiveness and enabling harmful behavior, why forgiveness is central to life in God's Kingdom, and how releasing others from their debt brings freedom to our own hearts.

Whether you're wrestling with past wounds, strained relationships, or the challenge of extending grace, this message offers biblical truth and practical encouragement to help you walk in the freedom Christ has made possible.

Watch all our sermons on our youtube channel "Flipside Christian Church"
Join us in person 8:00am, 9:30am & 11:00am every Sunday morning.
37193 Ave 12 #3h, Madera, CA 93636
For more visit us at flipside.church

For more podcasts visit flipsidepodcasts.transistor.fm

In this episode of Kingdom Now, Pastor Karl continues the verse-by-verse study through Matthew 18, picking up where Jeff Stemple left off. Building on the disciples' question of "who's the greatest?", Karl unpacks Jesus's answer: none of us are — apart from Him, we're all dependent and called to humble, childlike faith.

Walking through verses 7-20, Karl explores how Jesus's kingdom is neither casual about sin nor stingy with mercy. He digs into Jesus's strong warnings about cutting off whatever causes us to stumble, the parable of the wandering sheep (and why it's different from Luke 15's version), and God's heart to pursue those who wander — even when they know exactly where home is. The episode closes with practical, biblical steps for restoring relationships when a brother or sister sins against you, emphasizing that the goal is always restoration, not winning.

A convicting and grace-filled look at how radical discipleship requires taking sin seriously while never giving up on people.

Watch all our sermons on our youtube channel "Flipside Christian Church"
Join us in person 8:00am, 9:30am & 11:00am every Sunday morning.
37193 Ave 12 #3h, Madera, CA 93636
For more visit us at flipside.church

For more podcasts visit flipsidepodcasts.transistor.fm

Who's the greatest? It's a question we ask about quarterbacks, pitchers, and point guards—but Jesus' disciples asked it about the Kingdom of Heaven, and His answer flipped their entire framework upside down.

In this message from Matthew 18:1-6, guest speaker Jeff Stemple unpacks what happens when the disciples' quiet argument about status and rank finally bursts into the open, and Jesus responds not with a ranking, but with a child standing in the middle of the room. Jeff explores how greatness in God's Kingdom isn't measured by achievement, platform, or comparison, but through humble, childlike dependence on God.

Along the way, Jeff digs into what it means to humble yourself before you're humbled, how what we value reveals what we actually believe, and why welcoming and protecting children reflects the very heart of Jesus. Whether you're wrestling with insecurity, control, or the constant pull to measure up, this message points to a different scoreboard altogether—one built on trust, not status.

Watch all our sermons on our youtube channel "Flipside Christian Church"
Join us in person 8:00am, 9:30am & 11:00am every Sunday morning.
37193 Ave 12 #3h, Madera, CA 93636
For more visit us at flipside.church

For more podcasts visit flipsidepodcasts.transistor.fm

In Matthew 17, Pastor Karl traces three big ideas through one of the most pivotal chapters in the Gospel of Matthew — from the Transfiguration to a failed exorcism to a coin found in a fish's mouth.

Kingdom authority resides only in the King. God must first overpower us before He can empower us — and faith that shifts from dependence on Christ to confidence in our own ability is twisted faith that accomplishes nothing.

Kingdom presence comes only through the cross. Following Jesus isn't adding Him to your plans. It's submitting every plan, comfort, and priority to His lordship. The cross isn't a decoration; it's a direction.

Kingdom freedom isn't selfish — it's generous. When Jesus pays a tax He owes nothing on, He paints a vivid picture of the gospel itself: Peter had a debt he couldn't pay, and Jesus — under no obligation — paid it anyway. Just as He does with our sin.

Watch all our sermons on our youtube channel "Flipside Christian Church"
Join us in person 8:00am, 9:30am & 11:00am every Sunday morning.
37193 Ave 12 #3h, Madera, CA 93636
For more visit us at flipside.church

For more podcasts visit flipsidepodcasts.transistor.fm

What happens when following Jesus doesn't look like what you signed up for? In this message, guest speaker Jeff Stemple picks up where last week's sermon left off — right at the moment in Matthew 16 where Jesus begins speaking plainly about suffering, rejection, and death, leaving his disciples confused, disappointed, and wrestling with their faith.

From there, Jeff walks us into one of the most breathtaking moments in all of Scripture: the Transfiguration. In Matthew 17, just six days after that difficult conversation, Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up a mountain — and what they witness there is God's direct answer to their confusion and disillusionment. His face shining like the sun, Moses and Elijah present, and a voice from heaven declaring the same words spoken at Jesus' baptism — with one powerful addition: Listen to him.

That command is the heartbeat of this message. When the disciples were struggling most, God didn't offer an explanation. He gave a command. And that command still stands for us today.

Jeff unpacks three ways we can get to a place of genuine, obedient listening: seeing Jesus for who he truly is (not merely who we want him to be), resisting our desire to control and manage our circumstances, and following Jesus back down the mountain into the ordinary obedience of everyday life.

If you've ever felt disillusioned in your faith — like the experience isn't matching the advertisement — this message is for you.

Watch all our sermons on our youtube channel "Flipside Christian Church"
Join us in person 8:00am, 9:30am & 11:00am every Sunday morning.
37193 Ave 12 #3h, Madera, CA 93636
For more visit us at flipside.church

For more podcasts visit flipsidepodcasts.transistor.fm

In this message from Matthew 16, Pastor Karl unpacks what it truly means to be a disciple of Jesus. This chapter marks a turning point in the Gospel of Matthew — Jesus shifts from miracles and crowds to confession and the cross, pressing his followers on three essential questions: What are you allowing to corrupt your faith? Who do you say Jesus is? And are you willing to pay the real cost of following him?

Using the image of leaven, Pastor Karl warns against the subtle doctrines that quietly push Jesus off center — the Pharisees' tendency to add to God's Word and the Sadducees' tendency to subtract from it. Both lead to the same result: a faith that looks like Christianity but has lost its core. He then turns to Peter's confession at Caesarea Philippi — "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" — and challenges us to ask whether the full scope of our lives actually agrees with what we claim to believe about Jesus. Finally, he confronts the cost of true discipleship head-on: a crossless Christianity isn't a safer version of the faith — it's a distortion of it. Following Jesus in principle but not in practice isn't discipleship; it's branding.

Watch all our sermons on our youtube channel "Flipside Christian Church"
Join us in person 8:00am, 9:30am & 11:00am every Sunday morning.
37193 Ave 12 #3h, Madera, CA 93636
For more visit us at flipside.church

For more podcasts visit flipsidepodcasts.transistor.fm

In this message from Matthew 15:29–16:4, Pastor Karl examines two very different groups of people who come to Jesus — and what their approach reveals about how we receive grace.

The first group comes from the Decapolis, a Gentile region with no religious standing or covenant claim. They bring broken bodies, unspoken needs, and nothing to offer — and Jesus meets them with compassion, healing, and even provision they didn't know to ask for. The second group, the Pharisees and Sadducees, arrives with suspicion and a demand for proof — and Jesus refuses to perform for them.

The contrast surfaces a powerful truth: Jesus has endless compassion for those who come to him needy, but no obligation to satisfy those who come feeling entitled. Unworthiness isn't a disqualification for grace — it's the prerequisite for it.

Pastor Karl unpacks why the disciples hesitated to feed the 4,000 (it wasn't that they forgot what Jesus could do — it was that they questioned who he'd do it for), what it really means to "fall from grace," and why the cross is the only reliable lens through which to interpret God's love. When we bring our "not enough" to Jesus, we find that inadequacy is exactly the raw material he's looking for.

Watch all our sermons on our youtube channel "Flipside Christian Church"
Join us in person 8:00am, 9:30am & 11:00am every Sunday morning.
37193 Ave 12 #3h, Madera, CA 93636
For more visit us at flipside.church

For more podcasts visit flipsidepodcasts.transistor.fm

In Matthew 15, Pastor Karl walks through two encounters that reveal how Jesus responds to very different kinds of people. The first is a confrontation with the Pharisees — religious leaders who had mastered looking clean on the outside while leaving their hearts completely untouched. Jesus exposes their hypocrisy and makes clear that the real issue is never what comes in from the outside, but what flows out from within.

The second is a striking contrast: a Canaanite woman from Tyre and Sidon who comes to Jesus with nothing to offer — no credentials, no leverage, no religious standing. She simply cries out for mercy. When Jesus seems silent and even dismissive, she doesn't leave offended. She presses in, clings to grace, and receives what the Pharisees never could: a direct word of commendation from Jesus himself — "Great is your faith."

God honors a transformed heart and exposes religious hypocrisy. And he blesses according to his grace — not our worthiness. This message is an invitation to stop trying to leverage God and start crying out for his mercy.

Watch all our sermons on our youtube channel "Flipside Christian Church"
Join us in person 8:00am, 9:30am & 11:00am every Sunday morning.
37193 Ave 12 #3h, Madera, CA 93636
For more visit us at flipside.church

For more podcasts visit flipsidepodcasts.transistor.fm

What do you do when the storms of life hit? Our instinct is to hunker down, strain at the oars, and just try to survive. But what if the storm isn't just an obstacle — what if it's an invitation?

Guest speaker Jeff Stemple walks us through one of the most familiar stories in Scripture: Jesus walking on water. And while the story is familiar, the truth buried inside it is anything but comfortable. By looking at the accounts in Mark, John, and Matthew side by side, Jeff unpacks why Matthew is the only gospel writer who includes Peter's attempt to step out of the boat — and why that "screw up" might be the most encouraging part of the whole story.

The storms of life are invitations to step out in faith.

Fear says stay put. Faith says step out. And what Jesus says to Peter in the middle of that storm, he says to all of us — come. The very place we least want to go may be the exact place Jesus is already standing, waiting for us to trust him.

Whether your storm started last week or last year, this episode is for you.

Watch all our sermons on our youtube channel "Flipside Christian Church"
Join us in person 8:00am, 9:30am & 11:00am every Sunday morning.
37193 Ave 12 #3h, Madera, CA 93636
For more visit us at flipside.church

For more podcasts visit flipsidepodcasts.transistor.fm