Hickory Ridge-cast

"You can be fluent in Christian vocabulary without being faithful in Christian living."

We can use the same words to talk about Jesus and still believe very different things about who He is. But following the Jesus of the Bible means more than knowing the right things to say - it means letting what we believe shape how we live. Are you living like you mean what you say?

What gives you access to God? Your good works, church attendance, or someone else's prayers? How about none of the above?

This message from Pastor Justin explores the differences between Protestantism and Catholicism while challenging us to examine what we're really relying on. Because our access to God isn't earned through religious performance - it's made possible through Jesus and His finished work.

Many people respect Jesus as a moral teacher without accepting who He claimed to be as Lord. In this message from the "I Am the Way" series, Pastor Justin explores Jesus' claims to divinity, the Old Testament passages that point to Him, and why His identity changes everything about the meaning of the cross.

If you've ever accepted part of Jesus's teaching, but rejected the ones that were too difficult, confusing, or inconvenient, this message is for you.

What happens when Jesus doesn't do what you expected? In this message, Pastor Justin explores who Jesus claimed to be, why so many misunderstood the Messiah, and what it means to trust Jesus when life doesn't go according to plan.

Waiting can leave us anxious, discouraged, and wondering if God still cares. But what if the season you want to escape is where God is doing His most important work? In this message, Pastor Caleb Thomason breaks down how we can keep trusting the Lord, even when we can’t see the other side of a tough situation.

We'll all leave something behind. But a legacy isn't the stuff we accumulate or what people say about us after we're gone. It's the life we live and what we model for the people around us. Pastor Justin walks through Joshua 23 & 24 and challenges us to see how our daily choices, habits, and devotion to God are shaping the legacy we're building right now.

Getting angry happens in an instant. But the consequences of anger can last a lifetime. So how do we handle anger and conflict well? How can we stop a fight before it happens?

In this message, Pastor Justin looks at Joshua 22 and what happens when we confuse assumptions for discernment. We see something, think we know why it happened, and react before we hear the other side.

Instead, we can learn to stop before we send the text, make the accusation, or start the confrontation. Because just like the Israelites, what we know isn't all there is to know!

Caleb was 85 years old when he finally got the chance to take the mountain God had promised him. In this message Pastor Justin challenges us to have that same determination - to keep running, keep pressing in, and not let comfort, age, or delay derail what God has called us to do.

“Sun, stand still.” Joshua prayed one of the craziest, boldest prayers in the Bible. But it wasn't a prayer for God to make everything magically better... it was a prayer to give him more time to fight.

In this message, Pastor Justin explores why God's power doesn't remove our responsibility, why we often settle for partial victories, and why the breakthrough you're waiting for may be on the other side of the step you've been avoiding.

Not everything that looks good is from God. In Joshua 9, Israel examined evidence, weighed what made sense, and made a major decision - but forgot one thing... asking God.

Pastor Justin explores why not every open door has been opened by God, how deception often comes disguised as something reasonable (even spiritual) and why real discernment means asking God what He wants before, during, and after your decision.