This week, Pastor John led us in our annual Cross of Christ service with a message from 1 Corinthians 11:23–26. As we take the bread and the cup, we boldly declare that we are not ruled by sin, not hopeless in life, and not finished in death. In Christ, our sins are forgiven, our lives belong to Him, our hope is secure, and our King is returning.

This week, Pastor John Durham concluded our Desert Rose series with a message from Mark 15, reminding us that Jesus entered the deepest form of loneliness so that we would never be alone. On the cross, He was forsaken so we could be accepted, and His separation allowed for our connection with God. Because Christ fills our loneliness with Himself, we can live with confidence that we are seen, we are not abandoned, and we are called to represent His love to others.

This week, Pastor Jeremy Daniel continued our Desert Rose series with a message from Jeremiah 15 on the cost of faithfulness. Jeremiah’s story reminds us that obedience can be lonely and truth can invite opposition, yet God invites us to bring our pain honestly to Him. In those moments, His faithful presence turns weakness into endurance and suffering into deeper trust.

This week, Pastor John continued our Desert Rose sermon series with a message from Ecclesiastes 4 on the purpose of community. God designed us to form relationships that bring encouragement, provision, and protection. In a world filled with opportunity for isolation, we find our deepest belonging in Christ and in the community of His people.

This week, our Groups Minister Josh Duinker continued our Desert Rose sermon series with a message from Psalm 25. Through this passage, we’re reminded that loneliness is real, but Jesus has the final word. Even in the desert places, God calls us to depend on Him, to wait on Him, and to trust that He can bring life and light where there once was darkness.

This Sunday, Pastor John opened our new sermon series Desert Rose by reminding us that God’s design for healing loneliness is found in genuine community. When God calls us to Himself, He also calls us to one another, inviting us to be a living church devoted to His Word, fellowship, prayer, and shared life together.

This week, Pastor John uses the story of Samson to show how sin disguises itself to draw us in and how temptation patiently targets our weaknesses. While the enemy delights in our downfall, Jesus delights in our forgiveness and transforms what once bound us into a testimony of His grace and freedom.

In this week's sermon, Pastor John reveals how sin pulls us lower when our passions rule instead of Jesus. Through Samson’s story, we see that selfishness and pride ultimately lead to destruction. Yet even in our failures, God is still at work and nothing will stop His redemptive power through Christ.

As we continue our sermon series, Unafraid, we look at the story of Gideon one more week and what that means for us as believers.

JUDGES 7:9-11    Judges 7:12-15

THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD…
1. DIRECTION

2. PROTECTION

3. RIGHT TIMING

4. RIGHT PEOPLE

5. RIGHT WORDS

Charles Spurgeon The sovereignty of God is the pillow upon which a child of God rests  his head at night in peace.

Judges 7:16-22

OUR SPIRITUAL weapons FOR BATTLE

1.  LIGHT 16 2 Corinthians 4:6 Philippians 2:15

2. Proclamation vV 18b, 20B I Thessalonians 1:8 Revelation 12:11

3. PROMISED victory vs 2, 7, 15  1 Corinthians 15:57 I John 5:4-5

JUDGES 8:22-27

A faithful ending outweighs a flawed beginning.

We continue our sermon series, Unafraid while Pastor Drew looks at Judges 7 and the story of Gideon and how that really points us to Christ.

Ephesians 2:8-9

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast

Judges 7:1-22 ESV

"The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the sign to every Christian that the enemy, death, has been defeated and turned into an ally.” 

Three Gospel Reminders From Judges 7:

1. Jesus Calls Us From "Come and See" to "Come and Die." 
2. The Lowly Bread Became Victory Bread.
3. The One and Only Saving Hand. 

• Romans 10:13 "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
• Romans 10:9 "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

Ephesians 2:8-9  

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast