Who's in your corner — and are they the right people for where you're headed?

In this episode of Continuing the Conversation, Lead Pastor Craig Smith and Marketing Director Colin McFarland dig into week two of the It's Complicated series: Find Your People. And it gets personal fast.

Craig opens up about the moment he realized he needed more than instructors — he needed actual mentors. That moment came when he stepped into something way bigger than he'd ever led before and had to ask himself, honestly, am I surrounding myself with the right people?

They talk through what it looks like to have people ahead of you on the road, friends walking beside you in the same season, and people behind you that you're pouring into. And they land on something worth sitting with: your people aren't always who you'd expect. Life stage connects us more than age. Shared experience opens doors that shared demographics never could.

You'll also get a peek behind the curtain at how Craig builds his own learning diet — from theology to quantum mechanics to color theory (yes, really) — and why he thinks the voices you let in shape far more than your mood. They shape your future.

If you've been in a season where relationships feel thin, complicated, or hard to find — this one's for you.

👉 Listen now and discover why God's grace is often working long before we recognize it.

🎧 Listen to this weekend's full sermon first, then come back here to go deeper. New episodes drop midweek. Subscribe so you never miss a conversation. Like, share, and comment if this episode hit home.

As always, shoot us your questions at [email protected] and enjoy today's episode. Also, check out our YouTube Channel and the Playlist titled "Questions with Craig" for more resources.

Or submit your PRAYER REQUESTS for our care team.

============================= Continuing The Conversation: Feed Credits =============================

HOST:: Colin McFarland, Craig Smith PRODUCTION + MIXING:: Zac Anderson CREATIVE DIRECTOR:: Colin McFarland VIDEO + SEO DIRECTORS:: Zac Anderson, Colin McFarland

A Product of The Mission Hills Podcast Network in Littleton, CO. © Mission Hills Church - All Rights Reserved

The people around you are shaping you—whether you realize it or not.

In Proverbs 13:20, we're told to "walk with the wise and become wise." But what does wisdom actually look like, and how do you find people who can help you navigate a complicated life?

In this message from our It's Complicated series, Craig Smith explores why the relationships we invest in have such a powerful influence on who we become. You'll discover five biblical qualities to look for in wise people and why you need relationships with people who are before you, beside you, and behind you.

This week, consider doing a relationship audit: How are your relationships shaping you? Where do you need wisdom, and what will you do to find it?

God often provides the wisdom we need through relationships. Watch the message, reflect on who you're doing life with, and consider your next step toward wise community.

What if the key to real rest isn't less fear — it's the right one?

In this episode of Continuing the Conversation, Lead Pastor Craig Smith and Life Center Director Micah Harrison dig into Sunday's message on the fear of the Lord and what Proverbs means when it says that fear leads to life — and rest. Spoiler: it's not the kind of fear that tightens your chest. It's the kind that lets you finally exhale.

They wrestle with the honest tension most of us feel: if I'm really walking with God, why does my life still hurt? Craig offers a distinction that sticks — the difference between being unaffected by pain and being unscarred by it. And then both of them do something rare: they get specific about the fears that are actually driving their own lives right now. Craig's fear of disappointing people. Micah's jealousy. Neither one is dressed up or explained away.

There's also a childhood backseat analogy that might be the clearest picture of spiritual rest you've heard in a while.

If you've ever laid awake at 1 AM wondering why your brain won't stop — this one's for you. The fear of the Lord and genuine contentment aren't opposites. They might be the same road.

👉 Listen now and discover why God's grace is often working long before we recognize it.

🎧 Listen to this weekend's full sermon first, then come back here to go deeper. New episodes drop midweek. Subscribe so you never miss a conversation. Like, share, and comment if this episode hit home.

As always, shoot us your questions at [email protected] and enjoy today's episode. Also, check out our YouTube Channel and the Playlist titled "Questions with Craig" for more resources.

Or submit your PRAYER REQUESTS for our care team.

============================= Continuing The Conversation: Feed Credits =============================

HOST:: Micah Harrison, Craig Smith PRODUCTION + MIXING:: Zac Anderson, Laina Ludwig CREATIVE DIRECTOR:: Colin McFarland VIDEO + SEO DIRECTORS:: Zac Anderson, Colin McFarland

A Product of The Mission Hills Podcast Network in Littleton, CO. © Mission Hills Church - All Rights Reserved

Relationships stir up real fear. Rejection, betrayal, getting hurt again. But the fear itself isn't the enemy, it's what we do with it. This week we'll open Proverbs 19:23 to discover a fear that doesn't shrink your life, it leads to it.

Jacob's life is marked by God's grace. This is true of all believers. Like Jacob, we are more than just recipients of God's grace, we are invited to be ambassadors of God's grace. In this message we will learn three practices to live as ambassadors of God's amazing grace.

Genesis 34 is one of the darkest chapters in the Bible — a story with no hero, where one man's small compromise sets off a devastating chain of events. In this message we trace how compromise rarely looks like rebellion and usually looks like settling, why the cost is never paid by us alone, and how a chapter with no one to save the day points us to the One who can.

God is a Redeemer. He takes what is broken, fallen and seems unfixable and can make it new. See the hand of God in this long dispute between to brother and learn the steps that both the offender and offended take on the road to reconciliation.

Can God use your brokenness to become your greatest blessing?

In this message from our Bad Blood series, Pastor Craig Smith walks through Genesis 32 and Jacob's unforgettable wrestling match with God. It's a story about fear, faith, surrender, and discovering that God doesn't always remove our struggles—sometimes He uses them to transform us.

Jacob spent his life fighting for blessings from other people. But after one night wrestling with God, everything changed. He received a new name, a new identity, and a deeper understanding that the greatest blessing isn't what God gives—it's God Himself.

If you're walking through disappointment, uncertainty, or a season that feels broken, this message offers hope that God may be doing more than you can see.

In this message, you'll discover:

• Why fear isn't the opposite of faith
• How to fight fear with God's promises
• Why God redirected Jacob's strength instead of removing it
• What it means to wrestle with God
• How brokenness can become the pathway to blessing

No matter where you are today, God hasn't let go of you.

Have you ever felt stuck, in a job, a relationship, or a pattern you just can't shake? This weekend, we're opening Genesis 31 to learn what it means to leave what limits you and step into what God has next.

Sometimes the greatest blessing doesn't come from escaping a difficult situation—it comes from changing how you respond to it.

In this episode of Continuing the Conversation, Craig Smith and Colin McFarland dive deeper into one of the most unusual stories in Genesis and unpack the sermon, "The Fastest Road to Blessing." Craig shares what it was like preparing one of the hardest passages he's ever preached, why Bible translation often involves interpretation, and how a fresh understanding of Jacob and Laban completely changed the message.

Along the way, they explore practical questions we all wrestle with:

• How do you become a blessing in difficult relationships?
• When should you stay in a hard situation—and when is it time to leave?
• Why do we keep fighting for control instead of trusting God's faithfulness?
• How can wise community help us hear God's direction more clearly?

Whether you're navigating conflict at work, tension in your family, or simply trying to trust God with what's next, this conversation offers practical wisdom you can apply today.

If Sunday's message challenged you, this episode takes the conversation even further.

👉 Listen now and discover why God's grace is often working long before we recognize it.

🎧 Listen to this weekend's full sermon first, then come back here to go deeper. New episodes drop midweek. Subscribe so you never miss a conversation. Like, share, and comment if this episode hit home.

As always, shoot us your questions at [email protected] and enjoy today's episode. Also, check out our YouTube Channel and the Playlist titled "Questions with Craig" for more resources.

Or submit your PRAYER REQUESTS for our care team.

============================= Continuing The Conversation: Feed Credits =============================

HOST:: Colin McFarland, Craig Smith PRODUCTION + MIXING:: Zac Anderson CREATIVE DIRECTOR:: Colin McFarland VIDEO + SEO DIRECTORS:: Zac Anderson, Colin McFarland

A Product of The Mission Hills Podcast Network in Littleton, CO. © Mission Hills Church - All Rights Reserved