We are living in the 4th quarter—a time of urgency and opportunity to consecrate our lives and become the fourth soil. Drawing from Mark 4, the call is to resist distractions, align ourselves with God’s Word, and bear lasting fruit. Today, we focus on the chokehold of deceitful desires and how self-control, powered by the Holy Spirit, frees us to live as God intended.

Modern culture has shifted from a “should” society to a “could” society, glorifying self-indulgence while leaving us more broken and dissatisfied. Through the lens of scripture, we see the destructive power of unchecked desires—whether in Esau trading his birthright for stew, or Paul’s warning in 2 Timothy 3 about people becoming lovers of self and pleasure over God. Desire, though not inherently evil, becomes destructive when disordered or directed away from God.

Paul’s exhortation to exercise self-control teaches us that spiritual maturity requires both mastery and mystery. While we actively train ourselves to resist sin (mastery), we rely on the Spirit’s power to transform our hearts (mystery). Fasting emerges as a key practice to cultivate this balance, helping us reorient our desires toward God and find true fulfillment in Him.

We live in an urgent time. With the church in decline, deconstruction increasing, and people abandoning their faith in droves, followers of Jesus need to know how to navigate this cultural moment. And Jesus offers us an answer. In Mark 4, he tells a parable about a man who plants seeds in four different types of soil. Most of the seeds are fruitless, except in the 4th soil. Our goal at Passion Creek is to become this fourth soil. We want to be a church that hears God’s Word, receives it, and bears fruit. We do this by resisting the worries of this age, deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things, and instead reorient ourselves around God Himself.

Every Christmas, we embark on the journey of Advent, reflecting on the hope, peace, joy, and love brought by Christ’s first coming and ultimately brought to the full at His second coming.

But love—especially God’s love—can be the hardest to understand and accept. This teaching explores God’s profound love through the four Gospels, using a poem, a prophecy, a purpose statement, and a parable.

In this Advent message from Luke 2, we explore how chronic anxiety has gripped our society, robbing us of playfulness and joy. Drawing on insights from Luke’s account of the shepherds, Pastor Trey VanCamp reveals that joy is not just an emotion but a motor—a driving force that sustains us in the tension of the “already, not yet” of God’s Kingdom. By embracing joy as both a miracle and a muscle, we can navigate life’s challenges with hope and resilience. This teaching encourages us to “rejoice always,” grounding our joy in Christ and looking forward to His ultimate return.

In this episode, we dive into the first Sunday of Advent, exploring the profound theme of hope. Through the stories of Zechariah, Herod, and Mary, we reflect on how biblical hope isn't mere wishful thinking but a tangible, future-oriented anticipation rooted in God's promises. From Zechariah's skepticism to Herod's fear and Mary's faithful response, we see how hope challenges and transforms us.

Journey with us as we uncover how Advent invites us to embrace both celebration and waiting. We’ll reflect on the tension between our present struggles and the ultimate restoration promised by God. Whether you're wrestling with doubt, longing for control, or striving to live faithfully in the waiting, this episode encourages us to reorient our hearts and lives around the unshakable hope found in Christ.

Key Takeaways:

- How the stories of Zechariah, Herod, and Mary offer different responses to hope. 

- The meaning of Advent as a season of both waiting and celebration. 

- Practical ways to live with hope, drawing strength from God's promises for the future. 

Join us as we step into the Advent season, grounding ourselves in the transformative power of hope.

Our church gathers every Sunday at 9:15a & 11a at Queen Creek Junior High.

20435 South Old Ellsworth Road, Queen Creek, AZ

https://passioncreek.church/sundays/

The last third of the book of Acts shows Paul in chains. After being falsely accused of starting a riot and desecrating the temple, Paul will face imprisonment, two assassination attempts, a shipwreck, and then house arrest. And yet, Paul knew all of this would happen. The Spirit consistently warned him that going to Jerusalem would lead him straight into hardship, but he’s still told to go anyway. Paul’s submission to the will of God models for us what it looks like to allow our goals, plans, and outcomes to be formed by Jesus alongside our habits, schedules, and lifestyles. By surrendering our will to God’s will, we too can build courage in the face of adversity and faithfulness in the midst of suffering.

In Acts 20, Paul models what a church pastor should be by speaking directly to the elders in Ephesus. He tells them how he’s pastored, inviting them to follow his example in humility, service, vulnerability, and courage. He also warns them that, should they neglect their calling, the people they shepherd will be vulnerable to wolves. For us today, being a part of a church means submitting ourselves to the guiding and guarding of the spiritual authority placed over us. It also means we are on guard against Satan and his schemes as he threatens to sabotage the church with deceit and manipulation. By maintaining a posture of humility and by fixing our gaze on Jesus, we can become fruitful people who resist the schemes of the Enemy and bring the goodness of the gospel to the world around us.

In the second half of Acts 19, Paul starts a riot. After confronting the false idols and spiritual powers in Ephesus, some of the local businessmen revolt. While Paul escapes and the church in Ephesus grows, just a few years later Paul has to write to them reminding them to continue following the way of Jesus intentionally rather than being formed by the idols of Ephesus unintentionally.

Today, our temptation is much the same.

To avoid being formed and shaped by the idols of our city and culture, we must intentionally allow ourselves to be formed into the image of Jesus by examining the stories we hear, the habits we practice, and the relationships we surround ourselves with.