Why does faith feel strong one moment… and shaky the next?

In Matthew 21, the same crowd that shouts “Hosanna” for Jesus will soon cry “Crucify Him.” What changed?

In this Palm Sunday message, Pastor Ben Mueller walks through the Triumphal Entry and exposes a hard truth: we often follow Jesus as long as He meets our expectations. When He doesn’t, our trust can start to unravel.

This sermon gets underneath that tension.

• Why the crowd expected a political savior
• How disappointment can distort our view of God
• The danger of reshaping Jesus around our preferences
• What it actually looks like to stay rooted when life doesn’t go your way

Jesus didn’t fail the crowd. But his mission was bigger than what they wanted.

If you’ve ever wrestled with unanswered prayers, frustration with God, or a faith that feels inconsistent, this message will help you re-center on who Jesus actually is and what He came to do.

Take heart. His kingdom is bigger than your expectations.

Why is humility so hard and why does it matter so much?

In Week 6 of Wisdom in the Desert, Pastor Ben walks through Philippians 2:5–11 and shows how the way of Jesus flips our definition of greatness upside down. In a world built on self-promotion and proving yourself, Jesus shows a better way. It is a life marked by surrender, identity, and going low.

If you have ever wrestled with insecurity, ego, or the pressure to be seen, the invitation is look to Jesus!

What would you do if the fate of the world rested on your decision?

In Week 5 of Wisdom in the Desert, Pastor Ben explores what it really means to live with wisdom in a world full of noise, opinions, and competing voices. Through a powerful Cold War story and the teaching of James 3, this message reveals the difference between earthly wisdom that leads to disorder and heavenly wisdom that produces peace, humility, and a life well lived.

In a culture driven by self-promotion, comparison, and constant input, how do we discern what is actually wise? And why does the way of Jesus often look foolish at first?

This sermon unpacks how true wisdom is not just knowledge, but moral skill shaped by the presence of God. It challenges us to move beyond surface-level advice and build our lives on something that will actually last.

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by decisions, confused by conflicting voices, or unsure how to live faithfully in today’s world, this message will ground you.

Scripture: James 3:13–18, Matthew 7:24–27, Proverbs 9:10

Do you own your stuff, or does your stuff own you?

In this sermon, Pastor Ben Mueller opens Matthew 6:19–24 and confronts the pull of consumerism, materialism, and mammon in a culture always pushing the next upgrade, the next purchase, and the next promise of security. Jesus warns that earthly treasure decays, that our hearts follow what we treasure, and that no one can serve both God and money.

This message explores why the desert fathers rejected materialism, how mammon acts like a rival god, and why generosity is one of the clearest ways disciples break free from wealth’s grip on the heart. If you have ever wrestled with wanting more, fearing not having enough, or confusing comfort with security, this sermon gets underneath the surface and calls you back to what lasts.

Scripture: Matthew 6:19–24

In this message from our Wisdom in the Desert series, Pastor Ben explores Elijah’s wilderness moment in 1 Kings 19. After experiencing one of the greatest victories in Scripture on Mount Carmel, Elijah collapses into fear, exhaustion, and despair. Yet it is in that wilderness, far from the noise of crowds and miracles, that God meets him with a gentle whisper.

Drawing from the wisdom of the Desert Fathers and the practice of silence and solitude, this teaching invites us to rediscover how God often speaks not through spectacle, but through stillness. In a culture of constant noise and hurry, learning to slow down and listen may be one of the most transformative spiritual practices available to us.

Most people will travel thousands of miles to taste great food.
But how far will we go to taste the presence of God?

In Week 2 of Wisdom in the Desert, Pastor Darren Waite explores Psalm 84 and the deep spiritual longing described as “My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord.” From the Desert Fathers to the sons of Korah, Scripture reveals that those who hunger for God discover strength in the valley and joy in His presence.

This message confronts the distractions that dull our spiritual appetite and invites us to examine the “eight thoughts” John Cassian identified as the roots that pull us away from God. What would it look like to fast, confess, simplify, and reawaken first love?

If you’ve felt spiritually dry, distracted, or distant, this teaching is an invitation to taste and see again that the Lord is good.

What if the loudest thing in your life is keeping you from hearing God?

In Week 1 of Wisdom in the Desert, Pastor Ben invites us into the “wilderness," a place of intentional separation where God humbles, tests, and reshapes His people. From Israel’s 40-year journey (Deuteronomy 8) to Jesus’ 40 days of fasting and temptation (Matthew 4), we see that the desert is not an escape from reality, but a Spirit-led space for formation.

This message kicks off our Lenten journey with practical invitations into silence & solitude, fasting/abstinence, prayer, and daily engagement with God, so we can re-enter the world anchored, renewed, and able to hear His voice.

What does it look like to live boldly for Jesus when you face opposition, even if that opposition is social, not physical?

In the final week of our Beatitudes series, Pastor Ben Mueller explores Jesus’ words: “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness…” (Matthew 5:10–12) and connects them with Paul’s final encouragement to Timothy: “Do not be ashamed… join with me in suffering for the gospel… by the power of God.” (2 Timothy 1).

From the story of the 21 Egyptian martyrs, to modern moments of awkwardness, resistance, and discouragement, this message reframes persecution as a kingdom blessing.

You will hear a call to reject timidity, identify where shame is creeping in, and build a real, lived relationship with Jesus, because we don’t stay silent about what we truly love.

Pastor Ben Mueller confronts a hard question for our moment: how should Christians respond to an increasingly violent world?

Starting with a troubling trend in a late-2025 poll, Ben traces the “birthplace of violence” in Scripture, from Cain and Abel to Lamech’s escalating revenge, and shows how humanity keeps trying (and failing) to manage conflict through retaliation or domination.

Against that backdrop, Jesus’ words land with fresh urgency: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9). Ben explores why ancient “peace” systems like eye-for-eye justice and the Pax Romana still mirror the way our modern world fuels outrage, provokes anger, and multiplies harm—then calls the church to Jesus’ third way: peacemaking through nonviolent, transformative love that breaks the cycle of escalation.

This is a call to live like sons and daughters of the Father: resisting revenge, trusting God with justice, and choosing the way of the cross in a world addicted to rage.

In this message from our Beatitudes series, Pastor Ben Mueller addresses one of Jesus’ most surprising promises: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). Speaking honestly about grief, loss, and mourning, Ben explores how Jesus does not rush past pain, but meets it with promise.

Drawing from Matthew 5, Luke 4, and Isaiah 61, this sermon shows how Jesus inaugurates a cosmic “Year of Jubilee,” where God brings comfort to the grieving and hope beyond death itself. Through the promise of resurrection, Jesus reframes mourning, not as the end of the story, but as a place where God is uniquely near.

This message invites us to slow down, name our grief, mourn with one another, and trust that in God’s Kingdom, sorrow does not have the final word.