Redemption Church Plano Texas

A different future is possible. Discover how Jesus changes the heart, breaks destructive patterns, and helps us pass on something better.

Pastor Chris Fluitt · November 8, 2026

You weren’t going to lose your temper again. You weren’t going to shut down when things got hard. You weren’t going to repeat the same mistakes you watched growing up. And you meant every word.

But here you are again. Same reaction. Same regret. Same question: Why can’t I change?

Maybe you’re beginning to wonder whether this is simply who you are. But what if your past doesn’t have to determine your future? What if the patterns you inherited don’t have to be the patterns you pass on?

Jesus offers more than another chance to try harder. He offers the power to become new.

Legacy Code · Week 2 · Character That Carries On

Watch or listen to Pastor Chris Fluitt’s message, download the free study resources, and take your next step with Jesus.

Watch the full message: Can People Really Change? In this Legacy Code sermon, Pastor Chris Fluitt explores how Jesus changes the heart, helps break unhealthy patterns, and gives us new life through the Holy Spirit.

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Listen to the full sermon now. Pastor Chris Fluitt explains how Jesus transforms the heart, breaks old patterns, and helps us grow in new life. Use the audio player below or download the recording to listen later.

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Pastor Chris Fluitt · Redemption Church Plano · November 8, 2026

Keep the message with you. Use the handout to follow along, or download the preaching outline to study the Scriptures in more depth.

Thursday, November 12, 2026 · 6:00 PM

Want to make wiser financial choices and build a legacy that blesses the people who come after you? Join us for Money Night, a practical workshop about managing your money, planning ahead, and taking your next financial step. We’ll keep the conversation useful, understandable, and focused on real life. See the full Money Night workshop details, or use the registration button below to save your seat.

Read Luke 6:43–45 (NIV). Jesus compares our lives to trees. Good fruit comes from a good tree, and bad fruit from a bad tree. He then makes the meaning personal: our words reveal what fills our hearts.

When life squeezes us, something comes out. We may blame the circumstances, but Jesus asks us to look at what those reactions reveal. The words we use, the choices we repeat, and the way we treat people are not disconnected from the condition of our hearts.

This does not mean a single difficult moment defines your entire character. It means repeated fruit deserves honest attention. If anger keeps coming out, we need more than a strategy for sounding calm. We need to let Jesus address what is happening within us.

Reputation is what people think about you. Character is who you are and how you live, including when nobody is watching. Legacy is what your life leaves in others.

People may remember our accomplishments, but those closest to us live with our character. Children, friends, coworkers, and neighbors experience the fruit of our lives. This is why the question of change is bigger than personal improvement. What we practice today can become part of what we pass on tomorrow.

That connects with Week 1 of Legacy Code: how to build a faith that lasts for the next generation. The faith we live and the character we model both shape the people around us.

Read Romans 6:4 (NIV). Paul describes believers being united with Christ in His death and resurrection so that they may live a new life. Christianity is not simply a new set of rules for the same old heart. Jesus died for our sins and rose again, opening the way to forgiveness, reconciliation with God, and a new way of living.

We cannot earn that life by being disciplined enough or cleaning ourselves up first. Grace is God’s gift. The invitation is to trust Jesus, turn from sin, and follow Him.

Read Acts 2:38 (NIV). When the crowd asks Peter how to respond to the message of Jesus, Peter calls them to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and speaks of receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Repentance means more than feeling bad. It means turning toward God and away from the sin we have defended or excused. Baptism is a response of faith and obedience that identifies us with Jesus and His death and resurrection. And the Holy Spirit is not an optional upgrade for especially spiritual people. God gives His Spirit to lead us into new life.

Jesus does not promise that every destructive habit disappears overnight. He offers something more substantial than a quick fix: a new identity, a new direction, and His presence as we learn to walk in it.

Read Galatians 5:22–25 (NIV). Paul describes the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Notice that Paul calls this fruit. Fruit grows from a living source. We do not manufacture spiritual character by pretending to be patient, gentle, or loving. We learn to remain responsive to the Holy Spirit, and His work becomes visible in how we live.

This is not an excuse for passivity. Galatians calls those who belong to Christ to keep in step with the Spirit. When you want to lash out, you can pause and choose a Spirit-led response. When you have wronged someone, you can confess it and seek to make it right. When you fall into an old pattern, you can return to Jesus instead of surrendering to shame.

Growth is often gradual. A tree does not bear mature fruit in one afternoon. But living things do grow. Ask yourself: What kind of fruit is developing in me, and who is experiencing it?

Ask God to show you one recurring pattern. Name it without blaming someone else. Confess it honestly, and turn toward what Jesus teaches.

If you have never trusted Jesus, begin there. If you are following Him, consider what obedience looks like now: baptism, prayer, reconciliation, Scripture, or an honest conversation with a mature believer.

Choose one concrete moment this week to respond differently. Before a difficult conversation, ask the Holy Spirit to guide your words. At the end of the day, reflect on what grew and what needs to change.

You do not have to wait until you have become a better person to come to Christ. Bring Him your sin, your repeated failures, and the patterns you cannot seem to break. Trust His death and resurrection. Repent, follow Him, and receive the gift of new life.

If you would like someone to pray with you, talk about baptism, or help you take your next step, Redemption Church would love to walk with you.

For another helpful perspective on letting old patterns go, read how to let go of the past and move forward with Jesus.

Explore these questions about faith, patterns, character, baptism, and the Holy Spirit. Select a question to read the answer.

I’m glad you took some time with this message. If you’ve been struggling with something you wish you could change, I want you to know that a different future is possible through Jesus.

I’d love to hear your story, answer a question, or pray with you. You don’t have to figure everything out alone. Send me a text. Let’s talk.

Come worship with us at Redemption Church. You’ll find people who are learning, growing, and following Jesus together. We meet Sundays at 4:30 PM at 2001 Independence Pkwy, Plano, TX 75075.

Haunted House · Redemption Church Plano

Some relationships leave you tired. Others leave you empty. Here is a biblical way to love people without becoming their source of life.

You know the feeling when one relationship starts taking more than you know how to give. The calls, the crisis, the guilt, the pressure – and somehow it still never feels like enough. If you love someone but feel yourself getting drained in the process, this conversation is for you.

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Resources

Use these printable resources to follow along, review the message, or keep working through the ideas during the week.

The real-life problem

Not every difficult relationship is unhealthy. Some people are grieving. Some are overwhelmed. Some are immature, stuck, or walking through a genuinely hard season.

But some relationships become a repeated pattern of crisis, guilt, emotional dependence, pressure, or rescue. You keep giving. They keep taking. Over time, the relationship starts consuming your peace, time, energy, and attention.

Sometimes the warning sign is not a dramatic blowup. It is the feeling you get when their name appears on your phone. You tense up before you answer because you already know what is coming: need, crisis, guilt, or emotional weight.

That does not automatically make the person bad. But it may reveal a pattern that needs wisdom and a boundary.

Is this relationship draining you?

Someone may genuinely need support. But when the same pattern keeps repeating, wisdom means noticing what is happening.

Their emergencies repeatedly become the center of your life.

You feel manipulated whenever you try to create healthy space.

You keep carrying choices and consequences that belong to them.

You regularly leave conversations anxious, resentful, or emotionally empty.

They expect immediate availability and ongoing rescue.

The relationship crowds out your family, peace, calling, and time with Jesus.

Free field guide

The Haunted House Field Guide to the Monsters Within helps you identify unhealthy patterns, turn on the light with Scripture, and choose one honest next step.

Exodus 18

Moses was helping people from morning until evening. Marriage problem? Moses. Property problem? Moses. Family conflict? Moses. Everybody’s problem became Moses’ problem.

Helping people is good. But Jethro saw what Moses could not: even a good thing can become unhealthy when one person tries to carry everything.

Jethro did not tell Moses to stop loving people. He told Moses to stop carrying everything himself. The answer is not love less. The answer is love wisely.

Burden or load?

The answer might surprise you: we are called to do both.

Galatians 6 tells Christians to carry one another’s burdens, and just a few verses later says each person should carry their own load. Those are not contradictions. They describe two different kinds of responsibility.

A burden is something unusually heavy – grief, illness, loss, crisis, deep weakness. Christian love steps in and helps carry what another person cannot carry alone.

A load is the ordinary responsibility that belongs to a person – their choices, obedience, repentance, follow-through, and consequences.

Show up in grief. Help in crisis. Pray. Encourage. Give practical support when life becomes too heavy.

Do not keep doing for someone what they need to learn to do themselves. Love should support growth, not replace responsibility.

Christian boundaries

In vampire folklore, a vampire has to be invited in. That is folklore, not theology, but it gives us a useful picture. Some unhealthy patterns keep draining us because we keep leaving the door open.

A boundary is not revenge. It is not hatred. It is not abandoning someone who is hurting. A boundary is clarity about what you will carry, what you will not carry, and what kind of access is healthy.

Try using sentences like these to begin the conversation you actually need to have. Keep the sentence clear. Keep it calm. Do not over-explain.

I care about you, but I cannot ________. I can ________ instead.

If ________ happens, then I will ________.

I want to support you, but I cannot be your only source of help.

Practical response

Healthy boundaries are not about becoming harsh. They are about becoming clear, truthful, and consistent.

Be honest about what keeps happening. Is this a temporary hard season, or a repeated pattern of control, dependency, manipulation, or rescue?

Ask what you are actually responsible for, and what belongs to the other person.

Do not build a courtroom argument. Speak simply, kindly, and clearly – then follow through.

The deeper issue

One of the deepest problems in a draining relationship is that someone may begin looking to you for peace, stability, identity, rescue, or wholeness that no human being can provide.

Jesus is not giving us vampire theology. He is making a much bigger claim: life is found in Him.

Jesus gave His life willingly. That is different from everyone getting to take whatever they want from you.

You can give more time. More energy. More reassurance. More access. But if somebody has made you their source, the pattern is still broken.

You cannot give enough affirmation to heal somebody’s identity. You cannot rescue someone enough times to create maturity. You cannot make another person whole. And you cannot save them.

That does not mean you stop loving. It means you stop trying to do what only Jesus can do.

Jesus and boundaries

There were still needs. There were still people waiting. And Jesus withdrew.

He did not let the crowd determine His schedule. He did not say yes to every demand simply because the demand was real.

Sometimes the most loving thing you can do is help. Sometimes the most loving thing you can do is step back, tell the truth, and stop feeding a harmful pattern.

Your next step

Where are guilt, pressure, control, or emotional over-dependence draining you?

Use one clear sentence and begin the conversation you have been avoiding.

You were never meant to be another person’s source. Come back to the One who gives life.

FAQ

Name the pattern, decide what belongs to you, and set a clear limit. Compassion does not require unlimited emotional access.

Yes. Scripture teaches both burden-bearing and personal responsibility. Boundaries can be a wise way to love without taking over another person’s life.

Yes. Love and unlimited availability are not the same thing. You can care deeply while refusing manipulation, control, or unhealthy dependence.

Healthy help supports growth and responsibility. Enabling repeatedly removes consequences or carries responsibilities the other person needs to face.

The Bible calls us to compassion, forgiveness, wisdom, truth, and responsibility. Following Jesus does not mean letting another person’s dysfunction control your life.

That is often when boundaries matter most. Love may mean staying present with clearer limits, honest conversation, prayer, and a refusal to become their savior.

Pastor Chris

Chris Fluitt is the pastor of Redemption Church in Plano. He loves helping people find and follow Jesus and take practical next steps in their faith.

If this brought up a question, a struggle, or a relationship situation you are trying to navigate, you do not have to figure it out alone.

Redemption Church · Plano, Texas

If you are looking for a church home in Plano, or simply exploring faith and looking for a next step, we would love to meet you.

Redemption Church
Sundays at 4:30 PM
2001 Independence Pkwy, Plano, TX 75075

Haunted House – Week 1

Zombie: Mindless Living. If your life feels stuck in wake up, work, scroll, repeat, Jesus calls you to wake up, think, and choose a better way.

The autopilot problem

A lot of people are not lazy. They are just stuck in a loop. Wake up. Work. Scroll. Handle stress. Sleep. Repeat.

That is what autopilot feels like. You are moving, but not really choosing. You are active, but not always intentional. Jesus did not come to make you a better zombie. He came to wake you up and lead you into real life.

Haunted House – Week 1

Wake up. Think. Choose. Follow Jesus beyond autopilot.

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Autopilot check

Autopilot is useful in the right places. It becomes dangerous when you stop noticing who or what is making your choices.

You can be moving without really living.

That is the Zombie problem. Motion is not the same thing as direction.

Ephesians 5:14-16 gives a simple picture of intentional living. Wake up to what is happening. Think carefully about how you are living. Choose to make the most of the opportunity in front of you.

Notice what has become automatic. Where have you drifted, numbed out, or stopped paying attention?

Do not let the next notification, emotion, or demand decide for you. Wisdom requires attention.

Opportunity becomes meaningful when you intentionally act on what matters.

The difference is not whether things happen to you. The difference is whether every new thing gets to decide what you do next.

The phone buzzes, so you grab it. Pressure rises, so you panic. Someone gets upset, so you change direction. Reactive living lets the moment become the boss. You are active, but you are not necessarily choosing.

You decide what matters before the pressure hits. You decide what gets your attention before the notification arrives. You decide who you are following before the crowd starts moving. That is what discipleship looks like in everyday life.

One next step

A vague intention is easy to forget. A clear next step gives your decision somewhere to go.

Example: Instead of “I need to pray more,” try “For the next seven mornings, I will spend ten distraction-free minutes with God before I open social media.”

The interruption that changes everything

The fishermen in Matthew 4 knew their nets. They knew their routine. They knew what tomorrow was supposed to look like. Then Jesus said, “Come, follow me.”

Following Jesus is not simply adding religion to an automatic life. Following requires attention. It means letting Jesus interrupt routines, redirect priorities, and lead you somewhere you would not have gone on autopilot.

You can’t follow Jesus on autopilot.

John 6:68 records Peter’s answer to Jesus: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Routine can organize life. It cannot become the source of life.

That is why this is bigger than productivity or self-help. Jesus did not come to make you a better zombie. He calls you awake, asks you to think, and invites you to choose to follow Him.

“Search me, God, and know my heart.” Ask God to show you where you are living by habit instead of faith.

Pick one place where you are on autopilot. Wake up to it. Think about what matters. Choose one obedient next step.

Free resource

The Haunted House Field Guide helps you look honestly at mindless living, draining relationships, addiction, the past, materialism, isolation, rebellion, and more. Start with yourself. Let Scripture speak. Choose one honest response.

Get the Free Field Guide

It means moving through important parts of life mainly by habit, pressure, distraction, or reaction instead of deliberate thought and choice.

No. Helpful routines can free attention for important things. The problem comes when we stop examining whether our habits are taking us where we actually want to go.

Begin by noticing one area of drift. Slow down enough to think, decide what matters, and choose one concrete next step instead of trying to overhaul your entire life at once.

Jesus repeatedly calls people to follow Him. Following requires attention, response, and direction. You cannot follow Jesus on autopilot.

Redemption Church meets near the corner of Independence Parkway and Park Boulevard in Plano, Texas. We meet inside Disciples Christian Church at 2001 Independence Pkwy, Plano, TX 75075. Sunday service is at 4:30 PM.

A note from Pastor Chris

If you’ve read this far, there’s probably something here that connected with your life. Maybe you see an area where you’ve been living on autopilot. Maybe you have a question about Jesus, faith, or what your next step should be.

You do not have to figure that out by yourself. Feel free to text me your questions. I’d be glad to hear what you’re thinking and start a conversation.

Text Pastor Chris

You are invited

Join us Sunday at 4:30 PM. We meet inside Disciples Christian Church at 2001 Independence Pkwy, Plano, TX 75075, near the corner of Independence Parkway and Park Boulevard.

Church hurt is real. But the failure of Christians is not the same thing as the character of Christ. Explore what Jesus says about hypocrisy, healing, forgiveness, and hope.

Explore Valid Faith30 Honest Questions

Church hurt can come through hypocrisy, gossip, spiritual abuse, failed leadership, or a church culture that protects its reputation instead of protecting people. Sometimes the wound is public. Sometimes it is deeply personal. Jesus is aware of this. He has addressed it.

Watch the message, listen to the audio, or use the handout and outline to keep working through the Scripture and ideas from this week.

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Jesus confronted religious people who knew the language of faith but neglected justice, mercy, and faithfulness.

Matthew 18 calls us to go directly to one another instead of talking about one another.

Healing does not mean pretending it never happened. It means bringing the hurt to Jesus, who never failed you.

Matthew 23:23 NIV
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!… you have neglected the more important matters of the law – justice, mercy and faithfulness.”

The Greek word hypokritēs was connected to the idea of an actor – someone playing a part. Hypocrisy is not simply failing. We all fail. The deeper problem is learning to play Christian while refusing to let Jesus change how we actually live.

John Calvin and Michael Servetus remind us how ugly this can get. People can care more about being right theologically than being like Jesus. They argued over theology, but the people who claimed to defend truth became willing to destroy a man made in the image of God. Their actions contradicted the God they claimed to defend. That is the warning: you can win the theological argument and still lose the character of Christ.

Matthew 18:15 NIV
“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you.”

Jesus’ instruction is simple: go to them. Not everybody else. Not the comment section. Not the unofficial investigation committee. Give people a chance to hear, explain, repent, and restore.

We should not talk about each other. We should talk to each other.

Mark 5:27 NIV
“When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak.”

The woman had suffered for twelve years. She heard about Jesus and tried to reach Him. Yet the people closest to Jesus were physically between her and the One she desperately needed.

Our attitude, judgment, gossip, denominational pride, hypocrisy, or need to always be right can make it harder for hurting people to reach Jesus. Our calling is the opposite: do not become the obstacle. Help people get to Jesus.

Healing does not mean pretending something did not happen. It does not mean calling wrong right, or trusting someone who is unsafe. But the person who hurt you is not Jesus.

Do not confuse the failure of Christians with the character of Christ.

Faithfulness to Jesus should show up in the way we treat people. It is possible to go from hurt to healed because of Jesus.

If church hurt is part of your story, I want you to know this: Jesus is still worth reaching for. If you want to ask a question or tell me your story, text me directly.

Text Pastor Chris · 469-467-8111

A new series about the old monsters we have kept around too long. This October, identify what has been haunting you, learn a strategy to deal with it, and start moving forward.

Explore Haunted House

Christianity makes an enormous claim: a dead man got back up. Instead of asking you to borrow somebody else’s faith, this message asks you to look at the evidence for yourself, including what sources outside the Bible can and cannot tell us about Jesus, His crucifixion, and the earliest Christian resurrection claim.

Watch the MessageExamine the Evidence

Chris Fluitt – September 20, 2026 – Redemption Church, Plano

That is not a small question. Christianity stands or falls on it. So instead of asking you to simply believe what Christians say, let’s look at the evidence. What do historians tell us about Jesus? How early did people claim He was alive again? Who said they saw Him? And what explanation best fits what we know?

You do not have to be afraid of the questions. Follow the evidence.

Did Jesus really rise from the dead? The resurrection is a question worth examining.

Listen to the Message

Prefer to listen? Stream the full Valid Faith Week 3 message below.

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“Of first importance”: Christ died for our sins, was buried, was raised, and appeared to witnesses. 1 Corinthians 15:3-5

The message points beyond the New Testament to Josephus, Tacitus, Pliny, Suetonius, and Lucian as references connected to Jesus and early Christianity.

Tacitus, a Roman historian critical of Christianity, connects Christus, Pontius Pilate, and execution.

Pliny reports Christians singing to Christ “as to a god,” while the Alexamenos graffiti mocks worship of a crucified God.

Paul says he passed on what he had received. The resurrection claim is presented as early Christian proclamation, not a story added centuries later.

Peter, the Twelve, more than 500, James, and Paul are named in 1 Corinthians 15:5-8.

The disciples move from fear and scattering to publicly proclaiming that God raised Jesus from the dead.

Yes. The evidence for Jesus does not begin and end with the New Testament. Roman and Jewish historians who were not Christians wrote about Jesus, His crucifixion under Pontius Pilate, the movement that followed Him, the worship of Christ—and even His resurrection.

That matters. These are historical witnesses outside Scripture, written by people who were not Christians. They give us historical evidence that can be examined alongside the testimony of the New Testament.

History gives us evidence. We investigate that evidence, weigh it honestly, and decide what best explains it. So what evidence do we have for Jesus?

Tacitus was one of Rome’s important historians—and he was certainly no Christian advocate. Writing around AD 116, he records that Christus suffered the “extreme penalty” during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of Pontius Pilate.

That is significant independent testimony to the crucifixion. Anyone who argues that Jesus never died on the cross has a mountain of historical evidence to overcome. The crucifixion isn’t simply something Christians wrote in the Bible; a hostile Roman historian records Christ’s execution under Pilate.

Josephus was a first-century Jewish historian. Writing in Antiquities around AD 93–94, he describes Jesus as a wise man and doer of remarkable works, records His condemnation under Pilate, and writes that “he appeared to them alive again the third day.”

Don’t miss that. Josephus includes the resurrection in his historical account. Those who deny the resurrection have this evidence to wrestle with. Those who receive the resurrection can stand on this evidence. The question is what you will do with it.

Around AD 112, the Roman governor Pliny the Younger wrote to Emperor Trajan because he was dealing with Christians and wanted to know how Rome should handle them.

In describing their practices, Pliny reports that Christians gathered on a fixed day and sang hymns to Christ “as to a god.” This is evidence from a Roman official that Christians were worshiping Jesus as God. Almost two thousand years later, we are still doing exactly that—we worship Jesus Christ as Lord.

Someone in ancient Rome scratched a crude picture meant to ridicule a Christian named Alexamenos. It depicts a crucified figure with a donkey’s head and Alexamenos standing before him in worship. The mocker meant it as an insult: Alexamenos worships his god.

But look at what the mockery preserves. A Christian is pictured worshiping the crucified Christ, with his hand raised toward Him. What was intended as ridicule became historical evidence of Christian worship. They worshiped the crucified Christ then. We still lift our hands and worship Jesus today.

Tacitus. Josephus. Pliny. The Alexamenos Graffito.

Different sources. Different perspectives. None of them Christian Scripture. Yet together they add to a historical case that cannot simply be waved away.

And that is the point of Valid Faith. You don’t have to be afraid of the evidence. Investigate it. Ask hard questions. Follow it wherever it leads.

The resurrection is not asking you to believe something without evidence. There is evidence. The question is what you will do with it.

Further Study

Read the historical sources and examine the evidence for yourself.

Jesus died for our sins. He was buried. He rose again. Because Jesus lives, forgiveness, new life, hope, and eternal life are real, and death does not get the final word.

Romans 10:9 connects confessing Jesus as Lord with believing that God raised Him from the dead.

Don’t leave wondering what comes next. Start a conversation and let someone walk with you.

Talk to Him. Follow Him. Trust Him. Walk with Him. Jesus is alive.

Questions about God, science, the Bible, suffering, doubt, church hurt, and more.

Explore 30 Honest Questions

Use the sermon resources to keep studying.

Download Message Outline (PDF)Download Week 3 Handout (PDF)

Continue the full Valid Faith series.

Explore the Redemption Valid Faith Hub

Yes. This message examines non-Christian historical references connected to Jesus, His crucifixion, and early Christian worship.

1 Corinthians 15 presents Paul passing on a resurrection proclamation he had already received, placing the claim early in the Christian movement.

The message does not stop with evidence: if Jesus is alive, forgiveness, new life, hope, and eternal life become a personal invitation to respond.

Week 1: Must I Turn Off My Brain to Be a Christian?   ·   Week 2: Can the Bible Be Trusted?

If this message raised a question about Jesus, the resurrection, doubt, or faith, Chris would be glad to hear what you’re thinking. You do not need to have the right words before reaching out.

Text Pastor Chris a Question

Explore the manuscript evidence, early Christian canon, and Dead Sea Scrolls behind the reliability of Scripture—and why Christians in Plano and North Dallas can investigate the Bible with honest questions.

Explore Valid Faith30 Honest Questions

Institutions, media, online content, even images and voices can feel harder to verify. For many people, that distrust reaches Scripture itself: Has the Bible changed? Who decided what belonged in it? Is there historical evidence that connects today’s Bible to the ancient text?

Valid Faith creates room for honest questions without asking you to turn off your brain. In this message, guest speaker Jon Hiesberger examines reasons Christians trust the Bible and explains why the question is personal for him.

Jon Hiesberger continues the conversation about the Bible, faith, reason, and honest questions through Apologetics Media. Subscribe on YouTube for more resources and conversations.

Explore Apologetics Media on YouTube

Watch Jon Hiesberger’s complete Valid Faith message from Redemption Church in Plano, then continue below for the evidence and key takeaways.

https://youtu.be/451XDwxqyfE

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Christian confidence in the Bible is not based only on saying, “the Bible says the Bible is true.” Jon’s message points to evidence outside a modern printed Bible: surviving manuscripts, ancient translations, quotations from early Christian writers, early canon lists, and archaeological discoveries.

5,800+
Greek New Testament manuscripts are commonly cited in discussions of the surviving textual evidence.18,000+
Additional ancient-language manuscripts broaden the evidence available for comparison.1 million+
Quotations and references from early Christian writers provide another line of textual witness.“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” — Isaiah 40:8

The Muratorian Fragment, commonly dated to around AD 170, is an early witness to a developing New Testament canon. It shows Christians distinguishing books they received as authoritative from writings they rejected long before the modern era.

The point is not that one later meeting suddenly invented the Bible. The historical record shows a process of recognition, use, comparison, and discernment among early Christian communities.

Beginning in 1947, ancient scrolls discovered near Qumran pushed surviving Hebrew biblical evidence dramatically earlier than the medieval manuscripts scholars had long relied upon. Portions of every Old Testament book except Esther were represented among the discoveries.

The Great Isaiah Scroll, dated to roughly 125 BC, gave scholars a much earlier witness to the text of Isaiah and a powerful comparison point for evaluating transmission over time.

Jon describes seasons of anxiety, depression, worry, fear, and isolation. In those battles, the reliability of Scripture was not merely an abstract debate. He needed to know whether God’s Word was something he could actually build his life on.

That is why evidence matters: not so faith can become a trivia contest, but so trust has somewhere solid to stand when circumstances are unstable.

“For no word from God will ever fail.” — Luke 1:37

Take in what Scripture actually says before reacting to a summary, clip, or assumption about it.

Ask whether you are willing to let God’s Word challenge your existing conclusions rather than only confirm them.

Trust becomes concrete when what you believe begins to shape how you live.

The manuscript tradition allows scholars to compare copies from different centuries and regions rather than depending on one chain of transmission. The large body of surviving evidence makes textual differences visible and open to study.

Early sources such as the Muratorian Fragment show that Christians were already identifying, using, and debating recognized writings centuries before later church councils. Canon formation was a historical process, not a single late decision.

They provide much earlier Hebrew witnesses to Old Testament texts, allowing direct comparison across many centuries of copying and transmission.

Yes. Valid Faith is built around bringing honest questions into the open and investigating them rather than pretending they do not exist.

Chris Fluitt serves at Redemption Church in Plano, Texas, and helps lead the Valid Faith conversation—a place for people to investigate honest questions about Jesus, the Bible, faith, doubt, and the reasons Christians believe.

You do not have to have your questions neatly worked out before you ask them. If this message raised a question, challenged something you believe, or left you wanting to dig deeper, Chris would be glad to hear from you personally.

Text Pastor Chris a Question

Explore the full series, bring your own question, or use 30 Honest Questions as a starting point for conversations about God, Jesus, the Bible, suffering, doubt, science, morality, and church hurt.

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30 real questions, short/simple answers….God, science, Bible, suffering, doubt, church hurt…

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Intro – Jonathan Hiesberger

ME:

My name is Jonathan Hiesberger. I’m from Waco, TX. Born and raised. I went to Waco High School. That’s where I met Pastor.

School teacher by profession, Year 23 of teaching high school SPED/Math. Pray for our teachers!!

My faith is HUGELY important to me.

God has done great things in my life. There have been battles. One thing I’ve learned through trials/struggles

I NEED THE WORD OF GOD IN MY LIFE.

People who haven’t known me very long might be surprised

-Dark times

-Negative mindsets

-Anxiety, Depression…
-Worry, fear

The only thing that sees me standing? God’s Word.

God’s Word has sustained me through all these battles, but I have had to hold on to and not doubt God’s word.

Through these storms I had to learn to REALLY trust God’s Word.

Maybe today you might be wondering “can I really trust God’s Word?

We are living in an age where we are having trouble trusting the voices of authority speaking into our lives.

-People no longer trust traditional institutions

-Trust in media is at an all time low

-AI deepfakes and content that looks real but is not.

-Church leaders.

People are asking: “Who can I trust?”

That distrust reaches the Bible itself.

DO AMERICANS TRUST THE BIBLE?

-Only 36% of Americans say the Bible is accurate in the principles it teaches.

–1 in 5 Americans believe the Bible was written to control or manipulate people.

That is a big divide.

People are asking questions like:

“Has it been changed?”

“Who decided what went in it?”

“Was it written to control people?”

People are basically asking: “Can I trust the Bible?” 

TRUST is a BIG ISSUE – That is why I named this message… 

Valid Faith Week 2: Can I Trust the Bible? Scriptures and Reliability

If you have been struggling with this, you’re not alone. I see many Christians who are wrestling with this topic. Social Media. It’s ok to ask the questions.

It’s ok to engage with the evidence. After today, I believe I can show you there is a REASON for your HOPE.

1 Peter 3:15 NIV

I want to give you some reasons for your hope.

I want to talk to you about why God’s Word is trustworthy. 

We know the Bible says that it is reliable

The grass withers and the flowers fall,

but the word of our God endures forever.” – Isaiah 40:8, NIV

God’s Word is here and it’s not going anywhere

The Lord said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.” – Jeremiah 1:12, NIV

God is active in watching over and superintending His Word. 

Luke 1:37, NIV: “For no word from God will ever fail.”

Angel Gabriel testifies that God’s word is UNFAILING.

What does all this mean?

God has declared that His Word is Reliable.

Think of things in your life that are reliable. 

Whether things or people, You feel like you can put COMPLETE trust in them. 

God’s Word is even MORE reliable.

God’s Word is Reliable Because of the Preserved Witness of the Early Church

The scriptures we have in your New Testament – Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, the letters of the apostles including Paul

Jesus words, Jesus’ teachings

Who witnessed these things? Those who walked with Jesus, saw His miracles, saw His death, burial, and resurrection.

Apostles – trusted eyewitnesses wrote gospels and Letters – received in the churches, shared in the churches, copied, copied again

They handed this collection of writings down to us and testified that it was really the writings of inspired men of God who Jesus had spoken with and spent time with. 

If you want to know what they witnessed, it is written in YOUR bible. They saw the early things that happened in the new testament church and they wanted you to know. God inspired them to write those things for your benefit.

We can trust the Bible because of their testimony.

God’s Word is reliable because it is preserved in 

Manuscripts are simply ancient documents (papyrus, parchments)

Plants/animal skins                  Scrolls/Books

Mentioned copies before

Bible original written in ancient Greek

Maybe 100? Maybe 500?

More than 5,800 Greek New Testament manuscripts exist.

These range from small fragments to nearly complete Bibles.

5,800!

They wanted to get the WORD to as many people ASAP

But not everyone spoke Greek

More than 18,000+ additional manuscripts exist in other ancient languages.

The Early church wanted to bring the saving message to the WHOLE WORLD and we have the manuscripts to prove it.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

People liked to write about Jesus. They lived in a hostile, pagan world and were defending their faith.

Writers outside the Bible provide more than one million quotations from the New Testament.

1,000,000 quotations in the years immediately following the apostles. 

Imagine something we hope never happens – imagine all the manuscripts disappear – all the Greek, ancient versions, etc

We would still have Bible. Why? 

These quotations are so extensive that scholars have argued that virtually the entire New Testament could be reconstructed from them, with fewer than a dozen verses being exceptions.

The New Testament Has Extraordinary Historical and Manuscript Evidence

large quantity of ancient manuscripts

ALSO early date of biblical manuscripts. 

We have manuscripts and manuscript fragments go back very close to the time of the original writings- to the life of Jesus and the apostles

Compare that to other ancient writings

Herodotus’ History – we have 8 manuscripts 1350 years after they were written

Julius Cesar’s Gallic Wars – 10 documents 900 years later

Tacitus’ Historys and Annals – 9 manuscripts 750 years later

New Testament: 5800+ manuscripts

Fragment: 30-50 years after original

Most of NT: 150 years after original

All of NT: 250 years after original

The New Testament has far greater manuscript attestation than other ancient literature.

If manuscript quantity and age alone disqualified the New Testament, virtually all ancient historical writings would face the same problem.

If you don’t have the Bible, you don’t have anything.

If you doubt Jesus existed, how can you believe in Julius Ceasar?

Modern scholars don’t doubt that Jesus existed. 

We have more copies than any other ancient work. PERIOD.

What about the 1 in 5 people that manipulate?

If I had time I could go into detail about the very early fragments, 

Very early Greek copies, so autographs are even early

Found in different lands from which they are written

And they are the same as what is in your Bible!

Not the telephone game

That’s not how the Bible came to you.

Thousands of manuscripts received from the churches they were written to being copied

Found in completely different countries and lands

With the most Ancient agreeing with the later manuscripts which agree with your Bible

What would it take for the Bible to have been changed?

Impossible to change all the manuscripts. Geographic diversity, all the versions, quotations, manuscripts not even yet discovered

Are you seeing how silly this argument is?

Who decided what books to put the Bible in the first place?

Canons – early church documents that point to what books were accepted and which books were not

This is HUGE – we have the witness from the early church showing which books they considered trustworthy; which books to die for if Roman soldiers showed up

Early Christians memorized entire books of the New Testament (Egypt and other places it was a requirement to be in the ministry)

Muratorian Canon – AD 170

Perhaps oldest known list of most of books of NT

List of “Accepted” books and “Rejected” books

All 4, Gospels, Acts, Jude, 1 John, another epistle of John, Revelation, and epistles of Paul accepted

Accepted books were written by apostles or people who knew apostles

Shows us that Early Christians already had a belief about what WAS and what WAS NOT scripture. 

Probably written several hundred years after the apostles??

So the church can figure out how to control people, right???

Wrong!

This is still when Christians were being killed for their faith

They were trusting on Jesus and depending on His Word just to make it.

Muratorian fragment preserved in Milan, Bibliotheca Ambrosiana, Cod. J 101 sup.

EARLY CHRISTIANITY DID NOT ACCEPT OTHER BOOKS

Only one NT book we don’t know who author is

Gospels of Peter and James, 3rd corinthians, epistle to laodocians, etc

OLD TESTAMENT

We have manuscripts in Hebrew and Aramaic, and also in Greek of the Old Testament.

The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic textual tradition preserved by Jewish scribes called the Masoretes. 

We also have the Septuagint, which is the Greek Old Testament.

Jews carefully copied and standardized the Hebrew Scriptures.

Until recently, The oldest known complete copies of the Hebrew Bible go back to 900-1000 AD.

Although Jews were very careful in the copies, one might still try to raise doubt. 

UNTIL what is arguably the greatest find in modern archaeology:

The Dead Sea Scrolls Support the Reliability of the Old Testament

When the Great Isaiah Scroll was compared with the later Masoretic Text:

Isaiah is important because it foretells the birth of the Messiah (Isaiah 7) the suffering of the Messiah (Isaiah 53) and the reign of the messiah (Isaiah 9) BEFORE Jesus was born!

Your Bible didnt’ just show up yesterday! It is ANCIENT. It is RELIABLE. Your faith is VALID.

We’re talking about valid faith, believing in God’s Word is VALID FAITH.

God’s Word is reliable for many more reasons!

Unique Moral teachings

Confirming scientific concepts before science itself did

History and archaeology confirms it

Fulfilled prophecy

If we had more time we could dive in to all those things

We know God’s Word is Reliable because of how it changes lives!

Grew up without a dad

Grandma worked 16 hour doubles at the nursing home to feed us

Struggled with unusual anxieties, obsessive worries

Fear and insecurity and isolation

BUT

I read about God in His Word

That began a conversation

Earnestly prayed that God would be real in my life

Don’t wanna just read about You

He brought me into contact with people of faith

Started going to church

That led me to an altar of repentance

A place where i could connect with God

I didn’t have a fancy prayer

I just remember praying

God, would you be my Father?

That night I had a encounter with God

I had an encounter with my Father

It started with faith, 

you see friends

I read about Him in His Word.

God gave me His Word

He wanted me to know Him.

He is my Father and wanted a relationship with Me.

And that has changed everything. 

And then later when the trials came

The dark nights

When I lost my way

And let anxiety creep

And the emotions cloud my thinking and mindset

And I didn’t know what to do

When I returned to the Word of God

And REALLY believed it

And REALLY applied to my life

That’s when Victory came!!

I am not just sermonizing

God’s Word has GIVEN ME MY LIFE

He has rescued me!!

But I had to stand on the Word

That’s great Jonathan, but does this have to do with me? What does His Word accomplish in my life?

The question what can’t God’s Word do in your life?

Do you need wisdom? It has wisdom

Do you need hope? 

Hope for your family

Hope for your finances

Hope for your relationships

Comfort in the dark times

A voice than can push back fear and the lies 

That seek to destroy you and those you love

God’s Word has all these things for you if you will have faith

It’s not just another self-help book

Self-help books can claim to do all these things

But the Word of God connects you to the ONE who can Fill that God-shaped hole in your soul.

It connects you to biggest thing that’s ever going to happen to you

And that is an encounter with Jesus Christ

Like the encounter an 18 year old boy from Waco Texas had one Wednesday night

And a life was saved

And a destiny was forever changed

It starts with Valid faith

We can have faith in God’s Word

Would you stand with me?

3 things I want you to do with this message

Call To Action – How to rely on God’s Word 

God’s Word is not just information—it is meant to transform us.

1. ABSORB

Read God’s Word. Take it in. Feed on it.

Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

God’s Word is spiritual food. Don’t just read it—absorb it. Hide it in your heart.

Make a commitment to spend time in God’s Word every day.

2. AGREE

Agreement means saying:

“God, even when I don’t understand it, I choose to believe what Your Word says.”

We agree with God—not with our feelings, our culture, or our limited understanding.

Sometimes we want to argue with God. We want to explain why we think our way is better.

But agreement brings us to a place of surrender:

“Not my will, but Yours be done.”

Agreement is powerful because it is part of repentance. It prepares our hearts to change.

Before we can live God’s way, we must first decide that God’s way is right.

We meet with God every day in prayer and confess that we want His Kingdom to Come and His  will to be done in our lives.

Which leads us to the last step

3. ALIGN

Alignment means bringing our lives into line with God’s Word.

We don’t just hear the truth—we live it. Even when we don’t understand.

You see, alignment becomes easier when we have already crossed the bridge of agreement.

When the Bible says something like love your enemies, pray for those who despitefully use you

And that makes no sense us, but you trust in God and His Word.

And we submit that area of our lives to His Will, we can begin to be more like Him.

Absorbing God’s Word brings us direction.

Agreement to God’s Word prepares the heart.
Alignment to God’s Word changes the life.

We read God’s Word.

We agree with God’s Word.

We live out God’s Word.

ABSORB. AGREE. ALIGN.

Let God’s Word transform you.

You can trust God’s Word. It has not changed—what IS changing are people’s lives.

He doesn’t change, but He is changing us to conform to the image of His Son.

Keep reading. Keep trusting. Keep growing.

And as God’s Word transforms you, you will become more and more like Jesus.

Follow along with us!

If faith is TRUE… it should survive investigation.

Next few weeks – questions Christians sometimes get nervous about.

Real. Reasonable. Can stand under pressure.

Series Outline

3 asks:
1. COME WITH QUESTIONS.
2. BRING A FRIEND WITH QUESTIONS.
3. GRAB 30 HONEST QUESTIONS.

30 real questions… short/simple answers… God, science, Bible, suffering, doubt, church hurt…

Grab one for yourself. Share one with your friends.

I DO NOT WANT A BORROWED FAITH

Pastor… Bible… church most of my life… eventually I have to ask:

Do I believe because I was TOLD?
Or because I believe it is TRUE?

Borrowed faith… from parents… pastors… denomination… culture…

Works UNTIL life hits: death… unanswered prayer… hard question… church hurt…

NOT WANT A BORROWED FAITH.
I want to discover a Valid Faith.

What about you? Can you relate?

THE QUESTIONS ARE REAL

DECONSTRUCTION: Taking apart the faith you inherited and reexamining what you believe.   Good and Bad to this…
-sometimes good, true beliefs get discarded along with the things that genuinely needed to be questioned.
We are dealing with…

ANCIENT FAITH IN A MODERN WORLD.

People wrestle -science/evolution/evidence… Genesis… miracles… morality… ancient Bible…

That is why I am calling this message:

Valid Faith Week 1: Must I Turn My Brain Off to Be a Christian?

Your questions are real. They deserve DEEPER THOUGHT – not less.

There is a tension between Reason & Faith
Compartmentalize – Brain vs Heart.
Think vs Feel
What if God’s Word shows us a better way?

1 Peter 3:15 NIV

Peter assumes: HOPE… and a REASON for that hope.

Think about your Faith!
REASON IS NOT THE ENEMY OF FAITH.

Connect to the reason you have hope.
Hebrews 11:1 NIV

HOPE = WHAT I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO.

FAITH = TRUSTING GOD WITH THAT HOPE.

Faith = TRUST. So…

WHO ARE YOU TRUSTING – AND CAN HE BE TRUSTED?

STRIP IT ALL AWAY

Christianity makes MANY claims. Not all equally central.

Christians disagree:
Genesis/age earth…
baptism…
free will…
spiritual gifts…
end times…  SECONDARY ISSUES…

Important? In varying degrees, YES.
The reason for my hope? NO.
STRIP THEM AWAY FOR NOW 

Strip away denomination… political tribe… worship style… theological labels… 

WHAT IS LEFT?
Better question… Who is left? JESUS.

Who are you trusting and can He be trusted.
Christian faith = trusting HIM.

IS JESUS TRUSTWORTHY?

This leads us to God’s Word..
Then let us reason through God’s Word… not panic at questions.

REASONING EXERCISE #1 – WHY SOMETHING RATHER THAN NOTHING?

Old question. Answer?
God created or Big Bang?
How did the universe come to be?

Hebrews 11:3 NIV

Visible world made from what cannot be seen.
Visible made from invisible.

Faith teaches this… Science teaches this…

Modern science: atoms/subatomic realities… invisible building blocks under visible matter.

SCRIPTURE REVEALED A TRUTH SCIENCE LATER STUMBLED UPON about 1800 years later.

Faith explains how there is a universe.
Science explains how there is a universe.

But WHY is there a universe?

Why matter? energy? laws? universe?
WHY PEOPLE? HEARTS? SOULS? DREAMS?

Science can describe HOW. (mechanism)
Science can’t describe WHY. (purpose)

Faith explains HOW & WHY.
Mechanism & purpose.

REASONING EXERCISE #2 – WHAT MAKES EVIL, EVIL?

Child abuse… trafficking… torture… not just “I dislike it.” ACTUALLY WRONG – EVIL.
WHY?

If we are only matter, chemistry, cells, impulses, and survival instincts… what makes one set of impulses good and another set evil?

Science can describe what happens in the brain.
Science can describe behavior.
Science can describe what helps a species survive.
But science by itself does not tell you: CHILD ABUSE IS EVIL.   WHY?

FAITH SAYS MORAL TRUTH IS REAL BECAUSE IT IS GROUNDED IN A MORAL GOD.

More questions like this?
Short. Simple. Start investigating.

I saw this pop up on facebook…

Jackman: If you put Buddha, Jesus Christ, Socrates, Shakespeare, Arjuna, Krishna at a dinner table together, I can’t see them having an argument.

Nice thought… all welcome… acceptance…
but THINK DEEPER.

JESUS DID NOT COME JUST TO TAKE A SEAT AT THE TABLE.

Everyone at table died. Jesus died too…

JESUS DIED FOR EVERYBODY AT THE TABLE.

And Christianity says HE ROSE. Jesus is different.  NOT JUST A TEACHER.

CAN JESUS BE TRUSTED?

One follower had to decide that for himself…

Thomas Followed Jesus… HOPE.
Jesus dies… DISAPPOINTED / hope crushed.

Friends: “We saw Him.”
Trouble TRUSTING them. “Unless I see…”

Thomas investigates. Jesus meets him in it.

Jesus shows up… stretches out hands… invites him to investigate.

John 20:28 NIV

Notice what Jesus does not do…
-No lecture.
-No guilt trip.
-No turning away.

Imagine – Jesus standing their… open arms.
What do you even do with all of this?

PRACTICE 3 STEPS: REASON → TRUST → HOPE

1. COME WITH YOUR QUESTIONS

Do not bury them. NAME them. Ask them.

2. INVESTIGATE – DO NOT ASSUME

Science disproved faith? Bible changed? Genesis impossible? All religions same? → LOOK CLOSER.

3. KEEP COMING BACK TO JESUS

Not every question carries equal weight. Who is Jesus? What did He claim? Is He trustworthy?

We want to help you take these steps.

What if we stripped everything in religion away until we were just left with Jesus?

“Is that all you need?” “YES.”

Strip away denomination… politics… labels… possessions… ability to answer everything…

WHAT IS THE REASON FOR THE HOPE YOU HAVE?  IS IT JESUS?

Other questions matter. But underneath it all… JESUS IS THE CENTER.

IF THIS IS TRUE…

Jesus cannot be one more thing in the cart.

JESUS IS NOT SOMETHING I ADD TO MY LIFE. HE BECOMES THE CENTER.

He is the center… I follow.
…shame loses grip.
…I serve others… forgive others.

VALID FAITH SHOULD CHANGE THE WAY I LIVE.

IS JESUS WORTH TRUSTING?
1. If so… PRAY

“God, I do not have all the answers, but I believe You are worth the search.”

2. IF so… START A CONVERSATION

Connection Card / text me / 30 Honest Questions. Let us reason together.

3. If so… TAKE ONE STEP TOWARD JESUS

Investigate 30 honest questions.
Come back. Bring a friend. Trust Jesus. Return to Jesus.

By Pastor Chris Fluitt · Redemption Church, Plano

LEVEL UP · WEEK 3 · READY PLAYER TWO

The video and MP3 podcast are coming soon. Check back here for both, or explore the message below.

If you want to grow spiritually, stay connected to Jesus—and do not try to figure out every next step alone.

Real spiritual growth is not just about learning more. It is about receiving life from Jesus, letting Him change you, and becoming someone who helps other people grow too.

Your growth is Godward and outward.

That means a good next question is not only, “What do I need from God?” It is also, “Who can help me grow—and who might God want me to help?”

We have more information than ever: Google, YouTube, podcasts, books, AI. But information is not the same as direction.

You can listen to a hundred people talk about faith, marriage, parenting, money, or purpose—and still feel unsure about what to do next. Most of us do not only need better information. We need real people: someone to encourage us, challenge us, pray for us, and help us take the next step.

We have closed much of the information gap, but we have widened the relationship gap.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

John 15:5 NIV

You do not have to manufacture a better life by yourself. Stay connected to Jesus. Learn from Him. Trust Him. Talk honestly with Him. Let His words reshape your thinking. Let His grace meet you where you are.

He is not just part of your growth plan. He is the source of life.

A healthy branch does not exist just to become a stronger branch. It bears fruit. What Jesus is producing in you should eventually bless somebody else.

Your growth should not stop with you.

Think about the people who helped you. Somebody prayed for you. Somebody encouraged you. Somebody taught you. Somebody gave you an opportunity. Somebody believed you could become more. Somebody refused to give up on you.

You may be somebody else’s fruit. Their faithfulness to Jesus eventually touched your life.

Now the question becomes: Who is growing because God has worked in me?

Barnabas is one of the most powerful examples of this in Scripture. His real name was Joseph, but the apostles called him Barnabas, which means “son of encouragement” (Acts 4:36). Encouragement became so consistent in his life that it became part of his reputation.

Then Saul came to Jerusalem. Before Saul became the Apostle Paul, people knew him as the man who had persecuted Christians. Even after Saul encountered Jesus, the believers were afraid to trust him.

“But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles.”

Acts 9:27 NIV

Barnabas did not change Saul. Jesus changed Saul. Barnabas did not call Saul. Jesus called Saul. Barnabas did not give Saul his gifts. God did.

But Barnabas became a bridge.

Other people backed away. Barnabas stepped closer. He used his relationship, credibility, encouragement, and opportunity to help Saul move forward. He saw what Jesus was doing in Saul when others could only see Saul’s past.

Sometimes people can become an obstacle to someone else’s next level. Barnabas chose to become a bridge instead.

Where do you want to grow—marriage, parenting, money, career, faith, leadership, life? Who do you know that is living with wisdom and character in that area?

Ask them: “Can I learn from you?” You do not need to make it strange or overly formal. Invite them to coffee. Ask a question. Listen. Learn.

What have you already learned? What have you survived? What has God taught you? You do not have to be an expert. You just have to be willing to help.

Maybe someone needs your encouragement, your listening ear, prayer, an introduction, an opportunity, or a reminder that their past is not the end of their story. Mature people use what they have to help somebody else grow.

Do not leave this as a good idea. Name the area where you want to grow. Name the person who is a few steps ahead. Name the person you might be able to help. Then start the conversation.

Your next level may start with a text, a coffee, a prayer, or an invitation.

Get Unstuck with the Free 21-Day Game Plan

The Level Up 21-Day Game Plan is a simple, Scripture-centered guide to help you get unstuck, reconnect with Jesus, make your next move, and help someone else grow. It takes just 5–10 minutes a day.

Explore the full Level Up series

Your relationship with Jesus is personal, but it was never meant to be isolated. We grow as we receive from Jesus and walk with people who encourage, challenge, and help us keep going.

Choose one area where you want to grow. Look for someone whose character you respect. Start simply: ask them to coffee and say, “Can I learn from you?”

No. A formal program can help, but many of the best mentoring relationships begin with an ordinary conversation and consistent friendship.

You do not have to know everything to help somebody with something. Share what you have learned. Pray. Encourage. Listen. Help them take one next step.

Pastor Chris Fluitt serves Redemption Church in Plano and helps people take honest next steps toward Jesus.