Sea Change Sermons

Coming out of a twelve week vision series that ended with a charge to go and change the world, Pastor Adam opens a new eight week series in 1 Kings with a word of grace before another word of activation. Season one of Elijah ended with fire falling on Mount Carmel. Season two opens in a very different place: fear, flight, and a prophet under a broom tree asking God to let him die, hours after the greatest public victory of his life. Pastor Adam frames the whole message around a single big idea: before Elijah was a man of fire, he was a man of solitude.

Rather than chastising Elijah for running from Jezebel in fear, God sends an angel to feed and care for him, not once but twice, before a single word of correction. Pastor Adam traces that same rhythm of intentional withdrawal backward to 1 Kings 17, where God first hid Elijah at the brook Cherith, and forward to Luke 5, where Jesus regularly withdrew from growing crowds to pray. The message turns personal and practical from there: an honest look at what is quietly poisoning the well each of us drinks from, a story from a spiritual director who reset Pastor Adam’s own prayer life down to three minutes a day, and a close reading of Psalm 46:10, where being still comes before being exalted, not after.

The message closes with a simple, direct challenge for the week: find your cave. Thirty minutes, alone, with no phone, no music, no podcast, and no agenda, sitting in the kind of silence Pastor Adam argues is the only way to know God without limitation.

This is the first message in Elijah: From Drought to Downpour, an eight week series through 1 Kings that picks up where the church’s first Elijah series left off, moving from the fire at Mount Carmel into the prophet’s collapse, restoration, and formation in solitude before the story’s next chapter unfolds.

Key topics:

Closing out this twelve week series through Acts, Pastor Adam turns to a married couple mentioned six separate times across the New Testament: Priscilla and Aquila. Ordinary tentmakers, they were living an established life in Rome until Emperor Claudius expelled every Jew from the city, an edict that displaced them into Corinth and, without their knowledge, directly into Paul's path. Pastor Adam frames the whole message around a phrase he felt God give him while studying the passage: "What looked like displacement became divine placement."

The message builds around a single key word, integrity, illustrated through a seventh grade science class lesson on the space shuttle's heat tiles: when even one is out of place, the whole system fails on reentry. For Priscilla and Aquila, integrity meant a faith that showed up identically at work, on the road, and at home. Acts 18 shows them tentmaking alongside Paul. Romans 16 shows Paul thanking them for risking their lives on his behalf and greeting "the church in their house." And Acts 18:24 through 26 shows their most defining moment: quietly taking aside a gifted, eloquent teacher named Apollos, whose knowledge of Jesus was sincere but incomplete, and explaining "the way of God more accurately," not publicly, but over what Pastor Adam imagined as a shared cup of tea.

That encounter becomes the message's working definition of discipleship: recognizing who someone can be in Christ and investing into that calling. Pastor Adam closes with a personal story of the people who took a risk on him when he'd given them every reason not to, and a direct challenge to identify one person worth developing and one ordinary space, a home, a workplace, a neighborhood, worth intentionally turning toward Kingdom impact.

This is the fourth and final message in The Church Has Left the Building, a series through Acts that shifts the spotlight from the apostles to the ordinary believers who carried the gospel into their own neighborhoods, workplaces, and relationships.

Key topics:

Closing out this twelve week series through Acts, Pastor Adam turns to a married couple mentioned six separate times across the New Testament: Priscilla and Aquila. Ordinary tentmakers, they were living an established life in Rome until Emperor Claudius expelled every Jew from the city, an edict that displaced them into Corinth and, without their knowledge, directly into Paul’s path. Pastor Adam frames the whole message around a phrase he felt God give him while studying the passage: “What looked like displacement became divine placement.”

The message builds around a single key word, integrity, illustrated through a seventh grade science class lesson on the space shuttle’s heat tiles: when even one is out of place, the whole system fails on reentry. For Priscilla and Aquila, integrity meant a faith that showed up identically at work, on the road, and at home. Acts 18 shows them tentmaking alongside Paul. Romans 16 shows Paul thanking them for risking their lives on his behalf and greeting “the church in their house.” And Acts 18:24 through 26 shows their most defining moment: quietly taking aside a gifted, eloquent teacher named Apollos, whose knowledge of Jesus was sincere but incomplete, and explaining “the way of God more accurately,” not publicly, but over what Pastor Adam imagined as a shared cup of tea.

That encounter becomes the message’s working definition of discipleship: recognizing who someone can be in Christ and investing into that calling. Pastor Adam closes with a personal story of the people who took a risk on him when he’d given them every reason not to, and a direct challenge to identify one person worth developing and one ordinary space, a home, a workplace, a neighborhood, worth intentionally turning toward Kingdom impact.

This is the fourth and final message in The Church Has Left the Building, a series through Acts that shifts the spotlight from the apostles to the ordinary believers who carried the gospel into their own neighborhoods, workplaces, and relationships.

Key topics:

Sea Change Church

The Book of Acts: The Church Has Left the Building

S1E3 - Barnabas
Pastor Adam Stadtmiller

Acts 11:19-26

Vs.19 Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled
as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. Vs. 20
But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to
the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus.Vs. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them,
and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. Vs.22 The report of this came to the ears of
the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. Vs.23 When he came and saw the
grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast
purpose, Vs. 24 for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many
people were added to the Lord. Vs.25 So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, Vs.26 and
when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church
and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.

Two weeks after Stephen and Philip, Pastor Adam introduces a third ordinary believer whose character became so defining it replaced his name. Born Joseph, he’s known throughout Scripture only as Barnabas — “son of encouragement” — a nickname given to him by the apostles themselves. In Acts 11, unnamed believers scattered by persecution take the risk of preaching to Gentiles for the first time in Antioch, and when news reaches Jerusalem, it’s Barnabas who’s sent to investigate. His first response isn’t caution — he sees the grace of God at work and is glad, then exhorts the church to remain faithful “with steadfast purpose.”

The message builds a composite portrait of Barnabas from across Acts: he sold property and gave the proceeds to the church with no conditions attached, proof that encouragement isn’t always verbal; he was the only person willing to vouch for Saul when the entire Jerusalem church was still afraid of him, based on nothing but a conversation and a conviction; and he didn’t just recommend Paul for the church’s first missionary journey — he went with him, walking beside him rather than just pointing the way. Pastor Adam frames this as the specific shape of the gift of exhortation: encouragers see potential before anyone else sees results, and they measure success by who they develop, not what they personally accomplish.

The message closes on Barnabas’s last recorded act: standing up for John Mark, a missionary companion who had quit partway through an earlier journey, when Paul wanted nothing more to do with him. The disagreement was sharp enough to split up two lifelong ministry partners — but tradition holds this same John Mark went on to write the Gospel of Mark. Pastor Adam’s challenge throughout is direct and personal: if a hundred people who know you voted on a nickname based on your defining trait, what would they call you — and what if your greatest contribution to the kingdom isn’t what you accomplish, but who you encourage to accomplish what God has called them to do?

This is the third message in The Church Has Left the Building, a series through Acts that shifts the spotlight from the apostles to the ordinary believers who carried the gospel into their own neighborhoods, workplaces, and relationships.

Key topics:

Sea Change Church

The Book of Acts: The Church Has Left the Building

S1E2 - Church in a Chariot
Pastor Harry Wilson
Acts 8:26-40

26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes
down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an
Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of
all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot,
and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this
chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you
understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And
he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was
reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is
silent, so he opens not his mouth. 33 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe
his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” 34 And the eunuch said to Philip,
“About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35
Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news
about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch
said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” 38 And he commanded the
chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized
him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and
the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at
Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to
Caesarea.

Fresh off last week’s look at the seven ordinary men chosen to serve in Acts 6, Pastor Harry turns to one of them by name: Philip. In Acts 8, the Spirit pulls Philip out of a thriving, city-wide revival in Samaria and sends him to a single stretch of desert road, to a single person — an Ethiopian court official reading Isaiah in his chariot. Pastor Harry frames the whole message around a simple question: why would God trade a crowd for one man? Because, he argues, God has always been willing to leave the ninety-nine for the one.

The message spends real time on who this official actually was — a eunuch, likely forced into that path as a child, entrusted with a queen’s entire treasury, and yet formally excluded from full worship under the law in Deuteronomy 23:1. He had crossed a continent to worship in Jerusalem and would have been kept at the edges once he arrived. Pastor Harry traces how Isaiah had already answered that exclusion centuries earlier — first in Isaiah 53’s prophecy of a disfigured Servant, then in Isaiah 56’s promise of “an everlasting name that shall not be cut off” to eunuchs specifically. Philip’s job, when he catches up to the chariot, is simply to connect the Scripture the man is already reading to the Jesus it was always pointing toward.

From there the message moves to baptism, built around the man’s own question: “What prevents me from being baptized?” Pastor Harry frames baptism as belonging, not formality — a public answer of “nothing” to a man used to hearing “that’s far enough.” The message closes by tracing the ripple effect of that one desert conversation: tradition holds that this encounter seeded the church in Ethiopia, one of the oldest continuously existing churches in the world, all from one ordinary man’s willingness to leave the spotlight for the one person in front of him.

Pastor Harry closes with a direct challenge that threads through the whole series: at some point, preparation has to become participation. Taking the gifts assessment, sitting through trainings, and listening to sermons all matter — but the gospel has to eventually become something carried, not just something known.

This is the second message in The Church Has Left the Building, a series through Acts that shifts the spotlight from the apostles to the ordinary believers who carried the gospel into their own neighborhoods, workplaces, and desert roads.

Key topics:

Acts 6:1-10

1 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists
arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. 2
And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we
should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. 3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from
among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will
appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5
And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith
and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and
Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6 These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid
their hands on them. 7 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the
disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the
faith.
Stephen Is Seized
8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 9
Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of
the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed
with Stephen. 10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was
speaking.

BIG IDEA

Acts repeatedly shows that the mission of Jesus was never intended to depend on a handful of
extraordinary leaders. The apostles provide the foundation, but the expansion of the church happens
because ordinary disciples—business owners, homemakers, servants, mentors, hosts, craftsmen,
and unnamed believers—say yes to God where they are. The Holy Spirit empowers everyday

people to make an extraordinary difference.

Pastor Adam Stadtmiller opens a new series in the book of Acts with a question aimed directly at the congregation: if the people around you — not the leadership, the people — asked you to be a busboy, would you be honored or offended? It’s a sharper question than it sounds. Because the person they asked to bus tables in Acts 6 was Stephen — a man so full of the Spirit and wisdom that when he stepped into the public square, no one could withstand what he was saying. And he started as a busboy.

The passage opens in a season of growth and immediate crisis. The church is expanding. The Hellenistic Jews are raising a legitimate complaint — their widows are being overlooked in the daily distribution. The apostles face two simultaneous threats: division from within and growing opposition from without. Their response isn’t a top-down mandate. They call the whole congregation together and say, you figure it out. Choose seven people from among you — not for the stage, but to serve tables. Men full of the Spirit and of wisdom. The result is in verse 7: the word of God continued to increase, the number of disciples multiplied greatly, and even a great many priests became obedient to the faith. Satan introduced a threat. The congregation solved it. And the church grew exponentially.

But the sermon’s center of gravity is Stephen after the selection. He doesn’t stay inside. In verses 8–10 he moves into the streets, into the public forum, doing signs and wonders among the people, making his case in the open air. And the groups that rise up to dispute him can’t do it. They cannot withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. That’s the picture Pastor Adam sets before the congregation: someone so connected to the vine, so trained up in the word, so willing to take the lowest role, that when he walks into the room the force of what he carries is undeniable. We are being invited into that.

This is the beginning of a shift. Sea Change is moving from an attractional model — extraordinary leaders doing things on a stage — toward a sending model, where the congregation is identified, gifted, equipped, and dispatched. The Spiritual Gifts Assessment is the first practical step. The series itself is the vision: ordinary disciples, in ordinary places, saying yes to God where they are. Business owners, homemakers, mentors, craftsmen, servants, unnamed believers. That’s who changed the Roman Empire. That’s who we are.

S1E1 of a new series in the book of Acts: The Church Has Left the Building. Follows the completed “The Church” series (Ephesians, 4 episodes) and “Rooted In The Spirit” (Galatians and John, 4 episodes). The series tracks ordinary disciples throughout Acts — Lydia, Cornelius, Priscilla and Aquila, Jason, and others — who left the building and changed the world.

July 19, 2026
Sea Change Church
Rooted in The Spirit
S1E4 – The Epistles: Fruits and Gifts

Gift Sandwich
Pastor Adam Stadtmiller

1 Peter 4:7-11

7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be self-controlled and sober minded for the sake of
your prayers. 8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of
sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 As each has received a gift, use it
to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who
speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in
order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and

dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Big Idea: God entrusted you with a gift. Use it to serve others and make Jesus known.
1. Your Gift Is an ASSIGNMENT
2. God sandwiches gifts between maturity and His glory.
1. Your Gift Is an ASSIGNMENT: Vs. 10 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve
one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace:
● Every believer has received a gift.
● Spiritual gifts are entrusted, not earned.
● We are stewards, not owners.
○ Steward— oikonomos oy-koh-NOH-moss: A manager entrusted with
someone else's resources.

2. God sandwiches gifts between maturity and His glory. Vs.7-10 The end of all things is
at hand; therefore, be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 8
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9
Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 As each has received a gift, use it
to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace:
● The Context of Gifts: Peter places spiritual gifts in between Christian
maturity and his glory. Gifts without maturity are dangerous.
○ Maturity is the starting line of GIFTS: Pray earnestly (v.7), Love deeply
(v.8) Show hospitality (v.9)
■ Gifts without maturity are dangerous.

○ Spiritual gifts flourish in a life marked by prayer, love, and
service—not performance.

● Gifted believers should glorify God the most: 11 whoever speaks, as one who
speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that
God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus
Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

The fruit reveals God's character. The gifts reveal God's power.

Practical Takeaway: This week take the Sea Change Spiritual Gifts test at seachangechurch.org
Discussion Questions:
1. How does seeing your spiritual gift as an assignment—not an achievement—change your
perspective?
2. Which area needs the most growth in your life right now: prayer, love, or hospitality?
3. How can you use your spiritual gift to serve someone this week?
4. Why is spiritual maturity just as important as spiritual giftedness?
5. What's one step you can take this week to better discover or develop your spiritual gift?