The Redeemer Church

Pastor Gabriel investigates how the enemy, the father of lies, pulls us out of the present moment: into fears about the future, regrets about the past, and stories about what other people are doing to us. He starts with how the church itself was led astray, from medieval indulgences to Martin Luther and the Reformation. Then he turns to the first thing Jesus preached in Matthew 4: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Repentance, he argues, isn't guilt or self-punishment but a moment of clarity: noticing the lie, changing course, and coming back to the here and now, where the kingdom of heaven has been all along.

Pastor Gabriel investigates why humility sits at the very center of Jesus's teaching. From the Hundred Years War, where the English and the French were each certain God was on their side, to Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey instead of a chariot, he traces how confidence in our own rightness closes us off while humility opens the door to growth. Through Jesus's conversation with Nicodemus about being born again and his insistence that the kingdom of heaven belongs to children, Pastor Gabriel argues that humility is both the first step of faith and the posture we must keep: staying teachable like a child, especially in an age when everyone has a voice and an algorithm telling them they're right.

Pastor Gabriel investigates Rousseau's famous line, "man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains," through the lens of Jesus' two great commandments in Luke 10. Loving God means loving yourself, because he lives within you, and loving the world he made; loving your neighbor means recognizing that same divine spark in everyone, even the driver who cuts you off on the 405. Sin, then, is anything that breaks that contract: anger, fear, judgment, distraction, or the guilt we pile on afterward. The chains were never put on us from outside. Do this, and you will live.

Pastor Gabriel investigates how the enemy uses the people, situations, and emotions around us to work on our weaknesses, and why patience and awareness are the answer. He starts from a tense run-in with an angry customer at Trader Joe's and draws on Luke 12's call to keep our lamps lit and the parable of the ten virgins. He shows how acting out of anger or fear separates us from God, and how steady prayer works like a long camera exposure: the longer we stay open to the Lord, the more clearly we see. Jesus isn't calling us to be right. He's calling us to follow him.

Pastor Gabriel investigates what it really means to "be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). He draws on Jesus' teaching about the birds of the air in Matthew 6 and the watchful servants of Luke 12. His argument is that accepting Jesus into your heart is more than a one-time decision. It means quieting the anxious mind, letting go of the fight against things we can't change, and knowing, not merely believing, that God will lead us. He moves from coaches "icing" a free-throw shooter to Peter stepping out onto the water, and shows how stillness and acceptance give us the clarity to hear what the Lord is calling us to do next.

Pastor Gabriel investigates the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 and argues that Jesus is describing who we are, not handing us a checklist. Salt and light are things, not tasks; the law is fulfilled in the heart rather than in rule-keeping; and "be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect" is a call to a state of being. With a candid look at his own struggle after last week's message, he shows how the enemy shifts our focus from our identity as sons and daughters of God to our actions and everyone else's — and why the answer is simply to abide in Jesus.

Pastor Gabriel investigates Paul's warning in Philippians 3 about those whose "god is their belly" and whose minds are set on earthly things, and what it actually means to live as a citizen of heaven. Reflecting on the recent loss of a friend, he looks at how the enemy pulls us out of the present—into regret over the past or dread of an imagined future—while the kingdom of heaven is right here and now. From the pull of our phones and worldly success to a grumpy Saturday night at home, he shows how Jesus' call to deny ourselves and lay down what we think we deserve is the path to real peace, and how citizenship in heaven brings both hope beyond death and daily rewards for those who seek the Lord.

Pastor Gabriel investigates the Roman centurion of Matthew 8 — a man of rank and power who humbles himself before Jesus — and draws out the three traits that make real change possible: humility, action, and persistent faith. Why is it so hard to do the things that are good for us? Gabriel argues that the self-defeating "I can't" we've believed for years is its own kind of arrogance, that praying without doing is a beard on fire waiting for rain, and — that faith isn't believing hard once but rather showing up morning after morning until the impossible becomes possible.

Pastor Gabriel investigates why being right can feel so good and cost you so much — and how real forgiveness isn't about excusing what hurt you, but about the discipline of letting go so bitterness doesn't quietly run your life.

Pastor Gabriel investigates all the ways in which we keep ourselves locked out of the banquet feast and out of peace.