Welcome to Redemption Church.
We exist to help people Find and Follow Jesus. My name is Chris Fluitt.

We are in the first week of our new series.

Untangled 

Faith can feel tangled. 

…Maybe you’ve noticed-life doesn’t always line up with the simple answers we were given as kids. Back in Sunday school, everything seemed black and white. But then life happened. Marriage got complicated. Money got tight. People disappointed you. And those neat little answers didn’t always seem as certain.

And let’s be real-
Nowhere in Scripture does it say life is supposed to be easy, carefree, and full of quick answers. What we do see, again and again, is Jesus welcoming people who bring their honest questions. He never rejected someone who came searching.

That’s why this series matters. We’re not here to pretend. We’re here to untangle some of the tough questions of faith and life-together.

Here’s where we’re going in the next few weeks:
Outline

And to help us go deeper, we created a free e-book with 30 of the most tangled life and faith questions people are asking right now. Grab it, use it, and don’t be afraid to start real conversations.

And today-we’re going to answer a really hectic question: Can I Still Trust the Church?

I’ll never forget the first time I got hurt by the church… 

Maybe you’ve been there. Maybe you’ve got scars from church people too.

We don’t have to look far to find people who walked away from church because of church hurt.

If that feels like hypocrisy to you, you’re not wrong. It is hypocrisy. And it’s painful.

So the question makes sense: If this is what church looks like… should we just throw it away?

What does Jesus have to say about this?

1. Jesus Confronted Church Hurt

Jesus does this A LOT. He has strong words… 

Matthew 23:13

And remember-Jesus didn’t say these things about the addict outside the church or the sinner in the streets. He said them to ministers inside the temple.

So if you think you see hypocrisy in the church-you probably aren’t mistaken.

But does that mean it’s okay to throw away the church? Not according to Jesus.

2. Jesus Promised His Church Would Prevail

Jesus claims His Church for himself.
Jesus claims to build His Church.
Jesus promises victory over hell.

Matthew 16:18

This is the 1st time CHURCH is mentioned in Scripture.
Now, here’s something you may not know. 

Kirche (Church) – A building. The Lord’s House.

Our English word church comes from the German word Kirche, which meant “the Lord’s house” or simply “a building.” 

Ekklesia (Church) – A community of called-out ones)
But Jesus didn’t use that word. He used ekklesia-a Greek word meaning “the called-out ones,” a gathered community, a movement of people.

William Tyndale (1494–1536) Bible Translator
That distinction mattered so much that William Tyndale, one of the first to translate the Bible into English, refused to translate ekklesia as “church.” He translated it as congregation. He wanted people to know Jesus was building people, not buildings.

That choice cost him dearly. Tyndale was betrayed, arrested, and in 1536 he was strangled and burned at the stake for giving ordinary people the Word of God in English. His last prayer was, “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes.” And within a few years, English Bibles flooded the nation. His words shaped almost every English Bible since.

Here’s the point: Jesus is not just building facilities, organizations, or power structures. He’s building a people!

Jesus is building a living, breathing community that not even persecution, scandal, or hypocrisy can destroy. The gates of hell cannot stop what Jesus is building.

3. The Church is a Team

Jesus is not just building an audience – He’s building a team.

And who does Jesus invite onto His team? Peter.

The same Peter who sank when he tried to walk on water.
The same Peter who pulled out a sword and cut off someone’s ear.
The same Peter who swore three times, “I don’t even know Him.”

And yet Jesus looked at Peter and said in Matthew 16:18: “I will build my church.”

Jesus is the one doing the building. And here’s the good news: He invited Peter – failures, flaws, and all – to be part of it.

The church has never been about perfect people. It has always been about a perfect Savior building with imperfect teammates.

That means there’s room for you. If Peter was invited in, so are you. And not just you – but your neighbor, your coworker, your family member, the skeptic, the struggler, the addict, the outcast. The team Jesus is building is big enough for all of us.

4. Jesus Redefines the Church

If the ekklesia… the team… the church… is more than a building, then maybe we need Jesus to redefine our thinking.

Because here’s the truth: Jesus did not come to bring us just another religion. He came to bring us a new way of life, a new kind of community.

John 13:35 – That’s His definition.

But by love.

And that’s where we’ve gotten tangled, isn’t it? Over the centuries, churches have split over style, over leadership, over secondary doctrines. We’ve let denominations divide us, and sometimes we’ve even defined ourselves more by what we’re against than by what we’re for.

But Jesus says the defining mark of His people is love. The kind of love that forgives. The kind of love that restores. The kind of love that welcomes the broken in.

And if the church has ever hurt you, I want you to know this: 

Jesus is not the one who hurt you. 

Don’t give up on Jesus because of bad teammates. People may have failed you, but Jesus has not.

Can I Still Trust the Church?

So here’s the question for you: will you let the failure of people cause you to abandon the plan of God?

Jesus sees your hurt. He grieves with you. But He still invites you to healing.

Instead of asking, Can I trust the church? maybe the better question is… 

Can I trust Jesus to show me what His church is supposed to be?

SO WHAT CAN WE DO?
When it comes to church hurt, we can’t just leave it sitting there. It has to be addressed. This team is important. What Jesus is building matters. 

So what can we do about it?

3 Steps for Those Hurt by the Church

If you’ve been hurt by the church, here are three steps you can begin today:

3 Steps for the Church to Repent and Do Better

And if we are the church, here’s how we can do better:

Now imagine this with me: a church where love is louder than hypocrisy. A church where those who have been wounded find healing. A church where the name of Jesus is lifted high, not dragged down by scandal.

Imagine that kind of church rising up in our hurting cities – feeding the hungry, walking with families in crisis, lifting up the poor, and showing compassion to the overlooked.

Imagine that kind of church carrying hope across the world – feeding and caring for children and orphans in war-torn countries, standing with believers facing persecution, bringing clean water, medicine, and education where despair once ruled.

Imagine that kind of church opening its arms wide so that people who were once outcasts, outsiders, and overlooked can JOIN THE TEAM.

Matthew 16:18

And this isn’t just a dream – it’s the promise of Jesus. “Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”

That’s not just words from 2,000 years ago – it’s the foundation of our hope today. Jesus takes hurt and turns it into hope. He takes brokenness and builds something beautiful. He takes failure and creates a future.

That’s the vision. That’s the church He is building – and He’s inviting us to be part of it.

3 Actions for a Healing Church

If Jesus is building His ekklesia – His team – then here are three actions we can take together to become a healing church:

1. Let’s inspect our role in the team.
Are we contributors or just consumers? A healthy church is built when every person brings their gifts, their love, and their service.

2. Re-commit to Jesus and to others.
Let’s make things right – with God and with each other. That may mean asking forgiveness. It may mean extending forgiveness. It definitely means giving Jesus our whole heart again.

3. Pray and worship together.
Have you hurt someone – Repent.
Have you been hurt by someone – Come receive prayer.

Fix our eyes on Jesus.