In this message from our Fundamentals series, Pastor Josh teaches on participation: the call for believers to move beyond passive observation and actively live out their faith in Christ. The Christian life is not meant to be watched from a distance. It is meant to be lived with genuine love, fervent faith, deep community, forgiveness, hospitality, and prayer. 

Through Romans 12, this message contrasts the marks of a true Christian with the patterns of the surrounding culture. While culture often celebrates retaliation, self-protection, and conditional love, followers of Jesus are called to bless those who persecute them, overcome evil with good, and pursue a life shaped by Christ. Pastor Josh highlights three practical anchors from Romans 12:12: rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, and be constant in prayer. 

Participation means abiding in Christ daily, pursuing the family of God intentionally, and prioritizing prayer so that our lives are formed by the presence of God rather than the pull of culture.

In this message from our Fundamentals series, Pastor Wade teaches on glorification: the final stage of salvation when God raises believers to new life, makes them fully like Jesus, brings them into perfect fellowship with Him, and frees them forever from sin, suffering, and death. 

Glorification speaks to our bodies, our character, and our destination. One day, our lowly bodies will be transformed like Christ’s glorious body. One day, the battle with sin and temptation will end, and we will be made fully like Jesus. And one day, we will dwell in the presence of God in the new heavens and new earth, where death, mourning, crying, and pain are no more. 

Because our future is glory, we can live with hope in the present. Glorification gives believers strength to grieve, suffer, fight temptation, and live sacrificially with their eyes fixed on Jesus. 

In this message from our Fundamentals series, Pastor Josh teaches on multiplication and the call of every believer to go and make disciples. In a culture shaped by consumer Christianity, it is easy to treat church like a service to attend rather than a mission to join. But Jesus did not give the church a great "option", He gave us the Great Commission. 

Pastor Josh explains the difference between our primary and secondary calling. Our primary calling is the same for every believer: to follow Jesus and make disciples. Our secondary calling is the unique expression of that mission through our gifts, vocation, and context. When those get flipped, we drift into passivity, spiritual stagnation, and a faith that revolves around being served instead of being sent. 

This message is a call to recover ordinary obedience, align our ambition with the heart of God, and step into the places God has already assigned us, our neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, and everyday relationships, with courage and compassion. 

Vivification is the Holy Spirit awakening the believer into increasing participation in the resurrection life of Jesus.

In this message from our Fundamentals series, Pastor Kai teaches on mortification: the daily, Spirit-empowered putting to death of sin in the life of the believer. Romans 8 reminds us that those who belong to Christ are no longer condemned, no longer ruled by sin, and no longer indebted to the flesh. Instead, we are called to set our minds on the things of the Spirit and walk in the freedom Christ has purchased for us. 

Mortification is not legalism, self-hatred, or behavior management. It is the ongoing work of killing sin by the power of the Holy Spirit. As we name sin honestly, confess it quickly, starve it, fight it with the Word and prayer, look to Christ, and walk with other believers, God forms us into the likeness of Jesus.

In this message from our Fundamentals series, Pastor Josh teaches on sanctification: the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit that progressively forms believers into the likeness of Christ and frees us from the power of sin.

While justification frees us from the penalty and guilt of sin, sanctification is how God continues transforming us over time. It is slow, intentional, and often painful, but always shaped by grace. We do not grow by striving to earn God’s love, but by abiding in Christ, surrendering daily, confessing sin honestly, and remembering who we are in Him.

Sanctification is not behavior management. It is Spirit-led formation flowing from justification.

In this message from our Fundamentals series, Pastor Josh teaches on the doctrine of justification: the good news that though every person stands guilty under God’s law, Jesus fulfilled the law on our behalf, bore the punishment for our sin, and gives His righteousness to all who believe.

Justification is not something we earn through performance, striving, or religious effort. It is received by faith in Christ. Because of Jesus, believers are acquitted, adopted into God’s family, transformed by grace, and assured of their future hope.

The verdict over every believer in Christ is clear: not guilty.

Fundamentals: The Basics of Formation