Watts Bar Community Church

Finishing Strong: Don't Get Comfortable kicks off Dropping F-Bombs, our annual staff series where each of our pastors brings a message on their heart. Pastor Amanda Harris opens things up with a hard truth: comfort often replaces growth. Using the story of Jonah, she shows how easy it is to experience God's mercy and still miss His heart — settling into a "spot" of spiritual comfort instead of pursuing Him with the same passion we started with. If you want to finish strong, you have to be willing to get uncomfortable.

Guest speaker Pastor Steven Parker of The Rock of Central Florida returns to Watts Bar Community Church with a message on the utterances of the Holy Spirit — and why speaking in tongues, while a real and valuable evidence of God's presence, was never meant to be the only one. Pastor Parker shares candid stories from his own ministry, including a season where he equated tongues with salvation itself, and the moment God began to show him a fuller picture. Through Acts 2 and 1 Corinthians 12, he unpacks what it looks like when the Holy Spirit's presence shows up in everyday faithfulness — in how we treat our spouse, show up to work, disciple others, and give. A grounded, personal message on discipleship, evidence, and what it really means to walk in the fullness of the Spirit.

Guest speaker Pastor Steven Parker of The Rock of Central Florida joins Watts Bar Community Church to challenge a common but incomplete picture of the Christian life. Drawing from 2 Corinthians 6 and 1 John, Pastor Parker unpacks why so many believers settle for "all I want is Jesus" while leaving out the fullness of relationship with the Father and the Holy Spirit — and why that partial embrace keeps us from complete joy. He shares personal stories from his own journey, including a defining encounter early in his marriage, and makes the case that once you're redeemed, Scripture calls you a son or daughter — not a sinner still waiting to arrive. A challenging, personal, and Scripture-heavy message on identity, transformation, and what it means to walk fully in the kingdom.

Ever feel like life is testing just how much you can take? In this message, Pastor Kelly Goins explores what it really means to be resilient — not as the world defines it, but as Scripture does: the ability to fall, get back up, and emerge transformed rather than just bounced back.

Drawing from Proverbs 24:16, James 1, and Philippians 2, Pastor Kelly breaks down four keys to building lasting resilience — gratitude, faithfulness, humility, and hope — and makes the case that the righteous aren't defined by never falling, but by getting up one more time than they fail.

If you're in a season that feels like too much, this episode is for you. One more time.

Student Pastor Ben Harris teaches on the unstoppable power of the church — and the one thing that can undo it from within: division. Walking through Matthew 16, Acts 2, and 1 Corinthians 13, Pastor Ben shows why unity, not talent or gifting, is what unlocks God's presence among His people. A challenging, encouraging word for the church of today. Recorded live at Watts Bar Community Church in Decatur, TN.

Nobody volunteers for the mud. But what if the mess you're in right now is exactly where God does His best work? In this week's message, Spit Happens, Pastor Kelly Goins walks through John 9 — the story of Jesus healing a blind man using, of all things, spit and dirt — and unpacks what it means for us when life gets messy, confusing, or just plain hard. If you've been waiting on God to move, this one might just challenge you to consider whether He's actually been waiting on you.

What if the biggest thing keeping you from God… is your own conscience? In this message, Pastor Kelly Goins wraps up a two-part look at the weak conscience — an oversensitive, overactive inner voice that calls things sin that aren't sin, and convinces you to run from God every time you fail. Pastor Kelly tackles a question that cuts to the core of how we relate to the Father: "How does God feel about me when I sin?" How you answer that question shapes everything. Through Paul's letter to the Corinthians, the story of Adam and Eve in the garden, and a raw look at shame vs. the gospel, this message reminds us that we don't worship because we're good — we worship because He is. If shame has ever made you freeze in worship, pull back from prayer, or feel like you need to clean yourself up before coming to God, this one's for you.

Watts Bar Community Church | Pastor Kelly Goins | Decatur, TN

Most people don't lose their convictions overnight. It happens slowly — conviction gets quieter, compromise gets easier, and the things that once bothered you just... don't anymore. In Part 1 of Losing My Conviction, Pastor Kelly Goins walks through what the Bible teaches about the conscience and why understanding it matters more than ever in today's culture war.

This episode covers three of the four types of conscience found in Scripture: the good conscience, the defiled conscience, and the seared conscience — and what each one reveals about where we are spiritually. Pastor Kelly also delivers a candid word to parents about the very real discipleship battle happening on your child's screen right now.

This is Week 4 of the Culture Wars series at Watts Bar Community Church. Part 2 is coming next week.

Compromise sacrifices truth. Harshness sacrifices people. Neither one looks like Jesus.

In this message, Pastor Kelly Goins picks back up in the story of Daniel to answer one of the hardest questions for believers in today's culture: how do you stand firm on what you believe and love people well at the same time?

Because here's the tension — our culture has convinced us those two things are mutually exclusive. According to the world, if you stand firm, you're not loving. And to love well, you have to go along. But Pastor Kelly pushes back on both extremes and shows through the life of Daniel that there's a third way.

Drawing from Daniel's example, he lays out four practical ways to love well while living in Babylon: serving instead of separating, watching your posture not just your position, remaining consistent when the culture shifts around you, and loving from a place of settled identity in Christ.

He also takes a hard look at what love actually is — not culture's definition, but Paul's definition in 1 Corinthians 13 — and makes the case that a doctor who finds something life-threatening and doesn't tell you isn't being kind. That's negligence. And the same is true for followers of Jesus.

This episode will challenge you to ask: Am I compromising truth in the name of compassion? Am I being harsh in the name of conviction? And is my identity settled enough in Christ that I can love people freely — without needing them to agree with me?

📖 Daniel 1 | 1 Corinthians 13:4–7 | Jeremiah 29:4–7 | Colossians 4:5–6 | Luke 6:32–35

Watts Bar Community Church — Decatur, TN

You are in Babylon. The question is: how much of Babylon are you letting into you?

In this message, Pastor Kelly Goins opens Daniel Chapter 1 to expose the enemy's three-part strategy against believers in every generation — confuse, control, and conform — and shows how it's playing out in culture right now with striking clarity.

Drawing from the story of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego — young Jewish men thrown into a pagan empire and pressured to adopt a new identity, new diet, and new worldview — Pastor Kelly connects the dots to what followers of Jesus face today: an all-out attack on identity, a slow drift toward cultural Christianity, and a culture that wants to disciple you before the church gets the chance.

He also addresses the viral story of NBA player Jaden Ivey, who was fired by the Chicago Bulls after posting a video declaring his Christian faith — and what his response after getting fired says about what it looks like to truly resolve in your heart.

This episode will challenge you to ask honestly: Am I a follower of Jesus, or just a cultural Christian? And more importantly — have you resolved in your heart what you'll do when the pressure comes? Because if you haven't decided before the fire, you won't decide in it.

📖 Daniel 1 | John 17:14-19 | Ephesians 6:12 | James 1:27