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Words are never “just words.” In this message, Pastor Katie Gayle continues our journey through the book of James, exploring how our speech reveals the true condition of our hearts. James isn’t merely concerned with outward behavior; he calls followers of Jesus to wholehearted discipleship that transforms even the way we speak. 

Using vivid illustrations from James 3, Katie shows that our words have incredible power. They can encourage or wound, direct the course of a life or ignite destruction. Every one of us can remember words that built us up—and words that still echo years later because they caused deep hurt. The gospel calls us to recognize that our speech matters because our words flow from what is happening inside us.

James doesn’t leave us with a message of simply trying harder. While human beings can tame wild animals, we cannot tame our own tongues by willpower alone. The restless tongue exposes divided hearts, reminding us that lasting change comes only as Jesus transforms us from the inside out. Rather than relying on self-discipline alone, we are invited to continually apply the gospel to our lives, allowing Christ to reshape both our hearts and our speech.

📖 Key Themes in This Message:
🔹 Our words reveal the true condition of our hearts.
🔹 Even small words can have life-changing consequences for good or for harm.
🔹 The tongue cannot be tamed through human effort alone.
🔹 The gospel transforms us from the inside out, producing speech that reflects the character of Christ.
🔹 Our calling is not simply to speak less carelessly, but to become people whose hearts have been renewed by Jesus.

Faith is expressed not only through what we do, but also through what we say. As we surrender our hearts to Christ, our words increasingly become instruments of blessing, encouragement, truth, and peace. Jesus doesn’t merely ask us to control our tongues—He offers to transform the hearts from which our words flow.

Relevant Scripture references: James 3:1-12, Genesis 1:26-28, Luke 19:1-10, Matthew 12:34-37, Proverbs 18:21.

📅 Join us this week at Wellspring Church! Looking to grow deeper in your faith? Visit www.wellspringenglewood.com to learn more.

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Welcome to Wellspring Church!

What does it mean to treat people the way Jesus does? In this message, Pastor Billy Waters continues our series through the book of James by exploring the destructive power of favoritism and discrimination. James reminds us that showing partiality isn’t just poor manners—it contradicts the very character of God. Every person bears God’s image, and the Church is called to reflect the mercy of Christ by welcoming, honoring, and serving others without distinction.

📖 Key Themes in This Message:
🔹 Why favoritism and discrimination distort the witness of the Church
🔹 Every person is created in the image of God and possesses equal dignity
🔹 The “royal law” calls us to love our neighbors rather than elevate some above others
🔹 God’s mercy transforms us so that we extend mercy to everyone we encounter

James doesn’t merely expose sin—it points us to the mercy of Jesus. Having received God’s undeserved mercy, we are freed to become people who demonstrate that same mercy to others. As we follow Christ, our lives become a testimony to the gospel when we refuse favoritism, embrace every person with dignity, and allow mercy to triumph over judgment.

Relevant Scripture references: James 2:1-13, Leviticus 19:18, Deuteronomy 1:17, Genesis 1:26-27, Matthew 22:37-40, Matthew 25:31-46, 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, Luke 8:1-3 and James 2:13.

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Welcome to Wellspring Church!

What does real spiritual growth look like? In this message, Pastor Billy Waters explores a question many Christians wrestle with: if God desires to transform us, how do we actually grow? Looking at the book of James, Billy reminds us that spiritual maturity is not primarily about trying harder or compiling a longer list of religious accomplishments. Instead, growth begins with a heart that is humble, receptive, and responsive to God’s Word.

Throughout the message, we are challenged to move beyond simply hearing Scripture and into a life of obedience. Billy explains that transformation is both God’s work and our participation. The Holy Spirit changes us, but he also calls us to cultivate a posture of humility, receiving the Word with openness and allowing it to shape our lives. As we submit ourselves to God’s truth, we are gradually transformed into the likeness of Christ.

📖 Key Themes in This Message:
🔹 Why spiritual growth is more than behavior modification or trying harder
🔹 The danger of reducing Christianity to a list of commands and expectations
🔹 Receiving God’s Word with humility and spiritual receptivity
🔹 Becoming doers of the Word, not merely hearers
🔹 How transformation happens “from one degree of glory to another”
🔹 Living faithfully in a challenging cultural moment while remaining rooted in Scripture

Faithfulness is not achieved through sheer effort but through a heart surrendered to God. As we listen to his voice, receive his Word, and walk in obedience, the Holy Spirit forms us into people who reflect the character of Jesus. The result is not only personal transformation, but a church marked by holiness, justice, spiritual growth, and faithful witness in the world.

Relevant Scripture references: James 1:19–25, James 1:22, James 4, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Isaiah 1, and 1 John 2:2.

📅 Join us this week at Wellspring Church! Looking to grow deeper in your faith? Visit www.wellspringenglewood.com to learn more.

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Welcome to Wellspring Church!

In this message, Pastor Katie Gayle launches our new series through the book of James by exploring a question that sits at the heart of Christian discipleship: What does it actually look like to follow Jesus in real life?

James wrote to believers who had been scattered by persecution and were facing significant trials. Rather than offering easy answers or promises of comfort, he assumes that hardship is a normal part of life with God. Katie reminds us that James is not interested in a faith that is merely claimed, but a faith that is lived—a community whose lives reflect wholehearted devotion to Jesus, not just Christian language or identity.  

📖 Key Themes in This Message:
🔹 The difference between claiming faith and living faith
🔹 Why trials are not an exception to the Christian life, but an expected part of it
🔹 How God uses suffering to form maturity, perseverance, and wholeness in his people
🔹 The temptation to build our lives around comfort, control, and self-protection
🔹 Finding joy in the midst of hardship because God is actively at work in us
🔹 Seeking God’s wisdom when we do not know how to navigate life’s challenges
🔹 Trusting that Jesus is present with us in every struggle and is using even difficult circumstances for our good

James challenges us to see our trials differently. Rather than viewing them as evidence that God has abandoned us, we are invited to see them as opportunities for God to shape us into people who are mature, complete, and fully devoted to him. The Christian life is not about avoiding hardship but about remaining faithful through it, trusting that God is refining us and giving us the wisdom we need along the way. As we walk through seasons of difficulty, we can take courage knowing that Jesus meets us there and is forming us into the kind of people whose faith is visible in everyday life.

Relevant Scripture references: James 1:1–8, James 1:2–4, James 1:5, James 2:17, James 5:12, John 20:24–29, 1 Corinthians 15:7, John 16:33, Matthew 6:25–34, Luke 11:9–13, Hebrews 4:15–16. 

📅 Join us this week at Wellspring Church! Looking to grow deeper in your faith? Visit www.wellspringenglewood.com to learn more.

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Welcome to Wellspring Church!

In this Baptism Sunday message, Pastor Billy Waters reflects on the difference between living in darkness and living in the light of Christ. Using the experience of suddenly losing power and being left in the dark as an illustration, Billy explores how darkness leaves us disoriented, hesitant, anxious, and unsure of where to go. In the same way, spiritual darkness can leave us struggling with fear, discouragement, confusion, and uncertainty about the future.

The good news of the gospel is that Jesus does not leave us in darkness. He comes as the Light of the World, revealing who God is and showing us how to live. Billy reminds us that apart from Christ, we stumble through life trying to find our way. But when Jesus shines his light into our hearts, everything changes. What was once hidden becomes clear, and what was once ruled by fear can be marked by confidence and hope.

📖 Key Themes in This Message:
🔹 The disorienting nature of spiritual darkness
🔹 Jesus as the Light who guides and reveals truth
🔹 The transformation that comes through encountering Christ
🔹 Baptism as a public declaration of a new reality
🔹 Moving from death to life and from darkness into light

On a day when Wellspring celebrated the baptism of 16 people, Billy emphasized that baptism is far more than a religious ritual. It is an outward expression of an inward reality. Through faith in Jesus, we are united with him in his death and resurrection. Baptism proclaims that our old life has passed away, that we have been raised to new life in Christ, and that we now belong to the kingdom of light. As those who follow Jesus, we are invited to walk confidently in the light he provides rather than stumble through the darkness on our own.

Relevant Scripture references: John 8:12; John 7:37–39; Ephesians 5:8; Romans 6:3–5; Colossians 1:13–14; 1 Peter 2:9.

📅 Join us this week at Wellspring Church! Looking to grow deeper in your faith? Visit www.wellspringenglewood.com to learn more.

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Welcome to Wellspring Church!

What difference does the doctrine of the Trinity make in everyday life? On Trinity Sunday, Pastor Billy Waters explores why the Trinity is not merely a difficult theological concept to understand but the very foundation of Christian life, worship, and community.

Drawing from Scripture and the Church’s historic teaching, Billy reminds us that God is one God in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. While the Trinity can feel mysterious and even frustrating to fully grasp, it is not meant to leave us distant from God. Instead, the Trinity reveals that God is eternally relational, a communion of love into which we are invited. Because God himself is a community of persons, the Church is called to reflect that same life of love, unity, and fellowship.

📖 Key Themes in This Message:
🔹 Why the mystery of the Trinity should lead us to worship rather than frustration
🔹 How the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit work together in creation and salvation
🔹 What it means that God is eternally relational and communal
🔹 Why Christian community flows from the very nature of God
🔹 The connection between our baptism and our participation in the life of the Trinity
🔹 Moving beyond merely understanding doctrine to living in its reality

The Trinity is not a puzzle to solve but a reality to receive. As we worship the Father through the Son in the power of the Holy Spirit, we discover that God’s life is one of perfect love, and he invites us to share in that life. The more we behold who God is, the more our own lives are shaped into communities of love, worship, and faithful witness.

Relevant Scripture references: Matthew 28:19; Matthew 3:13–17; John 1:1–3; John 8:58; John 17; Acts 5:3–4; and 1 Corinthians 8:6.

📅 Join us this week at Wellspring Church! Looking to grow deeper in your faith? Visit www.wellspringenglewood.com to learn more.

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Welcome to Wellspring Church!

What does it mean to be a Spirit-filled witness in the world? In this message, Pastor David Norris explores the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and the way Jesus continues his ministry through the Church today.

Looking through Acts 2, the Psalms, and the story of David’s anointing in 1 Samuel, we see that Pentecost is not just a dramatic moment in Church history—it is the fulfillment of God’s promise to pour out his Spirit on his people. Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension were not the end of his ministry, but the beginning of a new way he would work through ordinary believers empowered by the Holy Spirit.

📖 Key Themes in This Message:
🔹 How Pentecost fulfills God’s promises through Jesus
🔹 The contrast between Saul and David as pictures of the Spirit’s presence and departure
🔹 Why the Church grows not through human eloquence or performance, but through the power of the Holy Spirit
🔹 How Jesus continues his compassionate ministry through his people today
🔹 Becoming witnesses who embody the heart and compassion of Christ in the world

Faith is not sustained by charisma, talent, or polished presentation. As Pastor David reminds us, God’s kingdom advances “not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit.” The same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead now fills and sends the Church to love, serve, and bear witness to him in every place.

Relevant Scripture references: Acts 2:22–36, Psalm 16, 1 Samuel 15–16, Zechariah 4:6, and Joel 2:28–29.

📅 Join us this week at Wellspring Church! Looking to grow deeper in your faith? Visit www.wellspringenglewood.com to learn more.

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Welcome to Wellspring Church!

In this message, we conclude the “Send Us Out” series by asking a challenging question: What does it actually look like for the Church to engage culture faithfully? Rather than retreating from the world or blending into it, we are called to be people who are deeply formed by Jesus and sent into every sphere of life as his witnesses.

Pastor Billy Waters explores the tension many Christians feel when it comes to politics, social issues, business, art, media, and public life. The temptation can be either to withdraw entirely into private spirituality or to adopt the same values and methods as the surrounding culture. But Jesus calls us to something different—a faithful presence rooted in the Kingdom of God.

📖 Key Themes in This Message:
🔹 What it means to be “sent out” as witnesses of Jesus
🔹 Why engaging culture is complex, nuanced, and often uncomfortable
🔹 The danger of both cultural withdrawal and cultural conformity
🔹 How Christians can carry the values of the Kingdom into work, politics, art, business, and everyday life
🔹 Living as people formed by Christ rather than shaped by fear or outrage

The Church is not called to hide from the world, nor to mirror it. We are sent out by Jesus to embody his love, truth, holiness, and hope in every place we go. As followers of Christ, we engage culture not to win arguments or gain power, but to faithfully bear witness to the Kingdom of God in the middle of a broken world.

Relevant Scripture references: Matthew 5:13–16, John 17:15–18, Romans 12:2, Jeremiah 29:7, 1 Peter 2:11–12, and Acts 1:8.

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Welcome to Wellspring Church!

What does it look like to live a faithful life through our everyday work? In this message, Billy Waters turns our attention to a powerful encouragement from Thessalonians, showing that the way we work is deeply connected to the way we follow Jesus.

In a world where work can easily become either an idol or a burden, we’re invited into a steady, grounded rhythm of faithfulness. Billy highlights how Paul calls believers to live quietly, mind their own affairs, and work with their hands—not as a small or insignificant calling, but as a witness to the world. Our work becomes a place where integrity, humility, and love take shape in practical ways.

📖 Key Themes in This Message:
🔹 The biblical call to a quiet, faithful life
🔹 Why ordinary work is spiritually significant
🔹 Living with integrity and consistency in everyday responsibilities
🔹 How our work becomes a witness to those around us

Faith isn’t confined to church spaces—it’s lived out in emails, meetings, chores, and conversations. As we embrace a life of steady faithfulness, we reflect the heart of Jesus in ways that are often unseen but deeply impactful.

Relevant Scripture references: 1 Thessalonians 4:11–12 (“aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands… so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one”), 2 Thessalonians 3:6–13, and Colossians 3:17.

📅 Join us this week at Wellspring Church! Looking to grow deeper in your faith? Visit www.wellspringenglewood.com to learn more.

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Welcome to Wellspring Church!

What does it mean to truly know God—not just about him, but to live in deep relationship with him? In this message, Pastor Katie Gayle invites us to consider how easily our faith can become shaped by shifting voices around us rather than the steady truth of Jesus.

Drawing from Jesus’ prayer for his disciples, we see that our identity is rooted in being known and loved by God. Katie reminds us that we are set apart not by striving, but by truth—God’s Word forming us over time. In a world full of competing narratives, Jesus anchors us in what is real, good, and eternal.

📖 Key Themes in This Message:

🔹 The difference between knowing about God and truly knowing him

🔹 How Jesus’ prayer reveals our identity and purpose

🔹 Being sanctified—set apart—by the truth of God’s Word

🔹 Living faithfully in a culture that constantly reshapes belief

Following Jesus isn’t about constructing our own version of truth—it’s about receiving the truth he reveals and letting it shape every part of our lives. As we remain in him, we are formed into people who reflect his love to the world.

Relevant Scripture references: John 17:17–23, Colossians 1:9–14, and Romans 12:2.

📅 Join us this week at Wellspring Church! Looking to grow deeper in your faith? Visit www.wellspringenglewood.com to learn more.

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