Wonder Church

In Step | CLIMB Series — Week 3

“We don’t rest from work — we rest in His.”

In Week 3 of the CLIMB series, Pastor CJ Witkoe addresses one of the most overlooked reasons people burn out in faith and ministry: we try to rest without plugging into God’s love.

You can unplug.
 You can take a day off.
 You can sleep, vacation, sabbath, and slow down…
 and still feel completely drained.

Why? Because unplugging doesn’t recharge — only connection does.

Drawing from 1 John 4:18–19, this message reveals how fear-driven performance quietly fuels exhaustion, anxiety, and burnout — even in spiritual disciplines meant to bring rest. Perfect love doesn’t just comfort us; it casts out fear and replaces performance-driven anxiety with identity-driven obedience.

In this message, you’ll discover:
 ⛰️ Why weariness doesn’t mean failure — it means you’re climbing
 🔌 The difference between unplugging and actually recharging
 😰 How fear and performance anxiety drain us even when we’re “resting”
 ❤️ Why resting in God’s finished work changes how we climb
👣 How staying “in step” with Jesus makes the climb sustainable for you — and easier for those behind you

The mountain has already been summited by Jesus.
 We don’t climb to earn love — we climb because we are loved.

📖 Scripture: 1 John 4:18–19; Galatians 6:9; Philippians 3:9
🎙️ Series: CLIMB
🧗 Message Title: In Step (Week 3)

If you’re tired, anxious, or trying to prove yourself — this message will help you learn how to rest in His love and keep climbing with renewed strength.

Link Up | CLIMB Series — Week 2

“Let us not become weary in doing good… if we do not give up.” — Galatians 6:9
“Let us not neglect our meeting together… but encourage one another.” — Hebrews 10:24–25

Climbing alone might feel simpler, cleaner, and safer — but it’s also how people fall.
In Week 2 of the CLIMB series, Pastor CJ Witkoe reminds us that God never intended us to climb our ministry mountain by ourselves. The climb may be slower. It may be messier. But you will never go as far alone as you could with others.

Using powerful imagery from mountaineering, this message reveals why linking up isn’t optional — it’s essential. Ropes and harnesses don’t eliminate danger, but they keep one misstep from becoming fatal. In the same way, Christian community doesn’t remove hardship, but it keeps us from isolation, burnout, and spiritual collapse.

In this message, you’ll discover:
🧗 Why isolation is one of the enemy’s most effective strategies
🤝 How encouragement requires intentionality, not convenience
🔥 Why obedience — not success — is the true metric of faith
🏠 Why gathering with the church is irreplaceable (and livestreams are supplements, not sustenance)
🌾 How the “harvest” we’re waiting for may be standing right next to us

Hebrews tells us to think carefully about how to motivate one another — to spur each other on toward love and good works — especially now. Time is short. Jesus is coming back. And every gathering is an opportunity for a miracle.

📖 Scripture: Galatians 6:9; Hebrews 10:24–25
🎙️ Series: CLIMB
🧗 Message Title: Link Up (Week 2)

If you’ve ever thought, “No one understands,” this message will remind you that nothing wars against isolation like worshipping alongside people who have experienced the same grace you have.

Choose to Climb | CLIMB Series — Week 1

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
 — Galatians 6:9 (NIV)

Have you ever hit a point where things got hard and you wondered, “Did I miss something?”
In this opening message of the CLIMB series, Pastor CJ Witkoe reminds us that difficulty doesn’t mean failure — it often means progress.

Using the picture of mountain climbing, this message reframes weariness not as a warning sign, but as evidence that you’re on the ascent. The steep part of the climb doesn’t mean you’re lost. It means you’re getting closer.

In this message, you’ll discover:
 ⛰️ Why doing good will make you tired — and why that’s normal
💪 The difference between getting weary and giving up
🎒 How unexamined habits and systems can sabotage the climb
🤝 Why community, spiritual disciplines, and margin aren’t optional — they’re essential gear
🔥 How choosing the right preparation keeps you climbing when things get hard

The truth is, most people don’t quit because they don’t love Jesus.
 They quit because they’re climbing with the wrong gear.

This message is an invitation — not to avoid the climb, but to choose it, prepare for it, and keep going together.

📖 Scripture: Galatians 6:9
🎙️ Series: CLIMB
🧗 Message Title: Choose to Climb (Week 1)

Whether you’re tired, discouraged, or just starting your faith journey, this message will help you see that becoming weary doesn’t mean you’re failing — it means you’re climbing.

Christmas Eve 2025 | Prince of Peace — Are We Ok With God?

Have you ever quietly wondered,
 “God… are we ok?”

Life has been hard. You’ve messed up. You feel distant. And beneath the noise of Christmas and the pressure to feel joyful, that question lingers — Are we still ok?

In this Christmas Eve message, Pastor CJ Witkoe unpacks Isaiah 9:6 and the powerful truth that Jesus didn’t come to make us “ok with ourselves.” He came as the Prince of Peace — to make us ok with God.

Our culture offers a fragile substitute: “I’m ok with me.”
But peace based on self-approval collapses when circumstances change, comparisons creep in, or guilt resurfaces. Real peace doesn’t come from inside us — it comes from being made right with God.

In this message, you’ll discover:
 🎄 Why being “ok with yourself” isn’t the same as being at peace
 🕊️ How Jesus offers peace that outlasts your emotions and failures
 ❤️ The difference between justification (being made right with God) and sanctification (being transformed by God)
🩸 Why peace is only possible because Jesus took the consequences of our sin
✨ How the Prince of Peace offers not comfort without change — but peace with transformation

This Christmas Eve, Jesus isn’t offering permission to stay the same.
 He’s offering something better: a settled conscience, a secure relationship with God, and a new beginning.

📖 Scripture: Isaiah 9:6; 1 John 3:20; 2 Corinthians 3:18
🎄 Service: Christmas Eve 2025
👑 Message Title: Prince of Peace

Be Still and Embrace a Kingdom Mindset | Word for the Year

“Be still, and know that I am God.” — Psalm 46:10

In a world that celebrates hurry, noise, and constant motion, God invites us to slow down. In this message, Pastor CJ and Nicole calls the church to pause, reflect, and look ahead by embracing a Kingdom mindset rooted in stillness, trust, and perspective.

Often it’s not that God isn’t speaking — it’s that we’re moving too fast to listen. When we slow down, we gain clarity. When we become still, we remember who is actually in control. And when we see life from God’s point of view, our priorities begin to align with His Kingdom.

In this message, you’ll be invited to:
⏸️ Be still — creating space to hear God clearly
👑 Embrace a Kingdom mindset — seeing people, the Church, and priorities through God’s eyes
🕊️ Reflect on the past year — identifying the moments God used to shape and mature you
🌱 Look ahead with faith — discerning what God may want to do in and through you next

This message introduces a rhythm for the year ahead — one that is unhurried yet unstoppable, grounded in trust that God is at work even when we slow down.

📖 Scripture: Psalm 46:10
🎯 Theme: Word for the Year
💡 Message Title: Be Still and Embrace a Kingdom Mindset

The Story: Joy | Christmas Is for Everyone

When the angel appeared to the shepherds, the announcement wasn’t just good news — it was great joy. And that joy wasn’t reserved for kings, scholars, or the spiritually impressive. It was first given to shepherds — the overlooked, the unclean, the exhausted, the lowly.

In this Christmas message from Josee Schilling, we’re reminded that joy is for everyone. No matter your past, your pain, your position, or your present circumstances, the joy of Christmas meets you right where you are.

This message reveals that joy is an act of defiance — evidence that we belong to a different Kingdom. In a world ruled by fear, despair, and striving, Christian joy boldly declares that Jesus is King and that hope has broken in.

But ultimately, joy isn’t determined by what’s happening around you —
it’s determined by who is with you.

The angel’s message to the shepherds was the Gospel itself: Jesus has come to make us right with God. And that reality changes everything.

In this message, you’ll discover:
 ✨ Why joy is for everyone
 ✨ Why joy is resistance
 ✨ Joy isn't determine by what's around you, but who is with you.

📖 Scripture: Luke 2:8–20
🎄 Series: The Story (Christmas at Wonder Church)
💡 Message Topic: Joy

If you’ve been discouraged, weary, or wondering if joy is still possible for you — this message is for you.

Hope For Those Who Sit in Darkness | Christmas at Wonder Church

“The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light.” — Matthew 4:16

Christmas is supposed to be magical — full of concerts, lights, traditions, and moments we try so hard to savor. But what happens when the Christmas story collides with our story? What if this season isn’t festive, but heavy? What if joy feels far away, and hope feels impossible?

In this message, Pastor CJ Witkoe explores Matthew 4:12–16 and the prophecy Isaiah spoke centuries earlier: the light of Christ breaks in for those who sit in darkness. Not just for the religious. Not just for the hopeful. But for the hopeless. The disappointed. The exhausted. The ones who have heard “no” so many times they stopped praying, stopped dreaming, stopped expecting anything to change.

In this Christmas message, you’ll discover:

🕯️ 1. People who sit in darkness have often lost hope.
When life says “NOPE” — jobs, relationships, health, dreams, even God — hopelessness begins to feel normal.

🌑 2. People who sit in darkness adjust their eyes.
Sometimes we stop trying to get out. We settle. We succeed outwardly but feel empty inwardly. We lower our expectations because disappointment hurts too much.

✨ 3. But into that darkness… a GREAT Light shines.
The hope of the Gospel is not faint — it is great. Jesus breaks in exactly where hope has died. As Tozer said: “It is in the dark that God does His best work in us.”

🌅 4. Those who see the light must decide.
When the light appears, we either remain seated… or we run toward it.

This is a message for anyone who has felt stuck, discouraged, numb, disappointed, or spiritually tired — and for anyone who needs to believe again that Jesus still shines in dark places… even here, even now.

📖 Scripture: Matthew 4:12–16; Isaiah 9; John 8:12
🎄 Series: Christmas at Wonder
✨ Message Title: For Those Who Sit in Darkness

More Than a Meal – Pt. 4 | Look Ahead

“You are announcing the Lord’s death until He comes again.” — 1 Corinthians 11:26

Communion doesn’t just point inward, backward, or around us—it points forward.
In this final message of our More Than a Meal series, Pastor CJ Witkoe teaches that the Lord’s Supper is a preview, a foretaste, and a dress rehearsal for the greatest celebration in eternity: the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

Jesus said, “I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom.”
That means there is a future meal coming… and communion is the appetizer.

In this message you’ll discover:
🍞 Communion awakens hunger — a holy longing for the day Jesus returns.
🌿 Communion sets the tone — what we taste now will be fully realized in glory.
🕊 Communion secures your seat at the table — participation identifies us as His people.
📣 Communion gives us a mission — we proclaim His death until He comes again.

Communion is not the last supper—it’s the preview of the next supper.

📖 Scripture: 1 Corinthians 11:23–26; Matthew 26:29; Revelation 19:6–9
🎙️ Series: More Than a Meal: The Theology of Communion
🕊️ Message 4: Look Ahead

More Than a Meal – Pt. 3 | Look Around

“This is my body… this is my blood.” — Jesus (Matthew 26:26–28)

Communion isn’t just something we think about — it’s something we participate in.
In Part 3 of our More Than a Meal series, Pastor CJ Witkoe invites us to stop overthinking, slow down, and look around at what Jesus is actually doing in communion.

When Jesus said, “This is my body… this is my blood,” He took the familiar symbolism of the Passover meal and radically redefined it. No longer shaped by the lamb of Egypt, the bread and cup now point to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

In this message you’ll discover:
 🍞 The new meaning of the bread — the sacrifice of Jesus that delivers us from sin.
🍷 The significance of the cup — the covenant confirmed by His blood, securing forgiveness for the many.
🙌 The real mystery of communion — not mystical transformation, but Jesus’ presence alive in His people.
🧡 Why participation matters more than perfect understanding — “take and eat,” not “take and understand.”
🌿 How looking around helps us stop overthinking and start experiencing God.

Communion is more than a symbol to study — it’s a grace to receive, a presence to encounter, and a reminder that the wonder of God is found not in merely understanding Him, but in participating with Him.

📖 Scripture: Matthew 26:26–28; Exodus 6:6–7; Exodus 24:8; Leviticus 17:11
🎙️ Series: More Than a Meal: The Theology of Communion
🕊️ Message 3: Look Around

More Than a Meal: The Theology of Communion | Part 2 - Look Back 

“Do this in remembrance of me.”
With those words, Jesus invites us to look back — not with guilt or nostalgia, but with gratitude and awe.

In this second message of the More Than a Meal series, Pastor CJ Witkoe unpacks the sacred meaning of remembrance in communion. We don’t just recall an event in history — we relive the reality of the cross, the love that was poured out, and the covenant that still holds us today.

When we look back to the body broken and the blood shed, we’re reminded that grace isn’t a concept — it’s a person. Communion reorients our hearts to what Jesus has done, anchors our faith in His sacrifice, and renews our relationship with Him and with one another.

In this message, you’ll discover:
🍞 What “remembrance” truly means in biblical context
❤️ How to move from routine to reverence when taking communion
🩸 Why the cross is not just something to recall — but something to live from
🙏 How looking back gives us strength to move forward

📖 Scripture: 1 Corinthians 11:23–26, Luke 22:14–20
🎙️ Series: More Than a Meal: The Theology of Communion
🕊️ Message 2: Look Back