You Changed My Mind

Scripture: Proverbs 3:5–6; Proverbs 12:15; 1 Kings 12; Matthew 7:13–14.

Key themes: Trusting God instead of ourselves, submitting to His process, learning from Scripture and godly mentors, the value of ancient wisdom, the dangers of popularity and groupthink, and walking the narrow road that leads to life.

Description: We live in a world overflowing with advice. Social media influencers, friends, celebrities, and countless experts are eager to tell us how to live. But how do we know whose advice is actually wise? Proverbs 3 tells us to trust in the Lord with all our hearts and lean not on our own understanding. Yet we often do the opposite, trusting our own instincts, following popular opinions, and dismissing wisdom that has been tested and refined over generations.

Sometimes God's process doesn't make sense to us. Just as Daniel in The Karate Kid couldn't understand why Mr. Miyagi had him waxing cars and painting fences, we may struggle to understand why God leads us through certain seasons of preparation. King David spent years waiting to become king, learning lessons he couldn't have anticipated. Trusting God means submitting to His wisdom even when we don't yet understand what He's doing.

But our own understanding isn't the only thing that can lead us astray. We often assume that newer ideas are better and that popular opinions must be right. In 1 Kings 12, Rehoboam rejects the wisdom of his father's experienced advisors in favor of the advice of his friends, ultimately dividing the kingdom. His story reminds us that popularity and confidence are no substitutes for wisdom.

Jesus calls us to enter through the narrow gate, even when the crowd is heading in another direction. Growing in wisdom requires humility, discernment, and a willingness to learn from people who have gone before us. By seeking godly mentors, examining whose advice influences us, and trusting God's Word over our own understanding, we can learn to follow Jesus faithfully—even when His way seems difficult, outdated, or unpopular.

Scripture: Proverbs 14:12; Romans 12:1–2; 1 Corinthians 2:12–15; Matthew 7:1–5.

Key themes: The examined life, discernment as good judgment, transformation through the Holy Spirit, recognizing worldly influences, biblical judgment without hypocrisy, and discipleship as a pathway to wisdom.

Description: Why do we make the decisions we make? How much of what we believe comes from carefully examining our lives, and how much comes from simply absorbing the attitudes and values of the world around us? Proverbs warns that there is a way that appears right but ultimately leads to death. Romans 12 gives us a different path: instead of conforming to the world, we are called to be transformed by the renewing of our minds so we can discern God's good, pleasing, and perfect will.

Discernment is essentially good judgment—the ability to recognize the difference between good and evil, truth and falsehood, and wisdom and foolishness. Like learning to read road signs or putting on special glasses that reveal a hidden picture, the Holy Spirit helps us see what we might otherwise miss. God's wisdom often looks foolish to the world, but it leads us toward the life He created us to live.

Jesus also teaches us how to exercise good judgment. His warning about judging others isn't an invitation to abandon discernment, but to recognize our own shortcomings and approach others with humility. We grow in this wisdom through discipleship, learning from Scripture and from mature Christians who have already navigated the situations we're facing.

Whether we're deciding which friends to surround ourselves with, what college to attend, or how to respond to a difficult situation, we don't have to stumble through life doing whatever feels right. We can grow in discernment, recognize the influences shaping us, and learn to choose God's wisdom over the wisdom of the world.

Scripture: Proverbs 1:1–7; 1 Corinthians 6:18; 1 Timothy 6:11.

Key themes: wisdom and justice, fear of the Lord, navigating thing we can’t control, avoiding compromise, and fleeing from temptation.

Description: In this message, we continue our wisdom series in Proverbs 1 by looking at two major themes: the fear of the Lord and the connection between wisdom, righteousness, justice, and fairness. Wisdom helps us navigate life like a ship moving through icebergs—sometimes we can’t remove the obstacles, but we can learn how to move through them wisely. We also talk about why the better question is not always “Is this a sin?” but “Is this wise?” From school, habits, substances, relationships, and temptation, this message instructs us to draw the line far back from sin, flee what pulls us away from God, and pursue the kind of life that honors Him.

Scripture: Proverbs 4:1–9.

Key themes: Wisdom vs. folly, God’s desire to protect and guide us, wisdom as skillful living, learning the easy way instead of the hard way, avoiding life’s "icebergs", and pursuing the person God is shaping us to become.

Description: This message begins a new series on wisdom by asking us to imagine meeting our past self. What advice would you give? What mistakes would you warn yourself to avoid? And would your younger self actually listen? That tension helps us understand Proverbs 4, where a father passes on wisdom to his children and urges them to “get wisdom” no matter the cost.

In the Bible, wisdom is connected to skill—the ability to live well. A wise artist knows how to paint in the right order. A wise carpenter measures twice and cuts once. A wise sailor knows how to navigate through icebergs without sinking the ship. In the same way, God’s wisdom helps us navigate school, friendships, habits, goals, temptation, anxiety, and the kind of person we are becoming.

This message also helps us move beyond asking only, “Is this a sin?” Sometimes the better question is, “Is this wise?” Some choices may not immediately sink your life, but they can still knock you off course, slow you down, or make the journey harder than it needs to be. Proverbs reminds us that God is not trying to rob us of joy—He longs to give us wisdom for our good and for the good of others. The first step is humility: “I don’t know it all. I need help. I need wisdom.”

I'm moving from middle school pastor high school pastor! That means things are going to shift slightly

Scripture: Acts 20:17–31; Mark 8:34–37; 1 Corinthians 1:10–12; 1 Corinthians 3:4–7, 21–23; 1 Corinthians 4:14–16; 2 Timothy 2:13.

Key themes: leadership transitions in the church, Paul’s farewell to Ephesus, pastoral humility and resilience, preaching the whole counsel of God, guarding against wolves and distorted teaching, resisting celebrity-pastor culture, and placing our faith in Jesus instead of people.

Description: In this final message from our “Now What?” series through Acts, we turn to one of the most emotional leadership-transition passages in the New Testament: Paul’s farewell to the Ephesian elders. Paul has poured years into this church, but the Holy Spirit is leading him toward Jerusalem, where prison and suffering likely await. Before he goes, he reminds the elders how he lived among them, how he preached publicly and from house to house, and how he did not shy away from proclaiming the whole counsel of God.

This passage gives us a picture of what to look for in church leaders: humility, resilience, boldness, practical teaching, doctrinal faithfulness, and a deep concern for the long-term health of the church after they are gone. It also prepares us for the dangers that can come during transition—temptation, conflict, false teaching, and people attaching their faith too closely to a favorite pastor or personality. Paul reminds us that leaders plant and water, but God gives the growth.

As PCC walks through a senior pastor transition, this message encourages us to be watchful, biblically grounded, and deeply rooted in Jesus. Good leaders matter, and we should learn from older, godlier people as they become more like Christ. But pastors are not our Savior. They are servants. Our faith must not rise or fall with any human leader, because even when people fail, God remains faithful.

Scripture: Acts 12:12; Acts 13:2–5, 13; Acts 15:36–41; Colossians 4:10.

Key themes: Barnabas welcoming Paul, John Mark’s abandonment, Paul and Barnabas splitting over trust, dependability in discipleship, and becoming someone who follows through.

Description: In this “Now What?” message, we continue from Saul’s conversion into the story of Paul, Barnabas, and John Mark. Barnabas once welcomed Paul when everyone else was afraid of him, and now he wants to extend grace to his cousin Mark after Mark deserted them on a mission trip. Paul, however, doesn’t think it’s wise to bring someone who failed to finish the work. Rather than giving us an easy answer, Acts shows faithful people wrestling with real disagreement. The focus turns to John Mark as a warning and invitation: grow in dependability. Whether it’s ministry, school, sports, friendships, or family, followers of Jesus should become the kind of people others can count on to do what they say they’ll do. Pasted markdown

Scripture: Acts 8:3; Acts 9:1–28; 1 Corinthians 15:9; Galatians 1:13–14; Acts 22:3; Philippians 3:5–6.

Key themes: God redeeming enemies of the church, Saul’s road-to-Damascus encounter, Ananias’ obedience, Barnabas’ hospitality and advocacy, C.S. Lewis as a modern parallel, evangelism toward unlikely people, and patient discipleship for messy new believers.

Description: In this message from our “Now What?” series, we move from Stephen’s martyrdom to the man who oversaw it: Saul. Acts tells us Saul was not just passively opposed to Christianity—he was dragging believers out of their homes, throwing them in prison, and trying to destroy the church. By every human expectation, Saul was the last person anyone would expect to become a Christian. But on the road to Damascus, Jesus intervenes. Saul is blinded, humbled, prayed for, baptized, and called by God as a chosen instrument to carry the gospel to the nations.

The message then turns to the people around Saul. Ananias has to obey God’s call to go to the very person who came to harm Christians. Barnabas later steps in when the believers in Jerusalem are afraid and helps welcome Saul into the church. Their example encourages us to pray for and move toward the people we assume are too far gone—the “Sauls” and “C.S. Lewises” in our lives.

We also talk about sanctification: becoming holy, more like Jesus. Saul’s story reminds us that salvation can happen in a moment, but growth often takes time. New believers can be messy, abrasive, and rough around the edges, so the church must respond with both grace and truth—correcting gently without rejecting people God is still forming. The closing reminder is powerful: Jesus did not come merely to make bad people good; He came to make dead people live.

Scripture: Acts 6:1–7; Acts 7:54–8:4; 2 Timothy 3:12–14; Acts 1:4, 8; Hebrews 10:36.

Key themes: the early church beyond the idealized version, disagreement in healthy churches, deacons and Spirit-filled service, Stephen’s martyrdom, persecution and mission, God’s providence in setbacks, and seeing the shore through the fog.

Description: In this message from our “Now What?” series, we move from the excitement of Pentecost into the harder realities of church life. Acts 2 can make the early church look idyllic, but Acts 6 reminds us that even healthy, growing churches still face conflict. Some widows are being overlooked, people complain, and the apostles have to respond wisely without neglecting prayer and the ministry of the Word. Their solution leads to Spirit-filled servants like Stephen stepping into leadership.

But the story quickly shifts from internal tension to external persecution. Stephen performs signs and wonders, speaks with Spirit-given wisdom, and is falsely accused when his opponents can’t win the argument. His faithfulness leads to his death, making him the first Christian martyr. For the church, this becomes a huge “now what?” moment: what do you do when you’re obeying Jesus and bad things still happen?

The answer is not to assume God has abandoned you or that you must be doing something wrong. Scripture tells us to expect opposition when we pursue a godly life. And in Acts 8, God uses the persecution that follows Stephen’s death to scatter believers beyond Jerusalem so the gospel spreads into Judea and Samaria—exactly where Jesus said His witnesses would go. The encouragement is to keep going when setbacks come, keep your eyes open for what God may be doing, and persevere through the fog by keeping your eyes on Jesus and the promise of home.

Scripture: Acts 1:12–14; Acts 2:1–4; Acts 2:36–47; 2 Thessalonians 3:6–10.

Key themes: coming down from the mountaintop, praying while waiting, the Holy Spirit empowering the church, being “cut to the heart,” repentance and baptism, devotion to Scripture and fellowship, biblical community as shared life, and resisting the urge to manufacture revival.

Description: This message begins a new series asking a simple question: after a powerful encounter with God, now what? Whether it’s coming home from Hume Lake, returning to normal life after a spiritual high, or walking through a hard season where God feels distant, Acts gives us a pattern worth paying attention to. After Jesus ascends, the disciples return to Jerusalem and pray together. Then, at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit comes, Peter preaches, people are cut to the heart, thousands repent and are baptized, and the church begins to take shape.

But Acts 2 is not a plug-and-play formula for manufacturing church growth. It is a description of what happens when the Holy Spirit changes hearts. The early believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, breaking bread, and prayer. They shared life so deeply that the lines between “mine” and “yours” began to blur—not in an unhealthy way, but in a way that made one another’s needs, griefs, joys, and burdens their own.

The encouragement for us is practical: when you don’t know what to do next, pray, stay close to believers, seek Christian community, and focus on godliness before worldly strategy. Programs and skills matter, but they cannot replace the movement of the Spirit.