Orchard Church Sermons

The Faithful and the Unnamed

As we continue our Encounter teaching series through the 40 days between resurrection and ascension, we turn to 1 Corinthians 15, where Paul mentions that the risen Jesus appeared to more than five hundred people, most of them unnamed. We explore what it means that the resurrection has always moved through ordinary people doing ordinary things, and why your everyday life — your work, your neighborhood, your parenting — is not a waiting room for your real calling, but the calling itself.

Encounter - On The Shore

What do you do when you've failed so completely that you go back to who you were before everything changed? In John 21, Peter returns to fishing — not out of rest, but resignation. He's decided he's disqualified. But Jesus meets him on the shore anyway, at a charcoal fire that carries the memory of his worst moment, and asks him a question that begins to put him back together. This week, Pastor Leiah teaches us about restoration, calling, and what it means to be fully known.

Encounter - Wounds We Carry, Scars He Kept

We call him Doubting Thomas. But what if doubt isn't the right word? In this first message of the Encounter series, we take a closer look at the disciple who refused to believe the resurrection — and find not a skeptic, but a grieving man who loved Jesus enough to die with him. Thomas wasn't holding out for evidence. He was holding his heart together. This teaching explores how our relational wounds shape our capacity to trust — and how they follow us into our faith. It asks why Jesus, in his risen body, kept his scars. And it lands at the table, where the bread and cup become the moment Thomas' story becomes ours.

Unlock - Forgive as We Were Forgiven

Forgiveness sounds beautiful — until it becomes personal. In this final message of the Unlock series, Pastor Leiah explore why forgiveness isn't about freeing the offender, but freeing your own heart. Drawing from Jesus' radical teaching in Matthew 18 and Paul's words in Ephesians 4:32, we ask: what does it look like to stop carrying the cost yourself and place it into the hands of Jesus?

Unlock - Freedom in Open Hands

Money is never just about money — it’s about trust. From Exodus 17 to Malachi 3, Scripture exposes the deeper issue beneath our finances: whether we will live in anxious control or surrendered dependence. Pastor Nick revisits Massah, where Israel demanded proof of God’s provision, and contrasts it with God’s bold invitation in Malachi to “test” Him through faithful giving. Through Jesus’ words in Matthew 6 and the costly offering of the widow in Mark 12, we see how wealth quietly competes for our allegiance. In a culture discipling us toward accumulation and self-protection, generosity becomes an act of resistance — a declaration that our security is not in what we store up, but in the God who provides. This message calls us to examine where our treasure truly lies and to step into the freedom that comes when our hands — and our hearts — are fully open to God.