The Valley Chapel Podcast

Confession or Excuse?

Most of us don't refuse to help others follow Jesus — we just tell ourselves we're not ready. We say we don't know enough, haven't been discipled ourselves, or might mess someone up. And some of that might even be true. But in this message, Pastor Ryan explores the difference between confessing our inadequacy to Christ and using it as an excuse to stay passive. Drawing from Jeremiah 1 and 2 Corinthians 3, we see that God never promised to make us feel sufficient — He promised to be with us. Jeremiah didn't get more confident. He got more obedient. And that's the invitation for all of us.

It Can’t Stop With You

In this opening message of It Can’t Stop With You, we celebrate Moving Up Sunday by remembering that faith does not get passed on by accident. Looking at Paul’s words to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:1–7, we see that the gospel reached us because someone else refused to let it stop with them—and now we are invited to faithfully entrust it to others. Passing on the gospel requires costly obedience, disciplined presence, and the joyful labor of seeing faith grow in someone else. This message invites us to ask one honest question before God: “Lord, where does the gospel need to move through me?”

Good stewards manage God’s resources

This week is about stewarding the resources God has entrusted to us. In Genesis 41, Joseph stands before Pharaoh with everything on the line—and instead of claiming credit or chasing opportunity, he points everything back to God and faithfully stewards what’s placed in his hands. Faced with years of abundance and coming famine, Joseph uses God-given wisdom to manage resources in a way that ultimately saves lives. This message explores how easily we are pulled into thinking “what I have is mine,” relying on our own understanding, and using resources for ourselves—and how Joseph shows a better way. True stewardship begins when we recognize that everything we have is entrusted by God, shaped by His wisdom, and meant for His purposes—and that getting back on that path starts with one simple, faithful step.

The relationships in your life

This week’s message explores what it means to steward our relationships as something entrusted to us by God. Using the story of Jonah, we see a man who resisted God not out of disbelief, but because he did not want to engage with people he found difficult or undeserving. The sermon challenges the assumption that we get to decide who we care about, confronts the ways we either “steal” relationships by handling them according to our own desires or “neglect” them by avoiding responsibility, and invites us into faithful stewardship—intentionally taking responsibility for our role in people’s lives under Christ’s lordship. The goal is to help the church reflect on whether they are acting as owners, victims, or stewards in their relationships, and to take one step toward engaging others with the compassion and purpose of God.

God often sends us past our current strengths

This week is about stewarding the TALENT God has entrusted to us. When God calls us to do something, He does not always stay inside the boundaries of what already feels natural to us. In this message from Exodus 4:10–14, we look at Moses’ resistance to God’s call and the way God responds—not by denying Moses’ weakness, but by refusing to let it be the final word. This sermon challenges the common idea that stewarding our talent is only about using what we are already good at. Instead, it invites us to see that faithful stewardship also means growing in the areas obedience requires. God often sends us past our current strengths, and by His grace, He helps us take the next faithful step.