How Can a Good God Allow Suffering?

Permission to Feel: Happiness

Many of us grow up with the underlying belief that the ultimate goal of the Christian life is to be happy all the time. But the truth is, Jesus wasn't always happy; He experienced the full scope of human emotion without ever breaking relationship with the Father. In this week's message, Pastor Brian walks us through Psalm 8 and the permission to feel happiness and joy. Drawing from Walter Brueggemann's framework of orientation, disorientation, and new orientation, this episode explores what to do when life aligns beautifully, how to handle the dark seasons of trauma and panic attacks, and how supernatural joy can ultimately coexist with our deepest grief.

Permission to Feel: Fear

What would you do if you were not afraid? In week two of our summer series, Lead Pastor Kelly tackles the heavy, universal emotion of fear and anxiety. Looking at Psalm 55, we dive into King David's raw cry during a painful season of betrayal by a close friend. We explore our instinctual trauma responses: fight, flight, freeze, or fawn, and learn that fear was never meant to be the CEO of our lives, but rather an assistant giving us critical information. Discover the ancient, life-changing shift from trying to self-regulate alone to co-regulating with God and a safe church community.

Psalms: Permission to Feel

When we invite Jesus into our hearts, we often try to bury our past, our trauma, and our pain, hoping it will all just vanish. But neglected emotions don't disappear; they are stored inside of us. In this series opener, we look at why unexpressed feelings always find a way out, and how the Book of Psalms has served as humanity's guide to emotional processing for millennia. Diving into Psalm 73 and the unexpected core emotion of surprise, this episode tackles the deep confusion we face when life doesn't go according to our plans, and the beautiful way God meets us when we are disillusioned.

How Do I Follow Jesus?

Are you an apprentice of Jesus or just a consumer of church culture? Pastor Kelly tackles the discipleship crisis in America and challenges us to move past "tier-system" faith into true, life-altering transformation. In this message, Pastor Kelly dives into the Gospel of Mark to explore the radical nature of Jesus' call: "Come, follow me." Pulling back the curtain on the intense cultural context of ancient Jewish schooling, she contrasts the deep, life-long commitment of a true rabbi's apprentice with the consumer-driven "MLM culture" that shapes modern American Christianity. If you've found yourself treating faith like a gym day pass, or if you've quietly "un-enrolled" from spiritual practices due to burnout, deconstruction, or church hurt, this episode is a gentle but urgent invitation to reconstruct and re-engage. Discover the daily rhythm of what it means to be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did.

How Can a Good God Allow Suffering?

How do we reconcile an all-powerful Creator with the visceral "ache" of a broken world? This message moves past shallow religious platitudes to explore why a mature faith must hold space for both the cross and the resurrection. Discover how to meet the God who doesn't just explain our suffering, but chooses to suffer alongside us.