Pastor Jeffrey continues our series through James with part 3: Surrender. Surrendering our pain to God and trusting that He will do what He has already promised.

" Your trials are not signs of God's absence. Rather, they are tools of God's formation."

Pastor Jeffrey Dean Smith Donelson First Belonging Part 3: Surrender February 1st, 2026

In this the second part of our series through James Pastor Jeffrey unpacks the importance of the believers identity as belonging to Christ and how this informs our lives as a whole.

"Exile is not the evidence of God's absence. It is often the environment of His deepest work."

Pastor Jeffrey Dean Smith Donelson First Belonging Series, Part 2: Belong January 18th, 2026

This is part one of a sixteen week study through the book of James. Pastor Jeffrey begins this verse by verse study with James 1:1-12. "James is not writing as an outsider. He is not writing as an academic. He is not writing as a detached observer. He is writing as a brother who once doubted, a disciple who encountered the risen Christ, a pastor who shepherded suffering believers, and a servant who belonged wholly to Jesus! And now, believing, he speaks to us!"

"It is about discovering that before you ever do anything for God, you already belong to Him. And from this belonging flows a life of transformation."