Send us a text

EXPECTATION VS. REALITY
Disappointment with God | Part 1
Senior Pastor Keith Stewart
January 4, 2026

Some of the deepest spiritual pain isn’t simply what happens to us—it’s what we thought God would do and didn’t. When expectations collide with reality, disappointment isn’t far behind. This Sunday we’re starting a new series: “Expectation vs. Reality.” We’ll talk honestly about disappointment with God—where it comes from, what it reveals about what we really believe, and how that disappointment can either spiral into discouragement… or become the doorway to deeper faith and healing. If you’re carrying questions, confusion, or a heavy heart—you’re not alone. And you don’t have to pretend.

If you know someone who’s walking through a hard season, feel free to share this with them.”

Discussion Questions

1. Expectations reveal themselves in pain - “Expectations are never apparent until they’re unfulfilled.”

Where in your life right now are unmet expectations creating disappointment—and what might that disappointment be revealing about what you truly believe (about God, yourself, or life)?

2. Stealth expectations - Brené Brown calls them “stealth expectations”—the expectations we don’t even know we have.

What are some “silent contracts” you’ve placed on God or other people (unspoken demands like “You should know,” “This shouldn’t happen,” “I don’t deserve this”)? How have those shaped resentment or shame?

3. The spiral of disappointment - Disappointment can move toward discouragement → disillusionment → depression → defeat.

Where have you seen that progression at work in your own life (or someone close to you)? What are the early warning signs that tell you you’re slipping into that spiral?

4. Sorting cause and blame - The message challenged “blueprint theology” and victim-blaming, and explored the nature of life (broken world), people (sin and freedom), and God (His heart breaks first).

Which of those categories helps you most right now—and which one is hardest for you to accept emotionally?

5. God can handle the truth - The Psalms give us language for honest lament, anger, confusion, and grief—without pretending.

What emotions do you most struggle to bring to God (anger, fear, disappointment, sadness, doubt)? What would it look like this week to pray more like a lament psalm—honest, unfiltered, and trusting?

6. Disorientation as a doorway - Brueggemann’s pattern: orientation → disorientation → reorientation.

Where would you say you are in that cycle right now? What might “reorientation” look like for you—not necessarily a quick fix, but a deeper, truer relationship with God in the middle of your disappointment?

Send us a text

Growing Pains
Pastor Jerrid Fletcher
December 28, 2025

“Growing Pains” is a year-end call to interpret the hard parts of this year with spiritual clarity instead of emotional conclusions. Pastor Jerrid connects the journey from vulnerability (Jesus in Gethsemane) and disappointment (David’s honest prayers) to the shared reality we all felt in 2025: growth often meets us where life still feels unfinished. Using the language of seasons from Ecclesiastes 3, the message reframes growing pains as sacred indicators of transition—evidence that God is moving us from who we were into who we’re becoming. Finally, Pastor Jerrid anchors the sermon in Job, reminding us that obedience doesn’t exempt us from pain, and that God often doesn’t give explanations—He gives Himself. Job’s perspective is enlarged, his soul is anchored in the Lord, and his life becomes “considerable”—a faith God can point to. The closing challenge is simple and weighty: will we leave this year bitter or better, guarded or grounded, resistant or resilient—and can God say of us, “Have you considered my servant…”?

Discussion Questions

Looking back on 2025, where did you feel “growing pains” the most—spiritually, emotionally, mentally, or physically—and what did that season expose about what you depend on?

1. Pastor Jerrid asked: “Did you grow bitter or become better? guarded or grounded? resistant or resilient?”Which one best describes your response this year, and why?

2. Ecclesiastes 3 says seasons are appointed. What “season” do you believe you were in this year (building, tearing down, waiting, healing, planting, uprooting), and how does naming it change your perspective?

3. Job didn’t get explanations—he got an encounter. Where are you currently demanding a “why,” and what would it look like to anchor your faith in the Who instead?

Send us a text

Prince of Peace
Senior Pastor Keith Stewart
December 21, 2025

Peace is what the world longs for—and what our hearts crave most. Yet peace feels elusive. Nations are unsettled. Relationships are strained. And many of us carry an inner restlessness born of regret, fear, or disappointment. Into this chaos, Christmas speaks a powerful word: the Prince of Peace has come. He steps into our broken world, fractured relationships, and anxious hearts to offer a peace unlike anything this world can give. This Sunday, discover the hope and promise found in the Prince of Peace.

Discussion Questions

1. Defining peace correctly.

The world often defines peace as the absence of conflict, stress, or trouble. How would you describe the kind of peace Jesus offers? In what ways is biblical peace deeper—or more demanding—than the peace we usually want?

2. Peace begins within.

Throughout this series, we’ve seen that Jesus addresses the root of our problems, not just the symptoms. Where do you most experience inner unrest—fear, guilt, anxiety, anger, control, or uncertainty? How does Jesus as the Prince of Peace speak directly into that inner struggle?

3. Peace with God before peace in life.

Scripture teaches that real peace starts with reconciliation with God. How have you seen attempts to find peace apart from God fall short—in your own life or in the lives of others? What does it mean, practically, to live from a place of peace with God rather than trying to manufacture peace for yourself?

4. Receiving peace vs. maintaining control.

We often say we want peace, but we also want control. Where do you sense God inviting you to release control in order to experience His peace? What makes surrender so difficult—even when we know Jesus is trustworthy?

5. Living as people of peace.

Jesus doesn’t just give peace; He calls His followers to carry peace into a fractured world. In what relationships or environments is God calling you to be a peacemaker right now?
What might need to change in your posture, words, or attitudes for that to happen? Bringing the series together.

6. Looking back over the four names — Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace — Which name of Jesus has spoken to you most personally during this series, and why? How would embracing that name reshape the way you live, trust, and face the future?