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Successful or Faithful?
Senior Pastor Keith Stewart
November 16, 2025


What if the very thing we chase most—success—isn’t what God wants for us at all? In a world obsessed with winning, Pastor Keith exposes the myth of “spiritual success” and invites us into something far deeper: the sacred art of faithfulness. You’ll discover that in God’s eyes, true success isn’t measured by trophies, titles, or applause—but by whether we look more like Jesus after the struggle than we did before. It’s a call to stand with the poor, the overlooked, and the broken—and to keep walking faithfully, even when victory seems out of reach. Come hear a message that will upend how you define success and reignite your faith in the quiet strength of perseverance.

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Discussion Questions

1. After vs. Before: Where have you looked more like Jesus after a hard season?

2. Success Audit: Which “success metrics” (size, speed, spotlight, likes) subtly steer your decisions? What would a faithfulness metric look like? How would it be different? What things matter most in regards to faithfulness?

3. The Long Defeat: What does “fighting the long defeat” mean in your neighborhood, workplace, or city? Share one situation where you might choose faithfulness over visible wins.

4. It’s Expensive to Be Poor: Where do you see the “poverty penalty” (housing, food deserts, transport, healthcare) in our area? Which one could your group meaningfully address?

5. Matthew 25 Checkup: Of Jesus’ list—hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, prisoner—which one is God highlighting for you right now? What is one concrete act you’ll take this week?

6. Charity vs. Advocacy: Giving “stuff” meets real needs, but where might God be asking you to defend a cause (Jer. 22:16)—to speak up, show up, or help change an unfair process? Proverbs 17:5 Mirror: In what subtle ways do we “mock the poor” (assumptions, jokes, social posts,
indifference)? What repentance and new practice would honor the God who made them?

7. Him and Them: If your politics were discipled by the two great commandments, what would change about your tone, sources, and priorities this month?

Optional Group Practices (pick one for the week)

Proximity Step: Spend an hour at a local clinic, food co-op, or reentry ministry; ask, “What helps most that we never think to offer?”

Advocacy Action: Write one respectful, specific note to a local leader supporting a policy or process that reduces a “poverty penalty.”

Daily pray, “Lord, make me faithful—form Christ in me; align my life with the least of these.”