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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.”

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The Value of Vulnerability
Pastor Jerrid Fletcher
November 09, 2025


This message traces an honest journey from unforgiveness to restoration, using a personal story of reconciling with a father to show how vulnerability is the doorway to grace, healing, and trust. It dismantles common myths about vulnerability, reminds us that this season can intensify hidden aches, and anchors us in Jesus’ Gethsemane prayer—“O My Father… nevertheless, not my will but Yours”—as a model for praying uncomfortable prayers, telling the truth before God, and choosing surrender over image. Vulnerability isn’t oversharing; it’s truthful presence in the right spaces with the right people, where authenticity, empathy, and sound judgment (the “trust triangle”) can grow. Like Jesus inviting Peter, James, and John closer, we’re called to discern who’s “in,” practice courageous honesty, and meet others’ pain—and joy—with care, so private surrender can precede public victory.


1. Where do you most feel the tension between guarding your image and telling the truth—what would a “nevertheless” look like there this week?

2. Think of a relationship that needs repair: what is one step—from the speaker’s process (place of safety, prepared words, honest tears)—you could take in the next seven days?

3. Which myth about vulnerability (weakness, oversharing, loss of respect, only pain-focused, one-time event) has shaped you most, and what truth replaces it for you now?

4. When someone shares joy with you, how can you respond in a way that honors their vulnerability and resists comparison or “one-upping”?

5. Who belongs in your “inner three” right now, and how can authenticity, empathy, and steady judgment practically deepen trust in that circle?

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Exiles
Strangers and Exiles on Earth | Part 2
Dr. Jessica Fernandez
November 2, 2025

Peter reminds believers that this world is not our home—we are “aliens and strangers.” But being outsiders doesn’t mean we disappear; it means we live in such a way that even those who oppose us see the goodness of God. In a world that tempts us to compromise or conform, we’re called to stand out with holy lives, radical love, and unwavering hope. Our faithfulness in exile points people to a kingdom that cannot be shaken.