Chestnut Mountain Church

In Mark 1, John the Baptist prepares the way for Jesus, boldly preaching repentance. John knew he wasn't even worthy to untie Jesus' sandals. But how do we view Jesus? Do we see Him for who He truly is, mighty, powerful, exalted, and worthy of all glory? At His baptism, Jesus identifies Himself with the very people He came to save. The heavens are torn open, the Spirit descends, and the Fa...

There are people everywhere searching for hope, truth, and answers. With so much information available, it's possible to find a version of Jesus that aligns with our lifestyles rather than the true Jesus revealed in Scripture. Throughout the Gospel of Mark, we'll return to one important question: Who do you say Jesus is? Mark focuses on what Jesus did, showing us how to model our lives aft...

God has always used imperfect people to accomplish His perfect plan. In Matthew 28, some of the disciples worshiped while others doubted, yet Jesus gave them all the same instruction and assignment. Despite their struggles, God still saw fit to call them and use them. The same is true for us. We don't have to be perfect for God to use us. Jesus finishes the Great Commission with a promise that...

God didn't save us to sit. He saved us and sent us on a mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ. In Matthew 28, Jesus declares that all authority in heaven and on earth belongs to Him. The authority of Christ is the reason we must go and the confidence with which we go. The same One who saves us is the same One who reigns over us. The Great Commission isn't just about doing; it's abo...

We all long for purpose. We want to know that who we are and what we do matters. Jesus didn't save us to just sit. He saved us and placed us on mission. In Matthew 28, Jesus gives His followers a clear mission: make disciples. But what does it mean to be a disciple and to make disciples? Looking at the life and ministry of Jesus, we see that He didn't just call His disciples to believe in...

Life is hard, and there are circumstances that can leave us shattered and broken. Sometimes God answers our prayers exactly the way we think He should, and it’s easy to celebrate His faithfulness. But it doesn’t always turn out that way. When it doesn’t, our faith is tested and it can feel like our faith is shattered. In Ezekiel 37, Ezekiel is sitting in a valley of dry bones surrounded by what is...

The enemy wants to create an identity crisis in our lives. While he wants the believer to question their identity, he wants the unbeliever to embrace an identity apart from God. We were all once rebels, but Jesus wants to rescue us from being a rebel to being redeemed. For those who are in Christ, the enemy wants to keep us stuck in our past and defined by our struggles. But when we can’t out-thin...

In our Pieces series, we’re exposing the spiritual war we are in and learning to understand who our enemy is. The devil will never appear the way we think he should. He is cunning, crafty, and deceptive, and he wants to appear harmless and appealing in order to lure us away from the security of God’s presence and God’s people. Satan is still running the same plays today that he ran on Adam and Eve...

As we begin our new series, Pieces, we are shining light on the spiritual war we are in. For the child of God, arrows will be fired at you with an attempt to shatter your faith and get you to compromise who and what you trust. We are not fighting for victory. We are fighting from it. But what happens when the faith that was once so strong becomes tested, shattered, and broken? Through the story of...

In Matthew 6, Jesus teaches us what prayer and fasting are meant to look like in the Christian life. Prayer and fasting are not optional disciplines or add-ons. Prayer is not the preparation for the greater work. It is the greater work. Prayer is about communion with God, walking with God, and coming into His presence. What if the greatest reward we could ever receive from prayer is not the answer...

As we look at the values that root us in who we are as a church, Surrendered Obedience means letting go of control and letting God take control. When life feels uncertain and the road ahead is confusing, the safest place for us to be is not in control but in a place of surrender. Real faith trusts God enough to obey Him, surrenders enough to let go, and believes God enough to expect Him to provide...

As we look at the values that root us in who we are as a church, Grateful Generosity means being open-handed with what God has given us. Grateful generosity is the action of being generous as a result of being grateful for how generous He has been to us. Being generous is not a have-to but a get-to. It is simply an expression of thankfulness for what God has already done. In 2 Corinthians 8, Paul...

As we look at the values that root us in who we are as a church, biblical teaching means we will proclaim the truth of God’s Word week in and week out. Everything we do is guided by the truth of who God is and what He has called us to do. If we are going to saturate the world with the Good News by making disciples, we have to know who Jesus is, what He has called us to do, and what He taught us to...

As we look at the values that define who we are as a church, our second value is Intentional Community. From the beginning, God has always had a heart for community. His design is for us to do life together. If God’s plan is to create and establish community, Satan will do everything he can to disrupt and dismantle it. If the enemy can isolate you, he can destroy you. Hebrews 10 reminds us why we...

As we begin our new series, ROOTS, we take a closer look at the values that define who we are as a church. We begin with one of our core values, Persistent Prayer. Prayer is the life source of who we are and everything we do. It is the source of peace, comfort, wisdom, direction, and power. Prayer isn't the preparation for the greater work. Prayer is the greater work. In Luke 18, Jesus teaches...

In Numbers 13–14 and Joshua 14, we follow the life of Caleb, a man who walked by faith and not by sight. While the other spies saw giants, fortified cities, and reasons they couldn't, Caleb believed the promise of God. The Israelites had many reasons for not entering the Promised Land, but God gave only one: unbelief. Forty-five years later, Caleb is still following the Lord fully. At eighty-f...

God continually shows up for the Israelites. He makes a way, provides for their needs, and invites them into His presence. Yet while Moses is on the mountain with God, the people grow tired of waiting, forget what God has done, and turn back to their old ways. Though God is a God of miracles and provision, His greatest gift is His presence. When we become focused only on what we want God to do, we...

In Exodus 16–17, the Israelites go from the victory of the Red Sea into the wilderness. Though they had been delivered from Egypt, they struggled to wait well. Yet the wilderness was not a prison but a classroom where God wanted to teach them, shape them, and prove His faithfulness. God provided bread from heaven, water from the rock, and people to help carry the burden. A wilderness reveals what&...

The whole purpose of 1 John is to give us confidence in who we are, whose we are in Christ, and where we will spend eternity. John reminds us that we can have confidence in our access to God because when we ask according to His will, He hears us. We pray boldly not because we always receive what we ask for, but because we know who is listening and trust His will. John also reminds us to have confi...

The whole purpose of 1 John is to give us confidence in who we are, whose we are in Christ, and where we will spend eternity. John reminds us that we can have confidence in our access to God because when we ask according to His will, He hears us. We pray boldly not because we always receive what we ask for, but because we know who is listening and trust His will. John also reminds us to have confi...

Psalm 91 reminds us that when life happens, we all run somewhere. Dads, your children are watching. As they follow your tracks, where are you leading them? When you need security, strength, courage, comfort, and hope, where do you go to find it? The psalmist declares, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.” We are not God, and there will be days when we need what our children ne...

In 1 John 5, John revisits familiar territory as he reminds believers why he wrote this letter: that our joy may be full, that we may not be deceived, and that we may know we have eternal life. Surrounded by false teachers and competing beliefs, John points us back to the truth that everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. John reminds us that loving God's children...

John reminds us that God is love, and because He has loved us, we also ought to love one another. This is not a love based on feelings or emotions, but a self-sacrificing, servant-hearted love that we see most clearly in the person and work of Jesus. In this is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Jesus showed us what perfect...

Psalm 116 begins with a spoiler alert. David tells us where he landed on the other side of the trial: he loves the Lord because God heard him and turned His ear toward him. Even when it seemed like God was not moving, David kept praying, kept watching, and kept expecting. God showed up in David's darkest valley, and the reminder for us is simple: God hears you and God sees you. When David was...

In a world with increasingly more information, opinions, and beliefs, how do we know what is true? John calls us to test the spirits and discern the difference between the real and the counterfeit. Not everything that claims to be from God is from God, and not every version of Jesus is the real Jesus. John gives us a belief test and a behavior test. The belief test asks what we believe about Jesus...