Mountain City Church

In the third message of the Lessons from the Garden series, Pastor Ron looks at why we experience scarcity in our work and finances, and points back to Eden for the answer. Work was part of God’s design before the fall. The fall made it harder but didn’t create it, and we work for God, not for people. Using the law of sowing and reaping, he shows that we reap what we plant and that the harvest bel...

In this Wednesday night message, the pastor says worship is the starting point of our relationship with God and of discipleship. We were made by God and for God, and worship simply means knowing and loving Him back. He walks through four elements of worship

Pastor Ron kicks off a new series, Lessons from the Garden, by taking us back to Genesis 1-2 and asking whether we’ve forgotten God’s original design for our lives. He builds the message on two lessons. First, everything belongs to God: our lives, families, abilities, possessions, and even our breath. We are stewards, not owners, and that understanding begins with the fear of the Lord. Second, you...

Pastor Ron continues the Wednesday night Bible class in Exodus. Jethro advises Moses to share the load by appointing leaders who fear God, are trustworthy, and hate bribes. Pastor Ron ties this to Deuteronomy 1, where the people choose their own leaders, and to how a nation is only as strong as the men who lead their homes. He follows Jethro’s family through Numbers, Judges, and the story of Jael...

Pastor Ron continues the Exodus study in Exodus 16–18. He starts with Israel’s grumbling over the Sabbath and the manna. He then connects the manna to Jesus as the true Bread of Life in John 6, which is God giving Himself and not just provision. Israel quarrels again over water at Massah and Meribah, and the wilderness journey becomes a picture of our own lives. The battle with Amalek, with Moses’...

Picking up after the Red Sea crossing, Pastor Ron walks verse by verse through Israel’s response to God. They sing in worship, then complain three days later when the water is bitter, and again six weeks in when they run out of food. He argues that after 430 years in Egypt, Israel is being reintroduced to God, so we should read their struggles with sympathy. Worship is a declaration of who God is,...

Israel leaves Egypt, and the Passover statutes, the consecration of the firstborn, and the pillar of cloud and fire set the pattern for a people who must remember what God has done. Pastor Ron walks through the exodus from Exodus 12:40 through the crossing of the Red Sea. He shows how Israel is trapped between Pharaoh’s army and the sea, and how they complain and say they would rather be slaves th...

Opinions on Israel run high and the cultural noise is loud, so this message steps back and asks what Scripture says. It works through five questions: Who is Israel? What happened to Israel? Is God done with Israel? What's going to happen to Israel? What's happening in Israel right now? It then closes with how we should respond. The message traces God's covenants with Israel (Abrahamic, Mosaic, Dav...

The message picks up in Exodus 10 and moves through the last plagues: locusts, three days of darkness, and the death of the firstborn. Along the way it shows how Pharaoh’s heart hardens each time he is confronted and refuses to repent. God then establishes the Passover and the first month of the Jewish calendar. The lamb without blemish, the blood on the doorposts, eating the whole lamb, and being...

Continuing the Exodus series, Pastor Ron walks through plagues two through seven: frogs, gnats, flies, the death of livestock, boils, and hail. He ties each plague to the Egyptian god it dismantles: Heqet, Geb, Uatchit, Hathor and Apis, Isis and Imhotep, and Seth. The point of the plagues isn't only to defeat false gods. It is to announce to the whole world that there is one God, Yahweh. The messa...

Some of the hardest questions in the "What Does the Bible Say?" series come from real life: a friend leaving their marriage, a son or daughter living in open rebellion, a loved one who has run from God. In this message, Pastor Ron works through how a Christian should respond, starting with how seriously God takes sin. He then walks through how Scripture calls us to confront in love, keep our stand...

In Exodus 5–7, Moses' first meeting with Pharaoh has just made things worse for Israel: double the work, no straw, and a people ready to blame him. Moses turns and questions God himself. God answers with a reminder of who he is: "I am the Lord," the God who remembers his covenant, redeems his people, and takes them as his own. The message looks at what happens when we let our circumstances drive o...

What does the Bible actually say about sex? Not what culture says. Not what feels right. What God says. This message takes a direct, unflinching look at sex and sexuality — pornography, premarital sex, adultery, same-sex relationships, and transgender identity — through the lens of Scripture instead of cultural opinion. It traces God's original design for sex within marriage, confronts where our c...

In Exodus 4, Moses is still resisting God's call, and his excuses sound a lot like ours. This message picks up at excuse number three: "They won't believe me." God answers by asking what is already in Moses' hand and turning it into a sign. The staff becomes a snake, and Moses has to trust God enough to grab it by the tail. His hand turns leprous and is healed, and the Nile is promised to turn to...

Conflict is a part of life, but Scripture gives us a clear path for handling it faithfully. In this message, we look at what the Bible says about examining our own hearts, going directly to the person involved, listening carefully, speaking truth with gentleness, confessing honestly, forgiving freely, and pursuing peace and restoration.  Ultimately, biblical conflict resolution points us back to t...

Picking up where Moses fled to Midian, this message walks through Exodus 3, where Moses meets God at the burning bush on the west side of Midian (which Pastor Ron identifies as Mount Sinai). The bush burns but is not consumed, a picture of God's self-sustaining holiness, and God calls Moses to take off his sandals on holy ground. God identifies himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and t...

Engage Your Destiny: Decrease So He Can Increase Guest speaker Ben Peterson, founder of Engage Your Destiny, brings a message about identity, culture, and what it takes to walk fully with God in this cultural moment. Using a historical pattern — hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times — Ben challenges us to recognize wh...

The Wednesday night study returns to Exodus after the summer break and covers chapters 1 and 2. Israel has grown from 70 people into a strong nation, but a new king rises who doesn't know Joseph. When you forget your history and stay distant from your neighbors, fear takes over. Pharaoh answers with control: taskmasters, heavy burdens, and finally a decree against Israel's baby boys. The message c...

Living As Though Jesus Is Savior We say we believe Jesus is our Savior — but does it actually show? In this message, we finish our series in the Gospel of Mark by asking a question every believer has to answer honestly: if Jesus really is your Savior, how does that change the way you live? We look at what it means to truly call on Jesus — not just to know about Him, but to depend on Him daily. We...

Who Are You? Discovering Your Identity Through the Trial of Jesus In this message, we step into one of the most intense moments in the Gospels — Jesus standing trial before the high priest, falsely accused, and asked directly: "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?" His answer changes everything. Walking through Mark 14:53–65, this message unpacks five things Jesus reveals about His identity...

What does it actually cost to follow Jesus? In this message from Luke 14:26–33, Wesley walks through Jesus' own words to the crowds who followed Him — words that demand a radical reordering of priorities. Drawing from personal stories about basketball, marriage, and an unfinished home renovation project, Wesley breaks down three characteristics of a devoted follower of Jesus: they love Jesus above...

A missionary serving in Benin, West Africa shares an on-fire update on what God is doing on the mission field — from 16 to 23 church plants in a matter of months, whole families coming to Christ, baptisms in a backyard swimming pool, and believers paying a real cost to follow Jesus. Drawing from Psalm 136, he unpacks five reasons we give God thanks: He is good, He is Lord, He is our Creator, He is...