A Better Word

When warning lights flash on the dashboard, there are basically two kinds of drivers in this world––the ones who pull over and the ones who put a piece of tape over the light! Pastor Nick Gatzke runs a diagnostic to helps us find out how we really respond when God flashes a warning.

Every gardener knows the difference between a plant that's growing and a plant that's just... green .  One looks good, while other is actually producing something. Pastor Nick Gatzke reveals a powerful lesson taken from an unusual encounter between Jesus and a fig tree. Discover what you need to know about how to cultivate a genuinely fruitful life.

We all curate a version of ourselves for public view. Scroll through social media for sixty seconds and you'll see people posting vacation photos, promotion announcements, and a smiling family portrait. But is it real? Pastor Nick Gatzke asks what happens when our outside looks healthy but our inside tells a different story.

We all keep a mental scoreboard about where we stand in our social circles, who's ahead, who’s doing more, and who's doing better than we are. We might even keep score of who's more humble! Pastor Nick Gatzke shares how Jesus measures our success and how his example leads us to the ultimate glory. 

Watch what happens when a group photo gets taken. People shift, pose, and quietly figure out where they want to stand to be noticed. Pastor Nick Gatzke explains that the twelve men closest to Jesus were no different. They spent a surprising amount of time jockeying for position. Find out how to get noticed in the Kingdom of God.

We’ve built an entire self-storage industry devoted to holding onto things we don’t have room for. While we may think we own our possessions, somewhere along the way, the arrangement has been quietly reversed. Pastor Nick Gatzke takes a closer look at The Rich Young Ruler ––a man who had more in common with us than we’d like to admit.

Think about the excitement of receiving an invitation. Perhaps it was an offer you’d been waiting for. But when you read the fine print, you realized you weren’t prepared to accept. Pastor Nick Gatzke introduces us to a young man who received such an offer and what his story teaches us about the kingdom of God.

Whether you have children, want them someday, or have absolutely no interest at all––everybody has an opinion about kids. Pastor Nick Gatzke shares a candid conversation about kids, as he unpacks what the Bible says about children and their value in the Kingdom of God.

There are some topics we only ever discuss in private. These are the uncomfortable questions––the ones that touch our lives a little too personally. Pastor Nick Gatzke shares a biblical perspective on marriage and divorce by digging into a question Jesus’ disciples asked behind closed doors.

There are a handful of subjects that touch nearly everyone. Marriage is one of them. Whether you’re married, single, widowed, or somewhere in between you came from a family, and you’ve watched families come apart. Pastor Nick Gatzke teaches from Mark 10, where Jesus is handed a question. Find out what Jesus said and what He didn’t say about divorce.

It’s not always easy to do the right thing. Have you ever had to choose the harder option because you knew, deep down, it was actually the healthier one? Pastor Nick Gatzke returns to Jesus’ shocking words about cutting away whatever leads us into sin and why lasting change so often costs something up front.

We ignore warning signs all the time. We shrug at the check engine light, roll our eyes at the expiration date, and cover our ears to avoid hearing the smoke detector chirping in the middle of the night. But Pastor Nick Gatzke shares a serious warning that deserves our full attention!

Remember gym class, when the teacher picked two captains and then let them choose teams one by one? Some kids got called first while others just stood there, waiting. Pastor Nick Gatzke takes us to a moment when several grown men—the disciples of Jesus himself—were playing that same game, just with much higher stakes.

Have you ever tried to fix something yourself before finally and reluctantly admitting you needed help? We do it with cars. We do it with relationships. And if we’re honest, we do it with God. Pastor Nick Gatzke exposes some of the subtle ways we reveal our lack of belief in the power of God.

For anyone who’s ever stayed up late, thoughts racing, trying to make sense of this world and their place in it––this message is for you. Pastor Nick Gatzke talks openly about faith... and doubt.  It’s an uncomfortable topic, but one Jesus addressed directly during his ministry on earth.

Sometimes you discover that the people you thought you knew are much more than what they seem to be. Suddenly you see them in an entirely different light. Pastor Nick Gatzke reveals what Peter, James, and John saw and how it completely changed the way they understood Jesus. 

Picture a cherished memory of a sky full of stars, a beautiful sunrise, or the view from a mountaintop. These majestic moments stay fresh in our memories, but somehow words can never describe what it felt like to be there. Pastor Nick Gatzke describes what Peter, James, and John saw on the Mount of Transfiguration. 

“Following” someone these days doesn’t cost us much. We can simply tap a button on social media and become a “follower”. No commitment, no risk, and we can undo it in a second. But Pastor Nick Gatzke explains what Jesus said it really takes to follow him. 

People often form an opinion of someone based on what other people say. Perhaps they hear a secondhand story, a passing comment, or a rumor floating around and suddenly they’re convinced they know exactly who that person is. Pastor Nick Gatzke cuts straight through the secondhand opinions people had about Jesus. 

Ever hosted a gathering where the guest list made you a little nervous? Maybe a wedding or a holiday table, where people from completely different worlds ended up sitting side by side. Pastor Nick Gatzke takes a closer look at a meal Jesus hosted for a crowd that had no business sharing a table. 

Jesus famously fed a crowd of 5,000 men with 5 loaves of bread and two fishes.  Then just a couple chapters later, Mark tells us that Jesus encountered another group of hungry people.  This time he fed 4,000.  Pastor Nick Gatzke explains what’s different about these miracles and three valuable lessons we can learn from them. 

Ask anyone who’s worked in customer service, and they’ll tell you animated stories about people getting frustrated because they didn’t things their way. Whether we acknowledge it or not, most of us feel entitled to get what we want, when we want it. Pastor Nick Gatzke delivers a powerful lesson about what we deserve. 

We like to think we deserve good things from family, employers, and even from God. In fact we demand, “what we deserve!” But the Bible makes it clear this attitude misses the mark. Pastor Nick Gatzke takes us to an interaction between Jesus and a Gentile woman that reveals what you and I truly deserve. 

Pastor Nick Gatzke talks about what it really takes to change––not just clean up. A lot of people think holiness is about tightening the rules, following more of them, or breaking fewer of them. But if that were true, the most discipled people would automatically be transformed. Find out it truly takes.

We’ve all driven by a house that looked absolutely perfect from the curb.––fresh paint, trimmed hedges, and a welcome mat that looks inviting. But what’s really going on inside? Pastor Nick Gatzke digs into a Bible passage that challenges us to take a closer look, not at the outside, but at the inside of our hearts.