922 Ministries - The CORE & St. Peter Lutheran

Secrets are almost impossible to keep. But God kept one — the biggest one in history — hidden in his heart before the world began, and revealed it at exactly the right time. In this message from our summer series through Ephesians, we uncover “the secret of all secrets”: that Jews and Gentiles, insiders and outsiders, every background and every nation, are equal heirs of Christ's grace. And we dis...

Every superhero has an origin story. So does the apostle Paul — except his begins with him trying to destroy the church. In this message from our summer series through Ephesians, we meet Saul: a brilliant, zealous, deeply religious man who hunted down Christians — and was the least likely person on earth to ever follow Jesus. Then everything changed on a desert road outside Damascus. His story rai...

He was eight when his parents separated. Eleven when the divorce was finalized. Twelve when his mother died in a car crash. By his teens, there were costume parties, tabloid scandals, alcohol, drugs, and worse. You probably know the story. That's Prince Harry — the self-described "spare" to the royal heir. Every family has one. The one whose life choices get discussed at dinners they're not invite...

Why are humans so naturally divided — even as babies? Researchers at Yale discovered that infants as young as 3 months old already show a preference for people who are like them. Ten-month-olds will side with a mean puppet over a nice one — just because it likes the same snack they do. We like to think division is a modern problem. It isn't. It's an ancient one. In this message from Ephesians 2, P...

What does it actually mean that grace is amazing? Most people have heard the word their whole lives — but according to Ephesians 2, you can't feel the weight of it until you're honest about what it's covering. In week 3 of our summer series through Ephesians, Pastor Mike unpacks one of the most important passages in the Bible — Ephesians 2:1-10 — starting with what Paul says we actually deserve, a...

What if the thing standing between you and real peace isn't effort — it's understanding how lost you actually are? In week 3 of our summer series through Ephesians, we look at one of the most honest — and most hopeful — passages in the Bible. The Apostle Paul doesn't ease into it. He says: spiritually, you were dead. Not struggling. Not almost there. Dead. Influenced by a culture you've stopped no...

If you tracked every prayer you've said in the last year — what would show up most? Health, money, relationships, safety? There's nothing wrong with praying for those things. But what if that's only the beginning? In week 2 of our Ephesians summer series, we look at one of the most unusual things about the Apostle Paul: what he didn't pray for. Paul was sitting in a prison cell for five years — ac...

In week 2 of our Ephesians summer series, we look at one of the most personal prayers in the Bible. The Apostle Paul isn't giving a to-do list. He's praying over people he loves — and he's asking God to open their eyes. Not to give them more information. To help them see what they already have. In this message, we dig into three things Paul prays you'd know: Hope — Not wishful thinking. A certaint...

Gratitude lists are everywhere — but does yours actually work? Research says daily gratitude can boost happiness, improve sleep, and decrease depression. Oprah tried it for a decade. Scientists have studied it. And yet most of us can't make the habit stick. That's because we're building our lists on the wrong things. In this message from Ephesians 1, we look at how the apostle Paul — writing from...

Most of us measure our relationship with God by how hard we grip faith. Whether we're doing enough. Whether we've cleaned up enough. But that's not Christianity. Dig into one of the most misunderstood — and most comforting — truths in the entire Bible: before you chose God, God chose you. Written from prison, the Apostle Paul's letter to the Ephesians doesn't start with a to-do list. It starts wit...

Steve Jobs promised the iPhone would change everything. He was right — including the way we think about dating, marriage, and having kids. But some things haven't changed. In week 3 of Adulting with Jesus, Pastor Mike explores what God's Word says about marriage and family in a digital age — cutting through the cultural noise of Pinterest boards, dating apps, and the pressure to have it all figure...

Noah and Zoe have been "just talking" for a while. They like the connection — but they're not ready for the commitment. And honestly? A lot of us approach marriage and family the same way. In week 3 of Adulting with Jesus, Pastor Steve looks at what Jesus actually said about marriage and family — and why the cost of commitment is exactly what makes it worth everything. We'll look at what Jesus sai...

Do you have a 2am friend? You know the one — the person whose name you'd dial at 2 in the morning when you're stranded on the side of the road, and you already know they'll show up. If you can't think of a name, this message is for you. Here's a startling truth: Americans have never been more connected — and friendship bankruptcy has never been worse. Nearly 1 in 4 young adults between 20 and 24 h...

We've never been more connected — and yet loneliness is at an all-time high. What's going on? And what does it have to do with growing up in your faith? In week two of Adulting with Jesus week 2, we dig into one of the most underrated parts of spiritual maturity: friendship. The people around you aren't neutral — they're either sharpening you toward Christ or slowly pulling you away. Scripture has...

Adulting is hard. Higher pressure, a more public stage, a brain that's still developing, and a gap between your income and the life you thought you'd be living by now. In week 1 of Adulting with Jesus, Pastor walks through why this season is uniquely difficult — and why Jesus' question to His disciples cuts right to the center of it: "Who do you say that I am?" You don't drift into a mature faith....

Imagine waking up your first Sunday at college, two hours from home, and realizing that for the first time in your life the choice to come to church is entirely your own. Welcome to adulting. In Week 1 of Adulting with Jesus, you're invited into a direct conversation with teens and twenty-somethings about owning your faith in a generation drifting from the church. Walk through 1 Timothy 4 and disc...

How should followers of Jesus think — and live — when it comes to LGBTQ questions? In this final message of our five-week series, Pastor Mike opens the Bible to walk through five of the most common questions people are still asking after weeks one through four. In this message we tackle: 1. Why do so many Christians treat LGBTQ people worse than others? 2. Who am I to judge? 3. How can LGBTQ peopl...

Some Christians have dramatic conversion stories. Others can only shrug and say, "I don't know — I guess I was just raised that way." Is the second kind of story really less of a miracle? In this message from our "Bad Parents of the Bible" series, Pastor Steve introduces us to Eunice — Timothy's mom — and what she teaches us about generational faithfulness. She wasn't a super mom. She married outs...

In this week of our series God, LGBTQ, and You, Pastor Mike tackles five of the most common "but what about…?" questions that come up when Christians wrestle with the Bible's teaching on sexuality. If you've ever sat through a message, read a Scripture, or finished a conversation about faith and sexuality and thought, "Okay… but what about this?" — this sermon is for you. Questions answered in thi...

What we place next to God, our kids learn to place above Him. In the fourth week of our Bad Parents series, we walk through the full arc of Gideon's life — from a frightened farmer threshing wheat in a winepress, to the unlikely judge who routed the Midianites with 300 men, torches, and clay pots, to the cautionary turn at the end of his story. Along the way we see how faith grows step by step… an...

What does the Bible actually say about gender, sexuality, and same-sex marriage? In week three of our five-week series "God. LGBTQ. You.", Pastor Mike opens Scripture from Genesis to Romans to answer one of the most personal and consequential questions of our day: Is God affirming? This isn't a theological position to debate or a lifestyle to label — it's about people. Your friend. Your son. Your...

Come unpack one of the most sobering parenting stories in Scripture: Eli the high priest and his sons Hophni and Phinehas (1 Samuel 2). Eli was a respected leader for 40 years — judge, priest, the man people from across Israel came to see. But while he led a nation, he failed to lead his own household. His sons stole from God's offerings, slept with the women serving at the Tent of Meeting, and tr...

In a culture where the temperature on faith and sexuality is often "turned up to 1000 degrees," Pastor Mike continues the five-week series, "God, LGBTQ, and You," by focusing on the second greatest commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself. Building on last week’s message about loving God most, this sermon explores what it means to truly love our neighbors in the midst of a polarizing cultural d...

Have you ever noticed that certain traits—both good and bad—seem to run in your family?. In week two of our "Bad Parents of the Bible" series, Pastor Monday explores the messy history of the patriarch Jacob and the generational dysfunction that nearly destroyed his family. We often inherit more than just physical features or personality quirks; we inherit "generational trends" that shape our famil...

This series aims to move beyond social media snippets and explore Christianity and sexuality with biblical depth, empathy, and "dripping compassion". The Question Before the Questions Before diving into the complex "what abouts" regarding pronouns, policies, or specific Bible passages, this sermon poses one fundamental question: "Do you love God the most?". Drawing from Matthew 22, Pastor Mike hig...