Better News Podcast

Saul is surrounded. A shrinking army behind him, a massive Philistine force bearing down, and one clear instruction from Samuel: wait. But he doesn't wait. What follows is one of the most revealing moments in 1 Samuel, where a king’s anxiety strips away everything and exposes what is actually governing his heart. Most of us know what that pressure feels like. Where we look in those moments determi...

Israel keeps looking for a third option—God’s way, mostly, with a little room left over for their own—but Samuel won’t give it to them. There are only two paths, and the difference between them is not a matter of degree but of direction. The good news is that God doesn’t deliver this message as a verdict, but as an invitation. His ways are not a burden imposed on His people; they are the path He h...

Samuel stands before Israel at a defining moment as they prepare to install a king, and he delivers one final charge. He walks them through their history—failure by failure, rescue by rescue—revealing the pattern they keep repeating. We do the same thing: tweaking the surface, rearranging the furniture, hoping something will change without ever touching what’s underneath. Samuel’s question goes st...

Saul was crowned king of Israel and went home—no charge to the nation, no march to the palace, no address to the people, just home. The avoidance is quiet but consistent, and it is costing him everything: his family is standing and the trust of a nation that needs a king. Then the Spirit of God interrupts the pattern. What follows is a reminder that it is never too late to step into what God has c...

Most of us would never say we are running from God, but Saul, chosen by God, confirmed with miracles, and given a clear charge, still hid when it was time to be crowned. When the nation assembled to make him king, they couldn’t even find him; he was hiding in the luggage. Running from God rarely looks like running. It looks like going quiet, staying busy, and hoping the moment passes. This message...

The Philistines captured the ark of God and placed it beside their idol as a trophy of war, certain they had absorbed the God of Israel into their world. But in the morning, their idol was found facedown on the ground. What unfolds from there is one of the most clarifying portraits of God in all of 1 Samuel—a God who cannot be contained, does not lose, and whose people ultimately have nothing to f...

Israel has just lost the battle, and the elders respond with a plan: bring the ark of the covenant to the front lines—surely God is on their side. It seems like a reasonable assumption, but it is about to be turned completely upside down. This passage exposes the difference between carrying the ark and actually knowing the God it represents, and it has something deeply uncomfortable to say about h...

Eli warned his sons, but softly. He rebuked them, but kept eating the meat they stole from the altar. He loved them, but he loved them more than he feared God. It's a pattern more common than we want to admit, and it's costing the house of Eli everything. 1 Samuel shows us where that road leads and then mercifully points us toward a high priest whose love never compromises and whose arms are open...

Nobody wants to be labeled a fall risk. We see the warning signs in others and quietly assume we’re doing fine. But Eli’s sons were priests at the Tabernacle—clothed in sacred duty, close to the altar, surrounded by the things of God—and yet they were corrupt to the core. This passage doesn’t let us watch from a safe distance. It turns the camera around. And the fall of the house of Eli turns out...

Hannah has prayed and promised to give back the very son she is asking for. It looks like the strangest kind of faith, but she is doing something most of us spend our whole lives resisting, aligning her deepest longing with God's purposes rather than asking God to bless her own. What she does next will show us what it looks like when we finally stop striving and surrender to something better than...

1 Samuel opens not with a king or a conquest, but with a barren woman named Hannah—overlooked, provoked, and out of options. Most of us know what it feels like to be there: too many problems, too many buttons to push, and no idea which one actually matters. Her story is where our new series, You Need a King , begins. As we journey through First Samuel together, we’ll discover that what every human...

As Pastor Ricky continues his teaching series on how Jesus is greater, he'll be exhorting us to rid ourselves of any known sin that has taken over our lives. When we choose to sin we're believing that what sin has to offer is far greater than what Jesus has to offer. Don't buy into the lie that sin can satisfy. The Bible says that sin is pleasurable for a season, of course, sin is fun, otherwise n...

Today Pastor Ricky will be explaining how Jesus turns our so-called gains in the world into losses and turns the losses we experience into gains. Jesus asked the question, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but to lose his soul?” When we come to Jesus as our Lord and Savior He puts everything into proper perspective. We realize the things that used to make us feel good don't really...

In today’s message, Pastor Ricky compares a cultural idea of karma vs. Jesus’ sacrificial love. The cultural idea of karma insists that we should receive treatment from others based on how good or bad we are, but truly understanding the depth of our human sinfulness would mean that we would not earn anything good. However, Jesus sacrificially took upon Himself the punishment for which you and I we...

Have you ever thought about karma? In our culture today, karma can often be seen as the question of, do nice things and get nice things back or do bad and get bad in return. In today's message, Pastor Ricky discusses this cultural notion of karma which reveals the God-given ability to desire fairness and justice. If we always receive what we deserve, our sin would earn us punishment and death. But...

In today's message Pastor Ricky paints an extraordinary picture of the incredible scope of this universe and knowing that this universe is so complex and vast, Paul’s description of Jesus as being over all of creation is awe-inspiring. If Jesus then can rule over all of creation, He can certainly care for our lives. Isn’t it amazing that the God who created all that is with his immense power, dire...

The name and person of Jesus can be polarizing in our world today. For Christians, Jesus is the center of their faith for He is God and Savior but for others in our world, Jesus and His teaching is opposed. In today's message, Pastor Ricky says it's actually a good thing that Jesus is polarizing because He's radical and it may be worse to be comfortable and complacent with Jesus. As God, Jesus is...

Today Pastor Ricky will be warning us against building up our own cities here on earth rather than putting our trust and faith in our eternal city with the Lord. What is in your life that you hold precious that cannot be shaken? The only thing in your life that cannot be moved is your eternal destination with the Lord. Be careful to not build up your own empire here on earth rather than focusing o...

If you place your hope in the temporal things of earth, you will become greatly disappointed and depressed. As a Christian, you have a heavenly city and eternal home with the Lord. You don't need to seek the things of the world to find fulfillment. Purpose to seek the city that is to come, whose maker and builder is God. You're a pilgrim just passing through this world. You should have an anticipa...

Jesus Christ is the perfect picture of a true servant. When Jesus had the Last Supper with his disciples, He took the lowliest of jobs and washed their feet. You should look at Christ’s example and purpose to imitate Him daily. Whenever you read of Jesus, you will find Him always pouring Himself out and serving His community. Are you radiating the presence of Christ in your community by your servi...

As Pastor Ricky teaches through the book of Isaiah, he will be teaching us how the prophet Isaiah is speaking of Christ the Servant. Now that Christ lives inside of you, you're now a servant in the Kingdom of God. The Lord delights in you and pours out His spirit on you in order to equip you to further the Kingdom of God. The mission of the servant is to act rightly in accordance with the Word of...

There is a common thread among believers that live in fear, and that common thread is that they consider the temporal more dear to their hearts than the eternal. God's purposes for you will not be frustrated. He is in control of your life. He has plans to prosper you and give you hope. The Lord desires that you live for eternity and not for the temporal things of the world. When you keep your prio...

The essence of the gospel is that those who should live in fear have been brought near as friends. Pastor Ricky will be teaching on the importance of living a faith-filled life rather than living in fear. Fear is the antithesis of having faith in God. The prophet Isaiah in this text will be explaining to the Israelites that there is nothing to fear as a child of God because God is sovereign and in...

Pastor Ricky will be continuing his teaching on God vs. idols through the book of Isaiah. Israel turned away from God and focused their attention on things that God created. The Lord is rebuking Israel in this text for not loving and worshipping Him. The definition of idolatry is loving something and giving adoration to something or someone more than you love and adore God. Is there anything or an...

Pastor Ricky will be asking you this question today, “Do you place all your trust in God or in idols?”.  Your actions will reveal if you place your trust in God. You can't say that you believe God will provide for you and then live in worry and forsake the call God has on your life in order to stock up on money and resources. When times get tough do you run to the world for comfort or do you...