Devotions with Pastor Stanton

Imagine watching a football game where the quarterback suddenly turns around and tackles his own running back. You would scream at the TV, "What are you doing? You’re on the same team!" It sounds ridiculous, but in relationships, we do the exact same thing, all the time. When stress hits, or finances get tight, or a disagreement arises, we instinctively turn around and treat our spouse as the oppo...

What destroys a massive structure? We often assume it takes a hurricane, an earthquake, or a massive fire to bring something down. But often, it is something much smaller. A tiny termite can eat through the foundation of a house. A small leak can sink a great ship. In relationships, we tend to brace ourselves for the big explosions: adultery, tragedy, or betrayal. But we rarely guard against the s...

Do you remember that feeling in the pit of your stomach when you first started falling for someone? Every time your phone buzzed, your heart jumped. You ran because you couldn’t wait to hear their voice or even see their face. That season of relationship feels effortless. We call it the "honeymoon phase," but the Bible describes it as "Springtime." It’s a season where life is blooming, everything...

We all want to live on the mountaintops, those moments where God feels close, victory is clear, and faith is easy. But the reality of life is that we can't stay on the summit. We have to go back down to the plain, to the emails, the laundry, the job, and the daily grind. In our spiritual lives, we often treat the descent like a disappointment, a return to the boring, ordinary grind of emails and l...

If you have ever hiked a steep mountain, you know that for most of the climb, you aren't looking at the scenery. You are staring at your boots, watching your step, and just trying to breathe. You don't see the beauty; you only see the struggle. But when you finally reach the summit, you lift your head. And suddenly, the view changes everything. Today, we are standing with Abraham at that breathtak...

Have you ever stood on the edge of a cliff, where the wind is howling and your knees begin to shake? There is a moment on every mountain where the hiking stops and the real danger begins. It’s the point of no return. In our spiritual lives, we all reach this place. It’s that terrifying moment where good intentions must turn into concrete action, where we stop planning to obey God and actually lift...

As Christians, we love to talk about the moment of decision and victory: that instant decision where you say "yes" to God or that victory breakthrough that finally came through. But hardly anyone talks about the middle. The middle is that long, exhausting hike between the decision and victory, the promise and provision. It’s where the adrenaline has worn off and God seems incredibly quiet. If you...

Have you ever noticed that we usually expect spiritual tests to come during the hard times, during the crisis, the tragedy, or the storm of life? We brace ourselves when life gets rocky. But what if the most dangerous place for your soul isn't the valley, but the plain? The plain is that season where life is stable, the bills are paid, and the kids are healthy. It feels safe. But it’s often in the...

We’ve arrived at the final, and perhaps most intense, sense in our journey: The Sense of Touch. Every embrace, every expression of physical intimacy, is loaded with passion. But unlike the other senses, touch comes with a severe warning: it must not be prematurely awakened. So today, we look at the most famous passage on Christian dating to understand why engaging in physical passion outside of ma...

We all love sweet things, and they can be incredibly addictive. But think about those candies that hide a secret: they're dusted with sugar on the outside, and for a moment, they taste delicious. But then you hit the center, and that intense, sourness takes over. Our attraction to a person can feel exactly this way. Some relationships are naturally sweet: full of respect, freedom, and genuine love...

There is an old nursery rhyme we all know: "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." It’s a catchy phrase, but let’s be honest, it’s a lie. Words are powerful. They can wound us deeply, but they also have the power to heal and transform us. So far in our "Five Senses of Attraction," we’ve trained our nose to smell good character and our eyes to see true beauty. Today, w...

We live in a visual world. Dating apps are built on it, swipe left, swipe right, all based on a split-second judgment of what we can physically see. We obsess over filters, angles, and how we physically present ourselves. It’s easy to believe that attraction is primarily about what we see on the surface. But we've already learned that true attraction actually starts with the "smell" of a good repu...

If you're single and looking for love, the world is full of advice. You're probably asking, "What's the first thing I should be looking for when choosing a partner?" We're so often told to trust what we see. But what if the Bible's first priority isn't what we see at all? What if the first test of a relationship, to see if this is the one... is something you have to smell? Well, the Bible uses thi...

Have you ever felt a deep anxiety about your faith? Asking questions like: What if I stop believing? What if my heart grows cold? It's a terrifying thought. But that thought is only terrifying if our faith depends entirely on our own fragile will. If so, can anyone truly be secure in their salvation? Knowing our weakness, what chance do we have? But what if Scripture gives us hope that our securit...

Is it possible to be "around" Jesus, to grow up in church, to know all the Bible stories, and even to admire His teachings... but to not actually believe in Him? It’s a hard question, isn’t it. We often assume that "seeing" Jesus clearly is all it takes. But what if it's possible to see everything He does and still, in your heart, walk away?

Have you ever achieved something you thought would make you happy: a goal, a purchase, a new job. Then only to find yourself standing on the other side of it feeling... empty? We all know that gnawing, restless feeling that "there must be more than this." We have a deep soul-hunger for purpose, peace, and meaning. What if that hunger could be, once and for all, completely and permanently satisfied...

If someone told you about a "Bread of Life" that could satisfy your deepest spiritual hunger forever, it's a powerful idea. But it brings up a very practical question: How exactly would you eat this spiritual bread? It’s not a physical act, so what does it mean? What is the human response required to find the satisfaction that this Bread promises?

There is a deep spiritual famine in our world. We are surrounded by things that promise to satisfy us—possessions, pleasure, self-help, even religion—but they all leave us empty. We're like a crowd chasing after "perishing bread," things that ultimately cannot give us life. But what if there was one source of food that could satisfy our deepest hunger forever?

When do you give thanks? It’s usually after the provision arrives. After the good news. After the doctor's report comes back clear. We thank God for what He has done. But what if true faith has a different order? What if the most powerful kind of gratitude is the one that comes before the miracle?

We’ve all felt that nudge. That quiet call to give, to serve, to speak up, or to step out. And just as quickly, we're stopped by a paralyzing thought: "Do I truly have enough." My talent is too small. My time is too limited. My gift is too insignificant. Yesterday we talked about the paralysis of sight... but today, we're facing the paralysis of smallness.

Yesterday, we saw that God tests us with "impossible" situations. But When you're in one…, what paralyzes you? Well, it is often the hard, cold, visible facts. It's the doctor's report on the table. It's the finality of a signed divorce paper. It's a prodigal child's continued silence. These are the "visible facts" that scream "it's over," "it's impossible," "there is no way out"... but what if th...

Have you ever faced a problem that felt completely overwhelming? A need so big, a goal so distant, that all you could feel was the ache of impossibility? We all face these moments—in our finances, our relationships, or even presently in our church building campaign. We are hungry for hope, for deliverance. But what if those impossible situations are not accidents? What if they are appointments......

In a world obsessed with numbers, it’s tempting to measure a church’s success by one thing: growth. How many people are in the seats? And in our culture, there’s an immense pressure to get those numbers up. To do so, by softening the message. By being less "controversial." By pulling up the sharp, "unmovable stakes" of doctrine to make the tent more comfortable for everyone. But what if God’s stra...

For the past two days, we’ve talked about God's call to sing in faith and build in expectation. But why? Why go through all the trouble? It’s easy for a building campaign to become all about the project itself—the dust, the cost, the inconvenience. It's easy to think it's just about getting more elbow room. But God's vision is infinitely bigger. What if this project, of Enlarging His Dwelling Plac...

Yesterday, we talked about the radical call to "sing" in a season of barrenness, rejoicing in a promise before we see it. But what comes next? Is faith just about singing and waiting? Imagine you're an expectant mother. You don't just sing with joy about the coming baby; at some point, you start building the nursery. God's logic is the same. After He gives the command to sing for their children wi...