Forest Park Church

What if the freedom you've been searching for isn't something you have to earn, but something that's already yours? In Part 1 of our new series, Better Than You Think, Pastor Scott Neal explores Jesus' words, "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." We often believe lasting change comes from trying harder, but Jesus points us toward something far greater: a relationship with Him...

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for the latest messages and content by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/forestparkchurch?sub_confirmation=1 To support our ministry and help us continue to reach people in Elizabeth City, and around the world click here: http://www.forestparkchurch.com/give/ Our mission: Help people follow Jesus one step at a time. Stay Connected with FPC ____________________...

Not every danger announces itself. In the final message of the Sharks series, we discover that the greatest threats to our lives, marriages, and families often swim beneath the surface long before anyone notices. Drawing from John 10, Pastor Scott explores what it means to become a shepherd who protects, warns, and cares for the people God has entrusted to us. Whether you're a parent, spouse, gran...

Part 2 of our series Sharks examines the life of Samson and the dangerous patterns that can quietly pull us under. Sometimes the danger isn't hidden. Sometimes the warning signs are obvious, but our appetites are stronger than our wisdom. Through Samson's story, we discover how ignoring red flags, repeating destructive patterns, and refusing to heal old wounds can lead us into dangerous waters. Th...

What if the greatest dangers in your life don't look dangerous at all? In Part 1 of our new series, SHARKS: Recognize What's Dangerous Before It Pulls You Under, we examine Jesus' temptation in the wilderness and discover how the enemy often disguises danger as something reasonable, desirable, and even necessary. Temptation rarely begins by asking you to ruin your life. It usually begins by offeri...

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for the latest messages and content by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/forestparkchurch?sub_confirmation=1 To support our ministry and help us continue to reach people in Elizabeth City, and around the world click here: http://www.forestparkchurch.com/give/ Our mission: Help people follow Jesus one step at a time. Stay Connected with FPC ____________________...

What if God was never meant to be a genie in a bottle? In this message, we explore the story of Jesus calming the storm and confront one of the hardest truths about faith: sometimes Jesus does not calm the storm as quickly as we want Him to. Sometimes He seems silent. Sometimes He seems asleep.  And in those moments, we ask the same question the disciples asked: “Don’t You care?” But maybe maturit...

You can grow up around sacred things and slowly stop seeing them as sacred. In this message, we explore the hidden danger of familiarity, the real meaning of baptism, and why so many people treat baptism like the finish line instead of the beginning of a new life with Jesus. Baptism is not magic. It’s not spiritual insurance. It’s not graduation. It’s surrender. It’s identity. It’s a public declar...

What do you do when life doesn’t turn out the way you hoped? In Part 3 of our series "By the Waters," we walk through the story of Mara in Exodus 15 and wrestle with a difficult reality: following Jesus does not exempt us from pain, disappointment, or bitter seasons. But Christianity doesn’t teach us to deny bitterness. It teaches us what to do with it. If you’ve ever asked: “God, where are You?”...

In Part 2 of By the Waters, we step into one of the most powerful moments in Gospel of John — the encounter at the well in chapter 4. This message exposes something subtle but dangerous: You can be surrounded by the things of God… and still miss the heart of God. While an outsider finds living water, the insiders miss the moment entirely. Jesus sees a person. They see a problem. Jesus sees a harve...

Time is going to pass either way. The real question is: who will you become while it does? In the first message of our new series “By the Waters,” we look at the moment Jesus called ordinary fishermen into something extraordinary and what that means for us today. It’s easy to drift through life stuck in routine, comfort, and repetition. But Jesus calls us beyond just making a living into a life of...

Have you ever had one moment completely shift your mood, your faith, or your peace? In this message, we wrap up the More Than a Moment series by looking at the story of Lazarus in John 11 and discovering a powerful truth: we don’t always need a different moment, we need a higher perspective. When life feels uncertain, when prayers feel unanswered, and when God seems silent, it’s easy to get stuck...

What does it actually mean to be lost? In Part 2 of More Than a Moment, we look at one of the most familiar stories Jesus told in Gospel of Luke chapter 15 and discover something deeper than we’ve been taught. Being lost isn’t about how far you’ve gone. It’s about disconnection. Through the story of the prodigal son, we see that whether you’ve run from God or spent your life trying to earn from Hi...

Easter isn’t just a moment… it changes everything. For a lot of people, Easter feels like a tradition. A holiday. Something you show up for and move on from. But what if it’s more than that? What if the resurrection isn’t just about life after death… but about life right now? In this message, we explore the real weight of Easter and why it matters more than anything else. Because if Jesus actually...

For many of us, we were taught that Jesus died because God needed a sacrifice. But what if that’s not the full story? What if Jesus didn’t die because God demanded blood… but because God is love? In Part 3 of Killing God, we wrestle with the real question behind the cross: Why did Jesus have to die? This message challenges the idea of an angry, distant God and reveals something far more powerful:...

In Part 2 of our series Killing God, we zoom out and see the bigger story. From the garden in Genesis to the garden in Revelation, Scripture tells one unified story. And right in the middle stands a tree that changes everything. This message explores how Jesus didn’t just come to get you to heaven someday. He came to rewrite your story right now. -What Adam broke, Jesus restored -What was lost, is...

For many of us, the picture of God we grew up with feels confusing. Loving one moment. Angry the next. But what if the God we imagined isn’t actually the God Jesus revealed? In this message, The Gods We Invent, we explore one of the most powerful stories in the Bible, the story of Abraham and Isaac, and how it points forward to the cross. For centuries people believed the gods demanded sacrifice....

Many people assume Christianity is about trying harder to behave better. But what if that idea is actually the problem? In this message from Part 5 of the Relief series, we examine a subtle but dangerous distortion of the gospel: moralism. It looks spiritual, sounds biblical, and even encourages good behavior. But underneath it all is a message that creates pressure instead of freedom. The Bible r...

Some weeks, “try harder” theology collapses around your feet. In Part 4 of our Relief series, we talk about the kind of faith that survives when life doesn’t make sense. What do you do when prayers aren’t answered? When doubts won’t disappear? When you feel angry, forgotten, or wounded? Faith is not certainty. Faith is not control. Faith is not pushing down questions. Faith is this: No matter what...

Relief - Part 3 Guilt and shame have a way of following us everywhere. Even after we apologize, even after we try to move forward, the voice of failure can stay loud in our heads. In this message, we look at why guilt feels so heavy, how shame keeps us stuck, and how Jesus offers something deeper than self-improvement or trying harder. Through the story of Peter’s failure and restoration in John 2...

Relief - Part 2 Feeling tired, behind, or like you can never quite keep up? You are not alone. So much of our pressure today does not come from God, it comes from comparison. From what we see online, from the pace of life, and from the constant feeling that everyone else is ahead. In this message from our series Relief, we talk about how comparison speeds up our lives, distorts how we see ourselve...

If you feel exhausted by trying to be “good enough” for God, you’re not alone. Many people experience faith as just another system of pressure: do more, try harder, measure up. But Jesus never invited people into more burden. He invited them into rest. In the first part of our series "Relief," we look at how religion can quietly become a performance system and why Jesus consistently pushed back ag...

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for the latest messages and content by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/forestparkchurch?sub_confirmation=1 To support our ministry and help us continue to reach people in Elizabeth City, and around the world click here: http://www.forestparkchurch.com/give/ Our mission: Help people follow Jesus one step at a time. Stay Connected with FPC ____________________...

In this message, Pastor Scott concludes our series by exploring what it means to become whole, not perfect, but integrated, grounded, and moving in the right direction. Drawing from Scripture, the teachings of Jesus, and the story of Peter, this sermon challenges the belief that people are permanently broken or destined to stay stuck. Jesus did not come only to forgive us, but to transform us. He...

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for the latest messages and content by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/forestparkchurch?sub_confirmation=1 To support our ministry and help us continue to reach people in Elizabeth City, and around the world click here: http://www.fplive.org/give/ Our mission: Help people follow Jesus one step at a time. Stay Connected with FPC ______________________________...