Naples Community Church's Podcast

This 4th of July weekend, Pastor Kirt Anderson shares a message on praying for those in authority, drawn from Paul's letter to Timothy written while Paul was imprisoned in Rome. Pastor Kirt walks through why Paul urged the early church to pray for kings and leaders even under persecution, and what it means for us today to live peaceful, quiet lives marked by goodness and dignity. Along the way...

Have you ever started something with the best intentions, only to run out of steam? In this message, Pastor Dan Edmondson digs into 2 Thessalonians 3:13, where the apostle Paul gives a short but powerful charge to the church: "Do not grow weary in doing good." Drawing from personal stories of missionary work in Sierra Leone and his son's journey through Papua New Guinea and rural Mex...

On Father's Day, Pastor Kirt Anderson draws from Isaiah 63 to explore one of the most personal questions in the Bible: where is God when His people are suffering? The people of Israel, exiled in Babylon for nearly 70 years, cried out to God and asked why He seemed so far away. Pastor Kirt unpacks what that season of waiting was really about, and why the image of God as Father, though rare in t...

Who is Jesus, really? In this message, Wayne Pederson takes a close look at the life and identity of Christ, drawing from the Gospel of John and Colossians 1. He traces three categories of people Jesus consistently stopped for: the downcast, the outcast, and the sinner. From the woman who touched the hem of his garment, to the widow who lost her only son, to the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus...

Can religion actually block your relationship with God? In this message from Mark 7, Pastor Kirt Anderson looks at the moment a group of Pharisees traveled from Jerusalem to confront Jesus about his disciples not following the ceremonial hand-washing tradition. Jesus pushes back hard, quoting Isaiah and pointing out that their layers of man-made tradition had buried the original intent of God'...

What does it actually mean that "Christ died for sinners"? In this message from Romans 5, Pastor Kirt Anderson works through one of the most challenging and comforting passages in all of Scripture. He addresses the wrath of God honestly, explaining it not as divine anger but as the natural consequence of turning away from God and going our own direction. He walks through Paul's argum...

What do Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego have in common with a 19-year-old soldier who dove on a grenade in Vietnam? In this Memorial Day message, Pastor Kirt Anderson draws a powerful line between the courage of America's veterans and the ancient story in Daniel 3, where three men refused to bow to a 90-foot gold statue even when their lives were on the line. At the heart of the sermon is a qu...

Have you ever felt like no matter how hard you try, you just can never quite measure up to God's love? In this message from Isaiah chapter 6, Pastor Dan Edmondson walks through the moment when the prophet Isaiah found himself standing in the full presence of God, undone by his own sin and unworthiness. Rather than leaving Isaiah in that state, God sent one of the seraphim to cleanse and restor...

This Mother's Day, Pastor Kirt Anderson brought a message rooted in the often-overlooked story of Hagar, an Egyptian slave woman who encountered God in the wilderness not once, but twice. The message reminds us that God sees every person, regardless of their social standing, their circumstances, or the labels others place on them. Through Hagar's story and his own deeply personal memories...

On the road to Emmaus, two grieving followers of Jesus walked away from Jerusalem with shattered hopes, certain the story was over. Pastor Kirt Anderson unpacks this resurrection account from Luke 24 to show that Christ meets us not in extraordinary circumstances, but right in the middle of our everyday, ordinary lives. Through Scripture, the breaking of bread, and the company of fellow believers,...

In this message, Pastor Kirt Anderson works through 1 Corinthians 15, the oldest written record of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, to ask a question most of us would rather not think about: what actually happens after we die? Pastor Kirt makes a careful distinction between the Greek word "appeared" and softer modern translations, arguing that the bodily resurrection of Jesus is not a s...

Peter denied Jesus three times, yet after the resurrection, Jesus went looking for him. He made breakfast on the shore, sat with Peter, and asked a simple question three times: "Do you love me?" In this message from John 21, Pastor Kirt Anderson unpacks what that moment reveals about how God responds to our worst failures, and what it means that Jesus used different words for love each t...

What does a good church leader actually do? In this message, Pastor Dan Edmondson preaches from Hebrews 13:17-21 and gives an honest, personal look at the work of pastoral care, including late-night hospital runs, hospice visits, and the weight of standing before a congregation and saying "thus saith the Lord." He also shares a very real kidney stone story that you will not forget. Wheth...

On Easter Sunday, Pastor Kirt Anderson preaches from Luke 24 and asks one of the most important questions anyone can wrestle with: did Jesus actually rise from the dead, and does it matter? He walks through the morning of the resurrection, noting that even the disciples who were there struggled to comprehend what had happened. Peter ran to the tomb and left wondering. The women were the first to s...

On Palm Sunday, the crowds welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem expecting a political liberator who would overthrow Roman rule and restore Israel's independence. Jesus had something entirely different in mind, and it cost him everything. Pastor Kirt Anderson unpacks why the King who shattered every expectation ultimately fulfilled the deepest longing of every human heart.

In Luke 19, a despised tax collector named Zacchaeus climbs a tree — not to ask Jesus for anything, but simply to catch a glimpse of Him. Pastor Kirt Anderson uses this familiar story to draw a sharp contrast between those who approach faith as a tool to get what they already want and those who seek Jesus Himself. The result of genuinely encountering Christ, as Zacchaeus discovered, is not just a...

In a world where digital filters and "blended reality" make it increasingly difficult to distinguish fact from fiction, Dr. Corbin Hoornbeek explores the unchanging truths of the Christian faith. Drawing from the opening chapter of Ephesians, this message highlights that our sense of self is not found in our DNA or our worldly accomplishments, but in our God-given origin and destiny. By...

Through the familiar story of the Good Samaritan, this message reminds us that loving our neighbor is more than a concept—it’s a calling. Jesus challenges the temptation to justify ourselves while ignoring the suffering around us. Instead of indifference, we are called to compassion for “the least of these.” God often places hurting people directly in our path, inviting us to respond with mercy. M...

In a world where tragedy, sickness, and injustice often make us ask “why,” Jesus reminds us in Luke 13 that suffering is not a simple cause-and-effect result of personal sin, but a reality of living in a fallen world. Rather than searching for explanations, Christ calls us to repentance—not as a way to avoid hardship, but to be spiritually ready and rooted in Him when hardship comes. True repentan...

This week’s message reminded us that there’s a deeper reality to our lives and faith—one that’s rooted in communion with God through prayer. In Luke 11, the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray, and He gives both a pattern (the Lord’s Prayer) and an invitation to persistent prayer: keep asking, seeking, and knocking, even when heaven feels silent. We’re reminded that God isn’t distant—He is a...

Continuing through the Gospel of Luke, this message explores the remarkable faith of the Roman centurion who trusted that Jesus could heal with “just a word.” In a world divided by power, politics, and social barriers, his humility and compassion reveal a faith that Jesus declares greater than any in Israel. The sermon reminds us that true prayer is not about eloquence or length, but simple, since...

This message explores Jesus’ authority to heal, forgive, and redefine what it truly means to be holy, drawing from moments in Luke where He heals a leper, forgives and restores a paralyzed man, and challenges rigid Sabbath laws. Through these encounters, we see Jesus confronting a culture of religious policing embodied by the Pharisees, showing that love, mercy, and human need always outweigh lega...

This week’s message reflects on Jesus’ return from temptation, His rejection in His hometown of Nazareth, and His continued ministry of healing and authority in Galilee. Though fully divine, Jesus was not immune to human pain—rejection, suffering, and loneliness—and yet He pressed forward in faithful obedience to His calling. Drawing from Hebrews and lived experience, the sermon reminds us that su...

Jesus understands temptation because He faced it fully—forty days in the wilderness—yet never gave in, showing us both compassion for our weakness and a model of faithfulness. In Luke 4, each temptation is met not with arguments or excuses, but with God’s Word: “the Scriptures say,” reminding us that we resist by anchoring our hearts in Scripture and living under the lordship of Christ rather than...

This message centers on God’s grace as the sole source of salvation, reminding us that we are saved not by works, sacraments, or effort, but by grace alone. Reflecting on John the Baptist, the sermon explores how his radical, confrontational ministry prepared hearts for Christ by exposing our deep need for a Savior. In Jesus’ baptism, God publicly affirms Jesus as His beloved Son, marking the begi...