Northstar Church Blacksburg

This is the first of our BIGsmallGroup messages on what the good life truly looks like, focusing on the joy of good deeds. Goodness is associated with the character and person of God, as God alone is truly good. When sin entered the world, good became bad as humankind sought a source of goodness apart from God. To be truly good, we need to be in right relationship with God right relationship with...

Continuing our Generous God, Generous People series, this week’s message explores 2 Corinthians 8 and Paul’s example of the Macedonian churches. Despite their poverty and suffering, these believers overflowed with joyful, sacrificial generosity, giving beyond their ability because they first gave themselves fully to the Lord. Their example calls us to give not out of guilt or pressure, but out of...

In the opening message of our new series, Generous God, Generous People, we are challenged to consider what it means to give God our first and best. Preaching from Malachi 1, we explore how God’s people were saying the right things but offering half-hearted sacrifices—and how their actions revealed hearts far from Him. Generosity, we’re reminded, is not a side-topic for super-Christians; it’s a re...

In the final chapter of Job, we see the resolution of a story marked by suffering, silence, and divine sovereignty. Job responds to God not with further questions, but with surrender. He confesses two powerful truths: God can do anything, and no plan of His can be thwarted. These convictions are not theoretical—they are the bedrock of Job’s peace and can be ours as well. Though Job’s losses were d...

This week’s message walked through Job 38–41, where the Lord finally answers Job—not with explanations, but with overwhelming presence and questions that reveal His wisdom, power, and majesty. Speaking from the whirlwind, God doesn’t defend Himself or detail the reasons behind Job’s suffering. Instead, He invites Job to look up—beyond himself, beyond his pain—and see the vastness of divine wisdom....

Elihu bursts onto the scene as a young man burning with passion and full of words—but not all of them wise. Though he listens well, speaks respectfully, and rightly affirms that God still speaks to His people, Elihu, like Job’s other friends, wrongly assumes Job’s suffering is due to sin. Still, his speeches offer valuable lessons: God may use even misguided voices to remind us of profound truths....

This week’s message walked through Job 29–31, where Job delivers his final and most personal words. In Job 29, he looks back, remembering yesterday—days filled with blessing, God's nearness, and a life of justice and compassion. In Job 30, he faces a painful reality check, lamenting his current suffering and loss. And in Job 31, he offers a heartfelt plea for God to remember his lifelong pursuit o...

This Easter, we looked at the resurrection through the eyes of Mary Magdalene—one of the first to witness the empty tomb. In her grief, she came to embalm Jesus, not to rejoice in a risen Lord. Her sorrow was sincere, but her expectations were misaligned. What she needed—and what we so often need—was a divine reset. In John 20, Jesus asks her two piercing questions: “Why are you crying?” and “Who...

In this Good Friday message from Mark 15:22–39, we focused on an unlikely and often overlooked figure: the Roman centurion who witnessed Jesus' crucifixion. As the one presiding over Christ’s death, he had likely seen countless executions—but this one was different. As Jesus breathed His last, the centurion proclaimed, “Truly this man was the Son of God.” He became the first person in Mark’s Gospe...

This week we launched our Easter series, Majoring on the Minors, by focusing on a pair of unnamed individuals whose small act of obedience played a major role in the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. In Mark 11:1–11, we meet “the people with the donkeys”—ordinary people who responded in quiet faith when the Lord had need. Through their simple yes, prophecy was fulfilled and the King of king...

This week’s message centers on Job 28, a poetic pause in the book where Job reflects on the mystery of true wisdom. While humanity can dig deep into the earth to uncover treasures, wisdom cannot be mined, bought, or earned. No amount of effort or wealth can uncover it, for true wisdom is not a human achievement—it is divine in origin. It is found only in God. Job concludes, “The fear of the Lord,...

This week’s message explores the final round of debate between Job and his friends, as their arguments unravel and their frustration boils over. Eliphaz pleads with Job to repent, Bildad offers a cold and rigid view of God’s justice, and Zophar remains silent—defeated by Job’s unwavering stance. Their faulty theology leaves no room for innocent suffering, showing that they have misrepresented God...

This week’s message highlights the ongoing debate between Job and his friends, who double down on their flawed belief that suffering is always a result of sin. Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar misapply truth, offering harsh rebukes rather than comfort. Job, in his pain, wrestles with the reality that the wicked often prosper while the righteous suffer. Yet, in the midst of his grief, Job declares his h...

This week’s sermon examined Zophar’s harsh and misguided response to Job’s suffering. Unlike his friends before him, Zophar showed no compassion—he accused Job of sin and insisted that repentance would bring immediate restoration. His words reflected a dangerous misunderstanding of God’s justice, assuming that suffering is always the result of sin and that obedience guarantees blessing. Job, howev...

This week’s message examined Bildad’s harsh response to Job’s suffering and Job’s struggle to reconcile his pain with God’s justice. Unlike Eliphaz, who spoke with some diplomacy, Bildad wasted no time in condemning Job, wrongly assuming that his suffering was due to sin—especially the sins of his children. His rigid view of retribution theology left no room for grace, compassion, or the mystery o...

This week’s message explored the first response Job receives in his suffering. Eliphaz, the most diplomatic of Job’s friends, speaks with wisdom but misapplies truth, assuming Job’s suffering must be the result of his sin. This reflects a faulty worldview—one that equates hardship with punishment and prosperity with righteousness. However, Job challenges this thinking, expressing his anguish hones...

This week’s sermon from Job 3 dives deep into the raw reality of grief and suffering. In a world that often dismisses pain and masks sorrow with shallow positivity, Job’s lament serves as a stark reminder that it is not a sin to grieve. We explore Job’s intense anguish as he curses the day of his birth but never curses God, showing us that deep sorrow does not equate to unfaithfulness. This messag...

In this second message in our Job series, we dive into the opening chapters of Job, exploring his faithfulness in the face of immense suffering. Despite losing everything—his wealth, family, and health—Job refuses to curse God, demonstrating unwavering trust in God's sovereignty. This message challenges us to examine our own faith: Do we worship God only when life is good, or is He worthy even in...

At our Monday night Renewal Service, we explored the question: How do we wait on God? Waiting is never easy, yet Scripture shows us that it is a vital part of our faith journey. We are called to wait honestly because it is hard, frequently because it is common, thoughtfully because it is biblical, patiently because it is slow, intentionally because it is commanded, and collectively because we are...

This week, we began a new sermon series on Job, a book that wrestles with deep questions about suffering, faith, and God’s sovereignty. Job’s story is one of profound loss, yet through his pain, we see the raw emotions and honest cries that come when life feels unjust. As we journey through this study, we’ll examine how suffering can either deepen our faith or drive us away from God. We’ll explore...

This week’s message was delivered by guest preacher Dr. Rob Pochek and focused on the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20. Jesus has given every believer the authority and calling to go and make disciples—not just converts, but lifelong followers of Christ. This mission involves going to those who are far from God, baptizing new believers into the family of faith, and teaching them to grow in obe...

On our annual State of the Church Sunday, we celebrated God’s faithfulness and Jeff reminded us of our mission as God's people. Grounded in Psalm 78:1-8, Jeff emphasized the importance of recounting God’s mighty works to each generation, not only with words but through authentic lives of obedience, humility, and love. We reflected on Christ as our Root, Vine, Anchor, Foundation, Author, Beginning...

This week’s sermon concluded our series with a focus on the joy and assurance found in 1 John 1:5–2:2. We were reminded that while sin is real, so is the cleansing, forgiveness, and righteousness offered through Jesus Christ. He is both our Advocate and atoning sacrifice, securing our standing before God by His blood. We rest in this truth because we couldn’t cleanse ourselves. We rejoice because...

This week’s sermon focused on 1 John 1:3-2:2 and the foundational truths of walking in the light of Jesus. Jeff explored six powerful "if" statements that remind us of the beauty of confession, forgiveness, and fellowship. Living in God’s truth anchors us in His grace, removes guilt, and frees us from shame. We are called to walk honestly before God, confess our sins, and trust in Jesus, our Advoc...

(Formerly titled "New Year Re-minders: Believe, Behave, Become") This week’s message explored the spiritual reset we need to begin the year with renewed focus on God’s work in our lives. Jeff reminded us that the Christian life is rooted in what we believe—about God’s grace, sin’s defeat, and the power of the resurrection. Belief shapes our behavior, and over time, that behavior determines who we...