Passion Creek Church

One of the hardest parts of our lives to make peace with is the pain and suffering that follows us. All of us experience hardship, and for some, it’s the defining attribute of our lives. Whether from death, loss, infertility, chronic illness, sudden diagnoses, relational hurt and betrayal, or simply from apathy and the monotony of life, all of us have painful experiences. Making peace with our pai...

Once we’ve made peace with our past, we must learn to forge new patterns. To do this requires us to take ownership for the ways we contribute to the pain of the people around us. All of us have ways of coping with pain in our own lives, and some of these coping mechanisms can be good. If we’re lucky, we learn from our parents what it means to own up to our mistakes, forgive others, and resolve con...

All of us are shaped by our past. Where we come from, who we come from, and the way we were raised all shape who we are today in profound ways. Most of us have a basic awareness of our family of origin, but few of us have done the hard work of learning about our past to better understand who we are today. As a result, all of us unknowingly transmit the same narratives, patterns, pains, and expecta...

In  Acts 7 , a pivotal moment occurs in the story of the church. Stephen faces false accusations from the Jewish high priests and is forced to defend himself in court. But rather than responding with anxiety, he delivers a speech, tracing Jewish history from Abraham to Moses, and emphasizing God’s presence with His people. It’s a brilliant display of his wisdom and knowledge, but more importantly,...

Many of us fall into the trap of believing the myth of comfort: if something goes wrong, we must be doing something wrong. We falsely assume that if we’re doing the right things, we won’t face suffering, opposition, or conflict of any kind. But in  Acts 6, we  see why this is a myth. As it grows, the early church faces conflict. There’s complaining within the church and persecution outside the chu...

To follow the way of Jesus in today’s age will often put us at odds with those around us. Our convictions and beliefs are seen as archaic at best, and dangerous at worst. Like the early church, the world around us will pressure us to cave to its own ideals, and then blame us when things go wrong. And more often than not, when faced with this blame, we react poorly. Most of us will fall into two te...

Until Acts 4, the beginning of the church experienced miraculous success. People joined the church daily, shared what they had with one another, and gained more and more favor with outsiders. But in Acts 4, all of that changes. Suddenly confronted with the gospel truth, Jewish leaders give in to their anxiety and start harassing the disciples. Peter and John are forced into court, interrogated, an...

We live in a paranoid world. From the chaos, violence, and immorality around us to the anxiety, pain, and trauma inside us, most of us live in a constant state of fear. And without any hope of rescue, this paranoia leads us to either alarmism, or escapism. But the gospel story gives us a better hope. Jesus came into a world just as paranoid as ours, and he confronted the root of our paranoia; we’r...

In  Acts 3, we  meet a man unable to walk sitting outside of the temple. Separated from the presence of God and others, this man was left to beg for a living. But when Peter and John encounter him, they offer more than gold or silver; they offer him healing, both for his body and for his shame. Like this man, many of us today carry shame from our wickedness and woundedness that pulls us away from...

Most of us carry unrealistic expectations when it comes to church community. We all want the perfect personality to lead us, the perfect people around us, the perfect programs to serve us, and the perfect place to make us comfortable. But few of us fail to realize that community based around these things won’t feed the deep longing we have in our souls for genuine community. Instead of settling fo...

One of the most powerful themes throughout the book of Acts is that God’s people are empowered to bear witness to Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. God’s presence with us through the Spirit allows us to do what we could not do on our own, like share our faith boldly, know Jesus intimately, and do the work of the gospel powerfully. In  Acts 2 we  see how the Holy Spirit first came to all belie...

The book of Acts is the beginning of a story that we’re a part of. Luke, a Gentile physician and early follower of Jesus, writes about the origins of the church, the movement of the gospel, and the lifestyle of the first Christians. But his main goal is to do more than write a history book. Luke wants us to learn that the work that Jesus began in the gospels continues through his people, and by ex...

Many of Jesus’ interactions with the lost happened over a meal. In  Luke 7:34 , Jesus is accused of being “a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” The Gospel of Luke illustrates this well: In  Luke 5 , Jesus is described dining with tax collectors and sinners at a man named Levi’s house. Jesus is anointed by a sinful woman while eating at a Pharisee’s home in  Luke 7 . A...

If “loving your neighbor as yourself” was the second most important commandment in the scriptures according to Jesus, then it’s something we should make a regular part of our day-to-day life. But in our hyper-individualistic and self-serving culture, few of us actually get to know the strangers we interact with on a daily basis. Jesus and his disciples faced similar issues in their day. Loving the...

When the people of God are described throughout the Bible, they’re most often described as a family. And when family gathers for dinner, they share more than just a meal. They share life, stories, laughter, questions, tragedies, and celebrations. Throughout the scriptures, the people of God use meals to mark this kind of fellowship. The art of eating together with those we’re close to is a lost on...

All throughout the Gospels Jesus is described eating, feasting, and partying with common people. Jesus is almost always going to a meal, at a meal, or coming from a meal. The early church adopted this practice as well. The book of Acts tells us that the first followers of Jesus made it a regular habit to break bread from house to house, eating with “joyful and sincere hearts.” And as the meals spr...

Throughout the Biblical story, the people of God usually find themselves in the minority. From slavery in Egypt to oppression and persecution by Rome, God’s people have always had to learn how to live in a culture that isn’t their own. In the prophet Jeremiah’s day, the Israelites found themselves exiled in Babylon surrounded by enemies and paganism. But rather than assimilate into the culture or...

When it comes to developing deep friendships that form and shape us into the image of Jesus, one barrier often stops us: preferences. Rather than commit to a community of people who hold us accountable and build us up, we find it easier to surround ourselves with others who think like, act like, and approve of us. But the people of God have never flourished this way. In  Exodus 20  and  Deuteronom...

One of the hardest but most rewarding features of any healthy friendship is vulnerability. We get the most out of our relationships when we allow ourselves to be fully known and truly loved. And yet, few of us actually experience this type of freeing love. Instead, we live in private shame over our weaknesses, wickedness, and woundedness. But the gospel frees us from fear and shame. By learning to...

As connected, informed, and globalized as we are through social media and the internet, we’re also becoming more and more lonely. Fewer and fewer people admit to having close friends, and as life becomes more automated and individualized, it’s easier to go through our days without any meaningful interactions with other people. But this is far from the life that God designed for us. From the openin...

This message looks at the 3 names of Jesus in Matthew 1.

In this message, we look at 1 John 4:7-16 to learn the true definition of love.

Pastor Caleb looks at the story of peace throughout the Bible.

In this message, Pastor Trey examines Luke 1 & 2; Isaiah 8 &9 to learn what joy is and how we build more of it into our lives.

In Luke 1, we learn the secret to hope is getting silent with God.