Recreate Church

Stumbling Stone or Stepping Stone Today, Pastor Michael discusses good teachers and how they are stepping stones to learning, not stumbling stones.  A good teacher helps a learner step up, not stumble. And along that line, as a Christian, you can be the reason someone steps up to the faith or a stumbling block to them. We’re at the end of Mark and are discussing this idea with Jesus’ teachings in...

Love Without Expectation Today, Pastor Michael is talking about priorities and our number one priority in our faith:  People + Jesus.  We try to be that + sign (in the middle) as the core of who we are.  Our second priority is serving people.  How are you serving people in your family, extended family, or even school?  How are you serving in the community and the marketplace? After talking about p...

People + Jesus Today, Pastor Michael is back in the Gospel of Mark.  Today’s lesson is about how priority shapes destiny. At this point in the story, Jesus is telling the disciples that he will soon be betrayed and die.  And after this, He will rise on the third day.  The disciples did not understand this, so that’s where we pick up the story. This isn’t the first time that Jesus has talked about...

Defining Moments of Our Lives Today, Pastor Michael has turned over the reigns to Duncan Crook.  Duncan is talking about defining moments. What is a defining moment?  A significant moment, such as success, failure, achievement, demise, talent, etc. The point at which the glory or character of a person or group is revealed or identified.  Every single life is built upon a series of defining moments...

Faith Makes All Things Possible Today, Pastor Michael is talking about a man that had faith but not enough faith for what he was facing. He wanted to believe that the Lord would help him in his struggles; it’s not about the Lord’s might but about faith’s height! This story takes place right after the Transfiguration, where Jesus was revealed as He truly is.  So Jesus and the three disciples come d...

A Glimpse of His Glory Today, Pastor Michael is talking about the real heart of ReCreate Church.  We have something here that is unique, and we’ve only seen a little flash of what we can truly do! Today’s sermon is about the Transfiguration and what happens when we see His glory.   Our takeaway is, “If you glimpse His glory, you’ll tell His story!”. Jesus let Peter, James, and John to a mountain w...

How to Win at Life Today, Pastor Michael is talking about life. How we are created for a purpose.  If we are not pursuing that purpose, everything else will never satisfy us. The win is in surrender.  Surrending to God.  What is that area of your life that you don’t want God to take control of?  What do you not want to let go of?   In our attempt to save our lives, we lose our lives.  If we don’t...

Sending Celebration Today, Pastor Michael is taking a Father’s Day sidestep from our study in Mark to talk about Billy Honeycutt’s forthcoming mission trip to Peru.   Billy starts off by telling of his daughter calling and wanting him to join them on a mission trip.  Throughout the years, everyone in his family has gone off on mission trips, and he was the one left at home to work.  So he relates...

I Can't Make It About Me Today, Pastor Michael is looking at Jesus returning to Galilee with his disciples.  He calls the folks at a distance to come and listen to Him.   Jesus states, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me and the gospel will save it. For...

Paper Doll Jesus Today, Pastor Michael is saying that some folks have a “Paper Doll” mentality toward Jesus.  The Jesus that is in line with the beliefs that you have; the Jesus that is two-dimensional.  His own disciples had a very flat, two-dimensional view of Jesus.  Their understanding of Him didn’t match the truth of His person or purpose.  We see this disconnection in Mark of what his follow...

The Man Who Saw Trees Walking. Today, Pastor Michael is going to tell a story about a man who saw trees walking.  A blind man could see, and others who could normally see were blind. Bethsaida (“house of the fishermen”)is where Jesus is today; his ministry headquarters was just down the road in Capernaum.  Jesus was in Bethsaida, and a group of people are coming up to him with a man whose eyes are...

When Life Doesn’t Add Up. Today, Pastor Michael is talking about the two miracles of fish and bread.  There is the feeding of the 5,000, known as the “Miracle of Five Loaves and Two Fish,” which occurred near Bethsaida, near the Sea of Galilee.  This was in Mark, Chapter 6. The second is the feeding of 4,000, known as the “Miracle of Seven Loaves and a Few Fish,” which occurred near the region of...

Gentle Is Strong. Today, Pastor Michael is talking about gentleness.  Gentleness is not weakness, and Michael is in the book of 1 Thessalonians, a book that started as an actual letter from Paul to the believers in Thessalonica on how to do things.  Paul here is comparing himself to a nursing mother, feeding them, not with milk but with the Gospel of God.  They were giving of themselves, in their...

Are You Open? Today, Pastor Michael is giving us a story that is unique to Mark; it doesn’t appear in any of the other gospels.  The question we’re centering on in this study is, “Are You Open?”.   As in, open to the will of God. Jesus has just left Tyre, to the north of Israel, and He decides to go around the east side of the Sea of Galilee.  Folks brought a deaf man to Jesus, and He told him, “B...

Spiritual Plumbing Today, Pastor Michael has turned over the reigns to Duncan Crook, who has stood in for Michael a few times, and his message today is about…plumbing! Not our house’s plumbing, of course, but spiritual plumbing.   Starting off, we have some ‘bad’ news: You have no hope of unclogging your spiritual plumbing! The good news is that God desires to unclog that spiritual plumbing if you...

The Goodness of God in an Unfair World Today, Pastor Michael is in Mark and speaking about the goodness of God is greater than the unfairness of the world.  Jesus only traveled outside of Israel a few times in His life.  This is one of those times.  He is in Tyre, a deeply Gentile place during His time; today, it’s a city in Lebanon.   He enters the town quietly and goes into a house.  A lady come...

Traditions Versus Your Heart. Today, Pastor Michael is talking about the Pharisees, the “Separate Ones.”  These days, the word Pharisee is synonymous with hypocrite, but in their day, they were well respected.  And the Pharisees had a tradition of washing their hands after returning from the Market.  The problem with their rituals was that they felt those that didn’t conform to their practices wer...

The Convict and The King. Today, Pastor Michael is talking about Easter.  Resurrection Sunday.  And he feels in his heart that the Lord is leading him to ‘tell a story’.   So, this is the story of the convict and the king.  A pair of bright eyes set in a face that was probably handsome many years ago but today, he’s showing that he’s had a hard life.  He’s trying to remain calm but he sees the iro...

Palm Sunday Today, Pastor Michael is in the story of Jesus where some things are being set into motion.  Folks are worshipping Jesus at this point, His disciples likely feeling like folks are understanding his message and rolling out the red carpet, so to speak.  The welcome one would normally give to royalty. Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter.  It gets its name from people laying down palm fr...

Food and Walking on Water. Today, Pastor Michael is following up on the “Feeding of the Five Thousand”.  Jesus and His Disciples were in the woods and the whole point of being in the wilderness area was to get some rest.  But the crowd followed them!  And during this time, Jesus feed well over 5,000 from just the meager leftovers of someone’s lunch! So, here is this miracle-working man that can fe...

The Potter’s Wheel. Today, Pastor Michael is turning over the reigns to Billy Huneycutt, who gave incredible lessons last year in July (“More and More”), October (“Come, Follow Me”), and December (“Is This Boat Gonna Sink?”).   His signature piece, though, would have to be “The Potter’s Wheel,” which he last did for us way back in December 2021. This is a piece that audio alone cannot do justice t...

Feeding Hungry Souls Today, Pastor Michael is talking of how Jesus was taking a retreat with the apostles, all of them essentially worn out from a ton of preaching, taking them to a deserted place for some recharge time.  Wouldn’t you know it?  When they arrived, there were already many folks waiting for them!  A bunch of folks!  Jesus looked out over the crowd and felt empathy, a group of lost wa...

The Original Jesus Freak! Today, Pastor Michael is continuing our journey in Mark.  Jesus, at this time, was traveling, preaching, and gaining quite a following. Unfortunately, Jesus has gotten Herod’s attention, and Herod has mixed Jesus up with John the Baptist.  The Herod here is Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, so you have the backstory in this complicated story.  The story itself is bey...

Disciple! Today, Pastor Michael is talking about the Twelve Disciples spreading the Good News.   It’s not easy to share it, not knowing who to share it with, but we are disciples making disciples, as the twelve were so many millennia ago.   Jesus sent out the disciples, two by two.  So everyone had a buddy.  Back in those days, under Jewish law there was a requirement for two witnesses for a testi...

Jesus Is More! Today, Pastor Michael is back in Mark after a hiatus over the holidays.  Mark is one of the Gospels, each one of which has a different viewpoint on Jesus’ story.  Matthew—Gives an overall view. Mark—Fast paced, action oriented, close up. Luke—Detailed, intimate look. John—overarching, high level view, where Jesus fits into history. Michael’s opinion is that Mark is a great place for...