The Grove Church

This week on Cultivate, Charlie and Abigail dig into Luke 12 and one of Jesus' most pointed parables — the Rich Fool. It starts with a guy in the crowd interrupting Jesus mid-sermon to settle a family inheritance dispute. Jesus' response: "Man, who appointed me your judge?" And then, just to make sure nobody's comfortable, he turns to the whole crowd and says: watch out for greed. Life is not abou...

For four hundred years, the Jewish people waited in silence for a Messiah — and every expectation pointed to power. A warrior. A political liberator. Someone who would finally overthrow Rome and set things right by force. Instead, God arrived as a newborn, born to an unremarkable teenage mother, laid in a feeding trough because there was nowhere else to put him. In this message from our Foundation...

Most of us have a working theory about how God operates: follow the rules, hope you've done enough, and maybe he'll come through. It's functional. It's familiar. And according to this sermon, it's not even close to what God is actually offering. In week four of Foundations, Charlie walks through Exodus 19 — the moment God arrives at Mount Sinai and proposes something to Israel that would have been...

This week on Cultivate, Charlie and Abigail dig into Luke 11 — where the disciples ask Jesus a deceptively simple question: "Lord, teach us to pray." Jesus responds with the Lord's Prayer and then immediately tells one of the strangest stories in the Gospels: a man knocking on his neighbor's door at midnight begging for bread. It's an absurd situation. The neighbor is annoyed, the kids are asleep,...

Most people have heard that Abraham is the father of the Jewish faith. Fewer people understand why — or what it actually means that God "chose" him. In week three of Foundations, Charlie walks through Genesis 12:1–5 and takes apart one of the most misunderstood ideas in all of Scripture: the chosen people. God wasn't picking favorites. He wasn't rewarding Abraham for being especially good. Abraham...

This week on Cultivate, Charlie and Abigail dig into the Parable of the Persistent Widow from Luke 18 and what it teaches about prayer, faith, and God's justice. They explore Jesus' story of a widow who keeps pursuing justice from an indifferent judge, unpacking what it really means to "always pray and not give up." This isn't a formula for getting what we want — it's an invitation to trust God's...

Most of us grew up with the rainbow and the animals. We missed the harder, richer story underneath. In this week's Foundations sermon, Mark walks through Genesis 6–9 and takes the flood narrative seriously — the scale of humanity's wickedness, God's grief over it, and why a truly good God had to respond. Along the way, he reframes the question most people ask ("How could a good God do this?") into...

This week on Cultivate, we explored the themes of sin, faith, and duty as found in Luke 17:1–10. Charlie Loften and Abigail Boone dove into Jesus’ challenging words about forgiveness—specifically, the call to forgive someone who wrongs you repeatedly, even seven times in a single day. We discussed what it means not to be a stumbling block in others’ faith journeys, and how Jesus reframed the apost...

This week in our Foundations series, we discussed the beginnings of God’s story in Genesis 1–3 and what it means for our lives today. Charlie Loften walked us through the creation account, where God not only brings everything into existence but establishes that He is both Creator and Owner of the universe. We considered how being made in God’s image sets people apart within creation and gives us b...

This week on Cultivate, we unpacked the cost of being a disciple and what it truly means to follow Jesus. Charlie Loften and Abigail Boone dove into Luke 14:25–35, where Jesus challenges the crowds with strong words about commitment—going so far as to say that following Him means “hating” even family and choosing a completely new way of life. We explored what Jesus’ hyperbolic language really mean...

This week in our Off Ramps series, we discussed the powerful role of friendship and the dangers of loneliness on our walk of faith. Mark led us through Ecclesiastes 4:9–12, exploring how the Bible highlights the necessity of true community—reminding us that "two are better than one." We looked at how our culture often promises comfort and safety in isolation, but Scripture shows that real strength...

This week on Cultivate, we discussed what it looks like to live with humility and generosity, especially in spaces where we’re tempted to seek recognition. Charlie and Abigail walked through Luke 14, where Jesus attends a meal at a Pharisee’s house and challenges both guests and host alike. We explored Jesus’ practical wisdom about taking the “lowest seat” at the table, reminding us that those who...

This week in our Off Roads series, we discussed how shame and fear can quietly steer us off course in our relationship with God—especially when it comes to the topic of sex. Drawing from Genesis 2, we explored God’s original intention for intimacy: a beautiful gift designed for oneness, connection, and joy within marriage. We talked honestly about how mixed messages from culture, family, and even...

This week on Cultivate, we explored the Parable of the Growing Seed from Mark 4—a story unique to Mark’s gospel where Jesus describes the mysterious way God’s kingdom grows. Speaker A and Speaker B unpacked how the kingdom isn’t about instant results or obvious victories, but about subtle, often hidden transformation. We discussed how Jesus challenged his listeners’ expectations of a conquering Me...

This week in our Off Ramps series, we discussed the subtle ways spiritual drift can happen, especially in the area of sex and sexuality. Charlie Loften walked us through 1 Corinthians 6:18–20, emphasizing Paul’s call to “flee from sexual immorality” and exploring why God’s boundaries are for our protection, not punishment. We heard stories of real-life struggles and saw how small choices can lead...

This week on Cultivate, we dove into Jesus’s teachings about being “salt and light” from Matthew 5:13–16. Charlie Loften and Abigail Boone explored how Jesus calls ordinary people—those listening on the hillside then, and us now—to bring life, hope, and goodness into the world. Together, we unpacked what it means to be the “salt of the earth” and the “light of the world,” discussing both the histo...

This week in our Off Ramps series, we discussed how striving to be “good enough” can quietly derail our relationship with God. Charlie Lofton shared from Ephesians 2:8–10, emphasizing that salvation is a gift given by God’s grace—not something we can earn or pay back with our own effort. We heard the story of someone overwhelmed by religious pressure and explored how internalizing that burden can...

This week on Cultivate, we explored questions about fasting through the parable of the wineskins in Matthew 9. Charlie Loften and Abigail Boone unpacked why Jesus’ disciples didn’t fast like the Pharisees or John the Baptist’s followers, and what Jesus meant when He described Himself as the bridegroom. Together, we dug into Jesus’ teaching about new wine and old wineskins—how He invited people int...

This week in our Off Ramps series, we discussed how our attitudes toward money can quietly lead us away from faith. Focusing on 1 Timothy 6:6–10, Charlie Loften explored Paul’s teaching on godliness and contentment, challenging us to consider what true “gain” really means in our lives. We looked at the difference between simply having resources and being content, and how the love of money—not mone...

This week on Cultivate, we dove into the familiar parable of the wise and foolish builders from Matthew 7:24–27. Charlie Lofton and Abigail Boone explored how Jesus’ teaching at the end of the Sermon on the Mount isn’t just good advice, but a decisive invitation to build our lives on a solid foundation—by hearing His words and actually putting them into practice. We discussed how Jesus differentia...

This week in our Off Ramps series, we discussed the everyday struggles many of us have with money and the ways fear and anxiety can quietly pull us away from trusting God. Drawing from Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:25–34, Charlie Lofton unpacked how worry over finances can easily become a spiritual off ramp, distracting us from God’s path for our lives. We explored the difference between unhealthy anx...

This week in our Off Ramps series, we discussed how busyness can quietly lead us away from the life God invites us into. Charlie Loften walked us through Luke 10:38–42, the story of Mary and Martha, where Jesus gently redirects our focus toward what truly matters—deepening our relationship with Him above all the good (but often overwhelming) things demanding our attention. Together, we explored ho...

This week on Cultivate, we unpacked the Parable of the Great Banquet from Luke 14. Charlie and Abigail explored how Jesus uses a dinner party with Pharisees to illustrate the generous invitation of God’s kingdom. We discussed the surprising twist—those who seemed most worthy of the invitation make excuses and miss out, while the invitation is extended to the poor, the crippled, and the outsider. T...

This week in our No Off Ramps series, we discussed what it means to stay on the path that leads to true life and rest for our souls. Drawing from Jeremiah 6:16, Speaker B unpacked how God invites us to “stand by the roads and look and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it.” We reflected on practical ways these ancient, eternal paths—like prayer, community, and stillness—...

This week on Cultivate, we dove into the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard from Matthew 20. Charlie and Bagel walked through how Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a generous landowner who pays every worker the same, regardless of how long they worked. Together, we unpacked what a denarius meant in Jesus’ context, and explored the surprising grace this story reveals about God. Is God rea...