The Weekly Word from Burns

When a heavily armed mob of hundreds shows up in the middle of the night to arrest one unarmed teacher, it’s easy to assume the teacher is the one in danger. But if you look closely at the arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, you'll notice something surprising: everyone is terrified except Jesus. In this episode, we dive into the harmonized Gospel accounts of the night Jesus was betrayed....

When You're in the Oil Press: Lessons from Gethsemane As we begin our Lenten journey toward the cross, we start in a place of profound heaviness and ultimate surrender: the Garden of Gethsemane. But Gethsemane wasn't just a random grove of trees. It is a deeply significant biblical landmark—the exact mountain where King David wept, where Ezekiel watched God’s glory depart, and where Jesus passed t...

Over the next six weeks, we’ll be tracing the steps of Jesus all the way from His agonizing prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane to His final moments on the cross. But before we take that journey, we have to prepare. In this episode, we dive into the intense, 40-day baptism preparations of the early church, explore the true purpose of fasting, and discover how staring at the reality of our own mort...

Jesus says His sheep know His voice—so why is it so hard for us to hear Him? This week, we look at the difference between the Good Shepherd and the imposters (the thief and the hireling). Plus, an experiment and a lesson on "body language" from our sign language interpreter. In this episode: The "Blindfold Test" (Live Sermon Illustration) The difference between the Shepherd’s voice and the Robber’...

Is God’s will a specific dot you have to hit, or a circle you get to live in? Many of us live with a functional theology that God is a micromanager, obsessing over our non-moral choices. But a closer look at Scripture—from the Garden of Eden to the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15—reveals a God who values our freedom and maturity. This week, we unpack the distinction between God's Moral Will (His c...

If the Devil is the "Father of Lies," then discernment is the Christian's most essential survival skill. But how do you hone it? In this episode, we move beyond the "don't lie" Sunday School lesson and tackle the harder question: How do we keep from getting duped? Whether you’re evaluating a preacher, a podcast host, or a political candidate, these 10 biblical markers provide a roadmap for finding...

Not everything is as it seems. Whether it’s a $27.50 Magna Carta that turned out to be priceless or a "trustworthy" person who turns out to be false, we are facing a crisis of discernment. Gullibility isn't a spiritual gift. Discernment is! So how do we move beyond naivety and learn to see things as they really are? This sermon looks at... The Harvard Mistake: Why even experts struggle to distingu...

Is the picture I'm looking at real or was it generated by AI? Is this relationship real or is it just superficial and convenient? Is this leader really looking out for our best interest or is he just charismatic and engaging? Is my faith real and genuine or is it my parent's faith? Is this idea really true - or does it just have a veneer of truth? Those are the questions we're looking at in 2026....

It feels like we just started 2025, yet here we are at the finish line. Why do we treat life like a test we can cram for the night before? In this final sermon of the year, we explore the danger of "cramming" for spiritual growth and the alternative Jesus offers: the quiet power of "little by little." If you are feeling pressure to make massive changes for the New Year, this message on the miracle...

"O Come All Ye Faithful" sounds like an incredible invitation to worship, and it is... ...but are we actually all that faithful?  Join Chuck Ramseur this week as we study the incredible invitation of Jesus, not just for the faithful, but for the unfaithful, too.

How do we speak to a world that doesn't know the Bible? We follow Paul's example in Athens. In this sermon, we explore Acts 17 and the art of finding "good dreams" in our culture that point to the true story of Jesus. We discuss how even a simple story like Rudolph can remind us of the One who was "despised and rejected by men" yet chosen by God to save the world. Join us for this study on Acts 17...

This week, join Chuck Ramseur, James Hinkle, Greer Hinson, and Matthew Hiatt was we look at how one of the world's most popular Christmas songs (a song that was actually written about the second coming) points us to Jesus!

Plato once said that if you want to change the laws of a state, you first change its music. Every December, our culture instinctively changes its playlist. From Mariah Carey to Bing Crosby, we fill the airwaves with songs that—whether they realize it or not—reveal a deep hunger for the Incarnation. In this first episode of our new series, Christmas Playlist, we look at a carol written in 1849, a y...

Ezekiel has been a hard road. We've seen wheels within wheels, dry bones, and difficult prophecies. It feels like a book that is miles away from the grace of the New Testament. But what if we told you that Ezekiel is actually full of Jesus? In the finale of our Strange Faithfulness series, we are connecting the dots between the prophet in exile and the Savior of the world. We explore why they shar...

The Power of the Turn (Ezekiel and Repentance) What do you do when you miss your exit in life? Do you keep driving and hope for the best, or do you stop and recalculate? The word "repentance" often feels intimidating, but the Prophet Ezekiel had a simpler word for it: Turn. This week we strip away the religious confusion about a "church word" and see repentance as not a punishment or a one-time ev...

What is the "Good News" that can feel like "Bad News"? In this powerful message from Ezekiel 18, Matthew tackles a tough Biblical tension: personal accountability vs. generational sin. The exiled Israelites had a popular proverb: "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge." They believed they were paying the price for their ancestors' mistakes. But God says, "No...

Giving bad news is a heavy burden, one that shatters a person's world into a "before and after." But it is sometimes the most essential message we can receive. This week, we confront the raw, uncomfortable message of the prophet Ezekiel. Empowered by God's Spirit, Ezekiel had to deliver a terrifying, undeniable diagnosis to Israel: their wickedness was the source of their pain, and judgment was at...

Where does God hang out? (Hint: Not just church.) Who does he hang out with? (Hint: Not just "church people.") What does he really look like? (Hint: Not Gandalf.) Many of our ideas about God are too small, too safe, and just plain wrong. This Sunday, we're letting Ezekiel 1 be a "wrecking ball" to our bad theology. Join us as we kick off a new sermon series on the majorly weird (and majorly import...

What do joining the military, becoming a citizen, and starting a new job all have in common? They all have an "initiation ritual"—a swearing-in ceremony. Following Jesus is no different. We call it baptism. While it's easy to get lost in arguments about how, when, or why it's done, this message reminds us of the one thing every Christian group agrees on: it's the powerful, beautiful, and essential...

"How long, O Lord?" From the brokenness of our world to the secret doubts in our own hearts, we all ask this question. This week, Chuck Ramseurs takes a magnifying glass to Psalm 13 and the confession of a struggling believer: "I am no longer sure I am in Jesus... I just don't know anymore." By examining Jesus' own struggle in the wilderness (Luke 4) and his controversial praise for the foreign wi...

Are you tired of grand, empty religious gestures? Do you suspect that what you do on Sunday matters less than how you live on Tuesday? This week, we dive deep into Micah 6:8, the most famous summary of God’s will, and discover the "little things" that truly matter: doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God. The prophet Micah asks: What does God want? Thousands of rams? Rivers of...

Jesus said the one who is faithful in little will be faithful in much. We’ve been talking about the small, intentional habits that make a big difference in following him, and this week's "little thing" is all about food! Did you know some of the Bible's most important moments happened over a table? From the Road to Emmaus to the final chapters of Revelation, God uses meals to open our eyes and bri...

Did you know the Bible's passages on giving aren't about tithing laws, but disaster relief? Join us as we look at the early church—from the generous Barnabas, whose giving earned him the nickname "Son of Encouragement," to the incredibly poor but sacrificial Macedonians. We’ll explore the seven paradoxes of giving and learn why generosity is an act of faithfulness in everyone's reach.

Today, we're diving straight into one of the most challenging passages in the entire Bible: 1 Samuel, chapter 15. It's a text that features God giving a command so brutal and absolute it makes even the most faithful among us wince. If you find yourself asking, “Why would God ever say that?”—good. We hope you're uncomfortable. We'll be exploring the story of King Saul and his disastrous, self-servi...

The biblical figure Samuel is impressive: He was the last judge of Israel, anointed two kings (Saul and David), and even made a dramatic post-mortem appearance in scripture. But the truly amazing part of his story is how it began. In this powerful episode, we explore the simple, yet profound, act that defined Samuel's life: listening. You'll discover the surprising depth of the Hebrew word for "he...