Wilderness Church

"...Like a Kid on Christmas Morning" More than likely you have heard someone describe their excitement by using the phrase "Like a Kid on Christmas Morning." As we enter the Christmas season we all know that there is an extreme excitement that happens when the Christmas countdown starts. For some of us, or maybe your kids, the excitement is encased in great anticipation. Like many things in life,...

You are in for a treat!! In this episode you will get to hear from three men who are incredible husbands, fathers, and leaders. However, it wasn't always like that for all of them. Parker Black, Tyler Hartwig, and Paul Shafer all three share how their lives have led them to following and operating in the person and body of Christ. Buckle up, because more than likely these stories will make an impa...

If you've ever heard the story of Jonah and the Whale then you are more than likely familiar with the rebellion and decision that Jonah made, but what if there was more to the story than what we were taught as kids. In week 4, and the last week, of this series we are again digging deeper and dissecting the story and relevance of Jonah and how Jonah being swallowed by a big fish can relate to our e...

If you've ever heard the story of Jonah and the Whale then you are more than likely familiar with the rebellion and decision that Jonah made, but what if there was more to the story than what we were taught as kids. In week 3 of this series we are again digging deeper and dissecting the story and relevance of Jonah and how Jonah being swallowed by a big fish can relate to our everyday lives and po...

If you've ever heard the story of Jonah and the Whale then you are more than likely familiar with the rebellion and decision that Jonah made, but what if there was more to the story than what we were taught as kids. In week 2 of this series we are again digging deeper and dissecting the story and relevance of Jonah and how Jonah being swallowed by a big fish can relate to our everyday lives and po...

If you grew up in Sunday School classes, then chances are that you have heard the story of Jonah and the Whale. If you are familiar with the Old Testament story, then at some point in your growing years you may have had a moment of wondering or questioning the value of the lesson. As we start a new series studying the book and Life of Jonah in the Bible we will see how there is more to the story o...

If you have driven for very long, or have ever been in heavy traffic, than you are probably well acquainted with the word "Detours." When you hear the word detours you might think of being inconvenienced on a drive, or finding a faster route to avoid traffic and those thoughts are valid, but what about detours in life? We have surely all been rerouted in life and led a different way than we intend...

If you are from the Bible Belt than you probably have an idea on prayer. Whether it's a simple bed time prayer, a half-hearted prayer before Christmas dinner, or crying out to the Lord from rock bottom most of us have heard about or experienced many different styles of praying. Even though you may have an already formed opinion of prayer, what if I told you that the way you thought of prayer may n...

If you have been following along with this series through the main thees in the book of James then you know that James is bold in his instruction to the early church, and to us reading and learning today. This week we will be looking at James 1:13-19 where James points out the fact that we will all be tempted, and that when we are tempted we have an opportunity to look at the end result and make o...

As we continue through the main themes in James we can't help but to talk about James 1:19. We all know that words are powerful, words can be painful, and words can be encouraging. In this talk we will look at James' perspective on the words we use and how we can use our words for good or for evil.

If you have been listening along to the series through James, then you know that James promises up struggles and pain. Now, as hard as that can be to comprehend as Christians living with hope, we have to know that the words of Jesus and the collection of writings we now call the Bible have instructions and hope for dealing with such troubles. In this talk we are taking a break from the series in J...

"If you don't do what you know you should, it won't do you any good." As we continue this series through some of the main themes in the book of James we see where James was direct and blunt with his lessons and instruction. In this talk we read in James 1:19-25 where James instructs the readers/listeners to not only hear his words referring to Jesus' message, but to put those lesson to practice in...

Pain and Suffering. Can anything good from from either one? Most of us don't choose to participate in pain, and we certainly don't enjoy suffering, so what good can come from either one. This week we are starting a 5 week series over the New Testament book of James. In this talk we will look at James 1:2-12 where James discussed the certainty of suffering and the products that can come from it.

Aliens and UFO's? Yeah, you read that right. As the world, and the US. Government contemplate the existence of extra terrestrial beings many people on the outside, especially believers, are drawn to pull their opinion out of thin air. Well, in this talk we will dive into a topic that you won't hear many pastors or churches talk about. Does the Bible allow for the existence of Aliens?

This summer has been fast and furious for most of us here at Wilderness. As we close the chapter on the summer of 2023, we wanted to take a moment to look at what all God has done the last couple of months and look forward to what God is about to do in and through the lives of His people.

If you've ever tried to grow a garden, or tend to a garden then you know that the first couple of years requires a lot of work on the soil itself. In this talk Nick Swinford, a guest and good friend, walks us through the Parable of the Soils where Jesus describes 4 types of soil.

Most of us can thin of a person or a couple of people in our life that made a huge impact on our life. Maybe that person taught you a valuable life lesson, or maybe they just took the time to tell you a story from their life, but whatever it was that they did made a lasting impact. In this talk we will look into the life of Asaph, a man in scripture that you may not have ever heard about, but a ma...

If you've ever been outside during a storm than I'm sure you have seen lightning and heard, sometimes felt, thunder. Even though they seem to be separate things, lighting and thunder go hand in hand. In this episode you get to hear from Chase Pope about the Light of the world and the thunder that follows. Chase is a part of the camp ministry we send our kids and youth to as well as Pastoring his o...

CAMP CAMP CAMP!!!! It's no secret here at Wilderness that we love shared experiences. Every summer our students ranging from Kindergarten to Seniors in High school get an opportunity to participate in some sort of camp. This week Travis gets to talk about his first hand experience going with our middle school and high school students to "Cow Camp."

I AM WHO I AM. In Exodus 3 God reveals Himself to Moses by saying "I AM WHO I AM" so that Moses can prove that the one true God sent him. In this statement by God we may have more questions than answers. In reality, when God says this to Moses He is trying to show that He is Sovereign. He is above all, in control of all, and able to work through all. In this talk Travis shares his thoughts on how...

There are many different ideas on how to give, what to give, and when to give when it comes to the church. Sometimes we, as the Church, can get caught up in specifics and numbers when it comes to giving. Luckily scripture offers stories and instances where Jesus is pleased with the generosity of His people. In this talk Travis dives into the areas of scripture that talk about tithing, giving, and...

We've all had those moments in seemingly simple tasks where after everything falls apart we look back and see where we started off wrong. Surprisingly this isn't a new issue, often times we don't take the necessary steps, or we "try it our own way" and we end up not where we intended to be. In this talk we are looking at Matthew 7 verses 24-29 where Jesus tells a story of two different people buil...

As we continue the series of talks around the Parables that Jesus taught we often see real world examples used to enlighten us, and the first person listeners, on how our Heavenly Father wants us. In this talk we will look at the story of the Prodigal son and determine how the actions of the brothers can play into our life.

We've all heard a phrase that starts out with "When life gives you lemons...." and we've all heard various answers that follow the hypothetical lemon situation. In this talk on Mother's Day our guest speaker Ken Brumley digs into Mark 6 and discusses the biblical answer for the "when life gives you lemons" question.

For the last two weeks we have been studying the Parables that Jesus taught during His ministry. In this weeks episode we are looking into the Parable of the Soils. Although Jesus used Parables and imagery that was sometimes geared toward the culture of the time, we still find that the stories and imagery that Jesus uses applies to us today. Often times when we look at the stories that Jesus told...