The cross is at the center of Christianity, but that doesn’t mean everyone understands why it was necessary.

If God loves us and wants to forgive us, why did forgiveness have to cost that?

That was the question at the center of Pastor Mike O’Connell’s Baptism Sunday message, Why Did Jesus Have To Die?

Judah made a smart decision, and God called it rebellion.

That was the tension at the center of Pastor Kap Chatfield’s message from Isaiah 30. Assyria had already taken the northern kingdom and was coming for Judah next, so Judah’s leaders did what looked practical. They went looking for help, loaded up treasure, and turned to Egypt for protection.

Sometimes what feels like a peace problem is really a focus problem.

That was the heart of Pastor Mike O’Connell’s message, How Do I Get My Peace Back?, from Isaiah 26:3. A lot of us think peace will come once something around us changes. Once the situation gets easier, the answer comes, the pressure lifts, or the uncertainty settles down. But Isaiah points us somewhere else.

Work Like It Matters. Rest Like You’re Loved.

God built a rhythm into creation before we ever had a chance to get it wrong: six days of work, one day of rest.

That was the heart of Sabbath Sunday at Love Church. Pastor Mike O’Connell led the conversation with Pastor Todd Doxzon and Luke Reelfs, bringing three different seasons of life into the same question: how do we work hard without letting work take over, and how do we rest without checking out?

What Is a Group, Really?

A Group isn’t a class, and it isn’t a clique. It’s simply a smaller place to build real relationships, grow in your faith, and have people in your life who actually know you.

If you’ve heard us say, “Get in a Group,” and weren’t totally sure what that meant, you’re not alone. It can sound more formal than it really is.

Is it wrong for a Christian to want more?

More opportunity. More influence. A growing business. A better home. More resources.

Can A Christian Want More? Pastor Todd Doxzon’s message, based on Ecclesiastes 2, gives us an honest place to wrestle with that question. Solomon had almost everything a person could want. He built, accumulated, achieved, and experienced more than most people ever will.

You are not as invisible as you feel.

Sometimes loneliness can show up even when you’re surrounded by people. You can walk through a crowded hallway, be in the group chat, show up in the pictures, and still wish you felt a little more known.

Lust can feel private, but the effects of it rarely stay that way.

What we allow into our lives can begin to affect our peace, our relationships, our confidence, and the way we show up for the people around us. That’s why Pastor Kap Chatfield used the picture of a leak in a house to show how lust can begin as something hidden but eventually spread into other areas of our lives: a leak may begin as a small, hidden problem, but if it is ignored, it can spread through the walls and cause damage far beyond the place where it started.

Maybe you own a Bible. Maybe you have more than one. It could be sitting on a shelf, tucked in a drawer, or downloaded as an app you meant to open more often.

You want to read it. You’re just not sure where to begin.

That’s okay. You don’t need to have a whole plan figured out before you start. You just need a simple place to begin.

Suffering is not really a question of if. Jesus made that clear in John 16:33:

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

That’s where Pastor Mike O’Connell began Sunday’s message from the book of Job. The question isn’t whether we’ll walk through difficult seasons. At some point, all of us will. The question is how we respond when they come.

For the Mom or Dad Watching a Kid Walk Into a New Classroom

You’ve packed the backpack twice. Checked the folder. Set the alarm. Maybe you’ve even replayed the morning in your head a few times. At some point, you watch your kid walk into a new classroom, maybe with a teacher and classmates you’re still getting to know. That’s not a small thing.

A Problem and Providence Can Happen at the Same Time

Most of us know what it feels like to want control, especially after walking through something painful that we never saw coming. Pastor Todd Doxzon opened Sunday’s message, Sovereign Swap, by talking about that tendency in his own life. Then he showed how some of the moments that felt most frustrating or confusing at the time eventually became part of a much bigger story.

God’s greatest works never start with a talented person. They start with a burdened one.

That was the heart of Pastor Mike O’Connell’s message this week as he taught from Nehemiah 1 and 2.

Before Nehemiah ever made a plan or picked up a tool, he heard a report. The walls of Jerusalem had been torn down. The gates had been burned. His people were living in disgrace.

You Don’t Have to Know What to Say

For a lot of people, prayer can feel intimidating simply because they’re not sure where to begin.

They think it has to sound formal, like there’s a right way to sit, a right order to follow, or certain words they’re supposed to use. And when they’re not sure what to say, they end up saying nothing at all.

Pride doesn't wait for your weakness. It waits for your strength.

Most of us assume pride shows up when life is falling apart. But in Humility Heals, Pastor Kap challenged that assumption, showing how pride can be hardest to recognize when things are going well. Success can quietly convince us that we're stronger, wiser, or more self-sufficient than we really are.

You haven’t lost Him.

Maybe it’s been weeks since you prayed and truly meant it. Maybe your Bible is somewhere in the house, but you couldn’t tell someone which room it’s in. Maybe you still believe. You’d say yes if someone asked, but something that once felt close now feels quiet.

God is still speaking. The question is whether we’ve made room to hear it.

That’s the thesis Pastor Kap Chatfield built this week’s message around, using a story most of us know but rarely apply: King Jehoshaphat, three armies, and nowhere to run.

Baptism is one of those words that can feel confusing, especially if you didn't grow up in church.

Maybe you've wondered what it actually means. Maybe you've been thinking about taking that step but aren't sure what to expect. Or maybe you've been around church your whole life and just want a clearer understanding.

This guide is for you.

Here's what baptism is, what it isn't, and what you can expect on Baptism Sunday at Love Church.