Motion Church

We're continuing our Faith Stories series, because faith never just affects the person who has it — it affects everyone around them. This week we're in Luke 18:35-43 with a blind man sitting by the road outside Jericho.

When he hears that Jesus of Nazareth is passing by, he starts shouting: "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" The crowd tells him to hush — and he cries out all the more. And Jesus, on his way to Jerusalem to be crucified for the sins of the world, stands still. He stops his mission for one man's faith, calls him over, and asks, "What do you want me to do for you?" The man is healed, and immediately follows Jesus — and all the people, seeing it, give praise to God.

A few things worth sitting with:

Jesus stood still. He didn't have to stop. He was on his way to the cross. But persistent, unembarrassed faith got his full attention — and it still does.

God closing the loop. Remember Jericho from Joshua 6 — the walls that came tumbling down? Where there was once rubble and ruin, here comes Jesus bringing redemption and restoration, near the end of his ministry, still loving and serving people on his way out. (Even the names rhyme: Joshua and Yeshua share the root meaning "Yahweh saves.")

Ask the questions. "Son of David" is genealogy and prophecy fulfilled — and if that's ever confused you, you're in good company. There are no dumb questions when it comes to figuring out your faith. Ask them.

The invitation: a persistent faith — one that won't quit, that isn't altered by the opinions of other people, that's anchored in God's character and track record. Position yourself around people who've walked through the fire, be strengthened by their faith, and then use your own story to serve, love, and inspire someone else's. Get up and follow Jesus.

Scripture: Luke 18:35-43 (with a look back at Joshua 6).

We're kicking off a new series looking at stories from the life of Jesus where someone's faith inspired the people around them. Because that's what always happens — when people encounter Jesus, their faith is strengthened, and that faith becomes a catalyst for something miraculous.

 

This week we're in Mark 2:1-12. Jesus is back home in Capernaum, and the crowd is so packed there's no room left, not even outside the door. Four friends carry a paralyzed man to Jesus, and when they can't get through the crowd, they climb up, tear the roof off the house, and lower their friend down at Jesus' feet. And here's the line that matters: "When Jesus saw their faith" — not the paralyzed man's, but his friends' — he forgave the man's sins and told him to get up, pick up his mat, and walk.

 

There are two miracles in this story.

 

Jesus the Multitasker — The obvious one: Jesus heals a man who couldn't walk. But he's doing two things at once. To the religious skeptics muttering in their hearts that only God can forgive sins, Jesus proves the point — he heals the man so that they'll know the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. It's never just about the moment; it's always about the bigger picture. May we never forget what Jesus has done for us, where he brought us from, and the mats he's helped us walk away from.

 

Vandalizing Faith — The less obvious miracle: this man had four friends who cared enough and believed enough to do something radical and disruptive to get him to Jesus. At some point, faith has to stop being theoretical and start producing action. You will be down at some point, and when you are, you need friends who have faith when yours is weak — friends willing to press through the crowd, climb the stairs, and tear the roof off to carry you to Jesus. And if you want friends like that, you have to be a friend like that — the one who picks up his corner of somebody else's mat.

 

That's what church really is. You may not hear the greatest message every week, but every week you'll find some friends who will carry their corner of your mat — and a chance to carry someone else's.

 

Scripture: Mark 2:1-12 (with a nod to John 9).

Four men. Three fires. Two stories ages apart. One flame.

 

In this message, Cody Knight walks us from the courts of Babylon to the fiery furnace, where Daniel — and his friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego — refused to bow to the golden image and trade their God-given identity for the comfort of fitting in. The world is always trying to make us like it. So how do we stay standing when the heat is turned up?

 

This is a call to leave casual faith behind. Casual says "I'm a Christian" and still bows to the image. But when our faith meets the Father's faithfulness, there's a spark — and God is calling us to step into the fire and find Him right there in it.

 

If you've been facing your own fire, this one will strengthen you. And if you're facing your very first fire — believing in Jesus for the first time — know this: you can belong here before you believe.

 

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Warrior Poet Society — Week 4: How to Not Wreck Your Life

In the season finale of Warrior Poet Society, we close out our study of David with a simple but honest question: how do you keep from wrecking your life? Looking at the sweep of David's story, one pattern stands out — when certain things were properly ordered, life went well; when they weren't, David wrecked it. This message walks through three things that made the difference, and they all happen to start with the same letter.

Prayer — David led with prayer before he acted. "Should I go?" "Yes, go." Over and over he asked God first. When he prayed before he moved, things went well. When he didn't — Bathsheba, Uriah — he wrecked his life. Pray before you do, because if you do before you pray, you usually have to undo what you've done. It doesn't have to be eloquent. Sometimes it's just, "God, I don't know what to do."

People — The right people may be the single greatest factor in what your life looks like five years from now. God sent David an unlikely crew — the troubled, the indebted, the discontented — along with voices like Abigail who kept him from doing something he'd regret. The right people accelerate your progress, protect you, tell you the truth, and carry you when you're running on fumes.

Providence — David left room for God to do what only God could do. Time after time, "it just so happened." When you're down to nothing, God might be up to something. The place David escaped got a name: the Rock of Escape. Once we've prayed, gathered the right people, and done what we can, we trust God to make a way when there doesn't seem to be one.

Scripture: 1 Samuel 19, 22, 23, 25, and 30.

Motion Church | Warrior Poet Society, Week 3: "The Downstream Effect of Sin"

Happy Father's Day from Motion Church — "I think strong men are the backbone of any good society" — and then right into a tough but important topic in the David series: what happens after forgiveness.

This week picks back up exactly where Nathan left off with David after the Bathsheba confrontation. Nathan didn't just say "you are that man" — he also told David what would follow. "The sword shall never depart from your house... I will raise up adversity against you from your own house." Translated: "Because you chose sin... because you despised me, there will be downstream consequences for those actions."

Here's the tension the message sits in: God's forgiveness is instant and complete. "First John 1:9 says, if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us of those sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. It is that good. It is that true." But forgiveness doesn't erase consequences. "We can be forgiven immediately and instantaneously, but that doesn't mean that there won't be a wake." Like a muddy dog getting a bath — clean, but the tub still needs cleaning up. "Spiritually, we can be forgiven, but relationally, there may be much work to do."

And David's family lived that out in devastating ways. His son Amnon assaults his half-sister Tamar. His son Absalom, consumed by two years of quiet rage, orchestrates Amnon's murder in revenge. Eventually Absalom turns against his own father, manipulating the people of Israel — "Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel" — and seizing part of the kingdom. "All of this is in David's house, and all of this is because of sin." It's Galatians 6:7 playing out in real time: "whatever a man sows, that he will also reap." Sow violence, reap violence. Sow scheming, reap scheming.

There's a striking detail in Absalom's story too — he was famous for his flawless looks and his luscious hair, which he cut once a year, "200 shekels" worth. That same hair is what gets him caught in a tree branch while fleeing on his mule, leaving him dangling and vulnerable — and it's there that Joab kills him. "Absalom was hanging by the hair that was a key feature in his rise to power." The lesson: "What got him to a certain point was also what got him caught up in that point... what took you there is not enough to keep you there." Talent, charm, looks — gifts from God, genuinely — "will get you to certain places in life, but it will not sustain you in those places. Character is the only thing that will sustain you."

A sobering reminder follows: none of us are exempt. "The cross is level. The ground at the foot of the cross is level." No one gets special privileges, and no one is above the standard just because of unique gifts or success. As one young man once put it in a moment of real wisdom: "but for the grace of God, that could have been any one of us."

So what do you do with all this? Two things, plus one final word of hope. First, avoid sin and even its appearance wherever possible — "if it looks like sin, at all costs, if at all possible, just avoid it." Second, if you're already dealing with consequences of past sin, lean into mercy. "His mercy triumphs over judgment." Your future is greater than your past, and God doesn't waste even the hardest seasons — "he's going to use those things that you've gone through to help you and to help others."

Motion Church | Warrior Poet Society, Week 2: "Lessons on the Lamb"

Season two of the David series backtracks a bit this week — picking up not after the Bathsheba scandal, but earlier, when Saul is still king and wants David dead. "Not the kind of situation you want to find yourself in." Jealous and paranoid over David's growing popularity (there was literally a chorus about him: "Saul has slain his thousands, David his tens of thousands"), Saul starts hurling actual spears at him. So David goes "on the lamb" — on the run — which gives this message its title: Lessons on the Lamb.

First lesson: strength doesn't always look like what we think it looks like. Even though David once stood fearlessly before Goliath, here he is running from a "washed up warrior." Why? Because David understood it wasn't his timing or his fight to pick. "There are battles in your life... that only God can fight." Sometimes the strongest thing a person can do isn't retaliate — it's walk away. "If I respond, it is not peace. It is debris, it is chaos, it is destruction, and I may feel right or think that it's right, but it doesn't make it right." Discernment — sometimes in the form of a spouse saying "babe" — matters. "Strength doesn't always look like you think that strength looks. It's a different kind of strength."

Second lesson, and maybe the coolest full-circle moment in David's life: old swords, new battles. After defeating Goliath, David took the giant's own sword as a trophy. Years later, fleeing from Saul and desperate for a weapon, David arrives at the tabernacle in Nob, and the priest Ahimelech tells him there's only one sword available — Goliath's, wrapped in cloth, practically forgotten. David's response: "There is none like it. Give it to me." The lesson lands personally: "The battles from your past are the weapons for your future." Nothing you've gone through was wasted. "God does not waste anything in our lives." And the weapon isn't just for you — "it helps other people too."

The final lesson is what gets called a "looney lesson." Fleeing into enemy territory — the city of Gath, ruled by King Achish — David realizes he's been recognized and is in real danger. So he does something wild: he pretends to be insane, scratching on the gate and drooling into his beard, until Achish dismisses him as a madman not worth the trouble. "Sometimes doing the right thing will make you look like a mad person." When you're doing what God has called you to do, "it's not always going to make sense to other people." And that's fine — "our purpose is more than to impress people. We are here to honor the sacrifice of Jesus' life on the cross." After all, the message of the cross itself looked like foolishness to the world — "the one who knew no sin became sin on my behalf... it's foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God."

Three lessons from a man on the run: a different kind of strength, old swords for new battles, and sometimes a little bit of "crazy" is exactly what faithfulness looks like.

Motion Church | Warrior Poet Society, Week 1: "You Are the Man"

Season two of the David series is here — and it picks up right where the last one left off, 15 months later. "King David, to me, is one of the most fascinating people in scripture because, man, his life had everything — the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, a man who genuinely loved God and failed God simultaneously."

Last time, Motion Church covered David's early life — Samuel choosing the shepherd boy no one saw coming, and the iconic showdown with Goliath, where the takeaway was simple: God wastes nothing. "David had been preparing his entire life for that moment." This time, the series picks up in the messy middle, right after Bishop Chris preached the part where David's story gets really complicated — the scandal with Bathsheba, the abuse of power, the betrayal, the cover-up, and the death of her husband Uriah. And yes, "if you like drama, we got it."

The text is 2 Samuel 12. God, because he cares deeply for David, sends the prophet Nathan — not to confront him directly, but to tell him a story. A rich man with everything he could ever want. A poor man with one beloved little lamb, raised like a daughter. And when a guest comes to town, the rich man takes the poor man's lamb rather than giving from his own abundance. David's anger burns. He's furious. "Surely the man who has done this deserves to die." And then Nathan drops it: "You are the man."

That's the title. And it lands harder than it sounds — because here was David, burning with righteous indignation about somebody else's sin, while his own was sitting right there in the room with him. "It's a lot easier to see somebody else's sin than my own. It just seems so much more obvious when you're doing dumb stuff than when I'm doing dumb stuff."

A key note in God's rebuke hits differently too — right in the middle of calling David out, God says, "If that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these." "God doesn't owe us anything. We owe him everything. God doesn't have to provide for us. He chooses to provide for us." And had David understood that, maybe the whole thing could have been avoided. "At the end of the day, what we really need more of is Jesus — his grace, his peace, his kindness, his goodness, his mercy."

Which leads to what Jesus would say about the whole situation — Matthew 7:1-5. Everyone loves verse one: "Do not judge, so that you will not be judged." But nobody wants verses two through five. "We love verse one. We hate verses 2 through 5." The fuller picture isn't don't see the speck in your brother's eye. It's first take the log out of your own. Two things Jesus is clearly saying: take your own sin seriously, and be consistent. "Don't be so consumed with what other people are doing and where they got it wrong... those are specs, and sometimes we've got logs."

And what Jesus is not saying is that we ignore the sins of people we love. "The most loving thing that you could do is tell them the truth." Like Nathan did for David — not with rage or condemnation, but with love and wisdom, because "God cares so deeply for David" and wanted to restore him.

Progress on sin isn't always clean or linear. As one pastoral conversation this week reminded: "Maybe you're not who you want to be yet, but at least you're not who you used to be. Maybe you're not where you want to be yet, but thank God you're not where you used to be." Sanctification is a lifetime process — for newbies and 26-year church veterans alike.

The closing challenge: "I think we can make such a significant impact on our society, our culture, our community — if we just start with us." Because once we were lost and now we're found. Once we were blind and now we see. And because of that, we go help other people find what we've found.

Motion Church | Victor, Week 4: "I Get To"

Closing out the Victor series, this week's message is delivered by Motion Church youth pastor Chris Johnson — "The Bishop" — and he's upfront from the jump: buckle up. "This is one of those sermons we are all gonna walk out here today with some hurt feet, myself included. My toes were stepped on consistently when I was writing this for the past two and a half weeks."

After recapping the series — victims ask why, victors ask what; victims claim no control, victors control what they can and trust God with the rest; victims spend their lives surviving, victors invest their lives with purpose — week four lands on the final and perhaps most personal difference of all: language.

"Before victim mindset shows up in your actions, it usually shows up in our words." The difference between a victim and a victor often comes down to two small words: have to versus get to. "We hear things like, I have to go to work. I have to go to church. I have to worship. I have to pray. And after a while, we stop sounding grateful and we start sounding burdened."

The message draws from two scenes involving Mary and Martha. In Luke 10, Jesus visits their home. Mary sits at his feet. Martha is in the kitchen, distracted and frustrated — "must be nice to just sit at the feet of Jesus." The real diagnosis? "Your problem isn't the work. Your problem is your perspective." Martha and Mary were in the same house, with the same Jesus, at the same moment — but they experienced him completely differently. "Mary saw Jesus as privilege. Martha saw Jesus as an interruption." The warning is sharp: "Some of us have become Martha spiritually. Church became an obligation. Worship became routine. Prayer became duty." And here's what makes that dangerous — "the victim's mindset doesn't always look broken. Sometimes it looks productive."

Then fast-forward to John 11, when Lazarus is dead and Martha confronts Jesus: "If you had been here, my brother would not have died." Victims identify with loss and push resurrection into the future — I will be healed one day. My marriage will be fixed one day. But victors understand that God is the God of the now. "Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?" Even in the middle of real grief, the issue isn't the pain — "the issue is what grief convinces us to believe." Victims eventually start identifying with the grave. "Eventually, we start decorating places God is calling us out of. But Jesus never called us to live in graves. He called us out of them." And when Jesus called Lazarus out, he didn't call him "the dead man." He called him by name. "It's not what they call you, but it's how I identify you."

A personal story brings it home — Chris shares how his wife Tiffany, walking into a chemotherapy appointment, was smiling despite knowing what lay ahead. A nurse, seeing that smile, asked: "Is that real?" Tiffany's answer? "I can't change anything. But I'm here. I know who I serve." The nurse replied, "I know who you serve." That's what victory looks like.

The message closes with a simple shift that changes everything: "No, you don't have to go to church. You get to enter the presence of God. You don't have to worship. You get to lift your voice after everything hell tried to throw at you. You don't have to pray. You get to approach boldly the throne of grace. You don't have to forgive. You get to let go of the things that have been poisoning your spirit." I get to.

And then, in a moment that brought the house to its feet — after the message, Pastor Andy officially ordained Chris Johnson as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. "A little over a year ago, the Lord really put Chris on my heart." Recognizing the anointing on his life, his heart for the house, his love for God's Word, and his growth in the gift of pastor and teacher, the ordination was a stake in the ground — a marker for Chris to return to on the hard days. "We're driving the stake in the sand. Chris, from this day forward, you're ordained." The church prayed over him and his wife Tiffany, believing that "the call of God is on his life, and that God is gonna continue to use him in incredible ways."

Motion Church | Victor, Week 3: "Eat Your Own Bread"

Week 3 of the Victor series adds another layer to the conversation — and fair warning, this one's a little offensive. In the best way possible.

After recapping the first two weeks — victims ask why, victors ask what; victims believe they control nothing, victors control what they can and trust God with the rest — this message dives into a third major difference between the two groups: how they view their lives as a resource.

The big idea: "Victors view their lives as a resource to be invested. Victims view their lives as a commodity to be spent." Everything you have — time, talent, gifts, experiences, even the hard stuff — is a resource to be intentionally invested into the lives of others and the kingdom of God. Victims, on the other hand, spend it however they want, whenever they want, and then wonder why they're running on empty.

From there, the title gets renamed mid-message, courtesy of 2 Thessalonians 3 — one of the more "savage" passages in Paul's letters: "If anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat either." The aspiration of a victor? "Work in a quiet fashion and eat your own bread." Stop worrying about everybody else's bread. "They spend more energy peeping the lives of others than they do working on their own."

This naturally leads to Galatians 6:7 — "Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows, this he will also reap." Victors reap. Victims weep. And the reason is simple: "If you sow sparingly, you will also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully." That's not just about money — it's about love, kindness, friendship, and family. "If you want love in your life, you better sow love. If you want peace in your life, you better sow peace." As one very wise grandpa with a fifth-grade education once put it: "Are you being a good friend?"

The message lands on Matthew 7 and the two gates: the wide road that leads to destruction and the narrow gate that leads to life. "What you find will determine the path that you go down." Victors find the right gate — because Jesus said, "I am the gate, I am the door, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life." "If you want to live a life of true victory, you know Jesus, you follow Jesus, and you honor Jesus. That's winning at things that actually matter."

And here's the kicker about fairness: "God, who didn't have to, who didn't deserve to... willingly, gladly sacrificed and gave up his own life in our place." That's not fair. But it's the invitation we've been given. "Why don't we just be thankful for what we have been invited to?" Your life is a resource. Use it well. Sow bountifully. Eat your own bread.

Motion Church | Victor, Week 2: "Control"

Continuing the Victor series, this week zeroes in on one of the biggest differences between a victim mentality and a victor mentality: how each one thinks about control.

The core truth up front: "Did you know that you can be the victim of a circumstance and still come out victorious?" The key is understanding what you do and don't have control over — and who holds the rest.

Victims live as if they have no control over anything. And honestly? That's the easier way to operate. "If you're not in control of anything, then you can blame everybody else." No accountability required. Victors, on the other hand, understand something different — "they aren't in control of everything, but they do have some control, and it's just that subtle difference that makes all the difference." More importantly, victors "know the one who is in control, and they trust him."

When things are genuinely out of your hands — circumstances that are just plain "above your pay grade" — a victor's response isn't denial or blame. It's trust. "God, I don't understand this, but I trust you. I trust your character. I trust your track record."

This week digs into God's response to Job in chapters 37-39 — one of the most powerful passages in all of scripture on the subject of who's actually running things. "Who shut up the sea behind doors... This far you may come, and no further. Here is where your proud waves halt." The God who told the ocean where to stop, who laid the foundations of the earth, who stretched a measuring line across the universe — that's the one we're trusting when life is out of our control. "He is the one in all of his creative authority... and that's the one that I'm going to trust."

And from all of that comes confidence — not the arrogant kind, but the kind that shows up when your faith is bigger than your circumstances. "Confidence doesn't mean that we are fully in control of everything, but we are trusting in the one who is." Like a son watching his dad jump off a river rock and then taking the leap himself — "He's already there. And so he just goes blank for a second... and he did it." That's the picture. "I don't know what it's going to feel like when I land. But somebody went before me. My father went before me. He's there waiting on me."

The message lands here: "Control what you can control. Trust God in what you cannot control. I will control what I can control, and I will trust you with the rest. That's what it means to be a victor."