Advent: Real joy in a counterfeit world
The world would have us believe that without happiness, joy is impossible. In our final “Real Advent” message, we were reminded...
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Advent: Real love in a counterfeit world
As we continued our Real Advent series last week, we focused on the theme of love, exploring the complexities of receiving and giving love....
Advent: Real peace in a counterfeit world
Our “Real Advent” series rolled into week 2 with a look at Real Peace. Pastor Jake began by reminding us that the quest for...
Advent: Real hope in a counterfeit world
Last Sunday, Pastor Sean welcomed the Advent season with a reminder of the profound significance of waiting for the Messiah, the Christ...
Fresh water to a thirsty world
Last Sunday, the team that recently returned from a short-term mission trip to the Atlanta area shared about their experiences. While...
We are Messengers of Reconciliation
As followers of Christ, we are presented with many challenges in a secular world, but challenges are also opportunities. In the final...
We Cancel the Sins of Others
In the first week of our “Cancel Culture” series, we looked at how God canceled the record of our debt (Colossians 2:13-14). In...
God Cancels Our Sins
In a world obsessed with cancellation, Pastor Jake pointed us to the counter-narrative we see in Colossians 2:13-14: And you, who were dead...
Spiritual Disciplines: Community
We concluded our series on the Spiritual Disciplines with a call to community. Pastor Jake began the message last Sunday by discussing the...
Spiritual Disciplines: Hospitality
Our Spiritual Disciplines series is winding down. Last Sunday, guest speaker Dennis Turner said that hospitality is a spiritual gift for...
Spiritual Disciplines: Confession
Up next in our series on the Spiritual Disciplines is confession. Last Sunday, Pastor Jake opened his exploration of this essential...
Spiritual Disciplines: Fasting
We explored what Pastor Jake described as maybe the most misunderstood of the spiritual disciplines in last week’s message: fasting....
Start of the school year for the Kutcels
A former Freshwater kid, Ken Kutcel now serves with the TeachBeyond Organization as a science teacher at Dakar Academy in Dakar, Senegal....
Spiritual Disciplines: The Word
In the fourth week of our series on The Spiritual Disciplines, Pastor Sean taught on the importance of meditating on the Word of God. This...
Spiritual Disciplines: Sabbath
In today’s fast-paced world, the idea of a day of rest can seem almost foreign. We’re constantly bombarded with messages about...
Spiritual Disciplines: Solitude and Silence
In a world filled with constant noise and distractions, finding moments of solitude and silence can feel like an impossible task. Yet, as...
Questions for the lead pastor transition
Hey Church, It has been an incredible privilege, over this last month, to serve as lead pastor at Freshwater. My family and I continue to...
Spiritual Disciplines: Prayer
Pastor Jake kicked off a new series on The Spiritual Disciplines with a look at the transformative power of prayer. Our souls are...
2024 Week of Prayer
Prayer is an open door to connect to the heart of God. If we want to see something impossible come to be, we must pray. If we want to gain...
Playbook for the Church
Last week, David Lane, our district superintendent, challenged us to reevaluate our traditional approaches to church leadership and...
A Freshwater Commission
Last Sunday was an exciting day in the life of Freshwater! Todd Sovine from the Central District Office of the Christian & Missionary...
The River of Life
Old friend Neil Clark explored the vision of a life-giving river in Ezekiel 47:1-12 this past Sunday as he pointed to all the faithful ways...
Little Letters: Jude 17-25
Two weeks ago, Josh Raines opened the last of our “Little Letters” by exploring the warnings found in the first 16 verses of...
Mountains, clouds and horse head fiddling with the Hacketts
In 2023, Daniel and Katie Hackett, along with their three children, answered the Lord’s call on their family to teach and serve the...
Little Letters: Jude 1-16
We are wrapping up the final “Little Letter” in our summer sermon series with a two-week exploration of Jude, a short book...
Little Letters: Philemon
Our “Little Letters” series continued last week with Pastor Sean looking at Paul’s letter to Philemon, a short book...
Little Letters: Titus, Chapter 3
Last Sunday, Pastor Sean continued our “Little Letters” summer series by wrapping up Paul’s letter to Titus. We’ve...
Little Letters: Titus, Chapter 2
We continued our journey through the “Little Letters” series last weekend by picking up in Chapter 2 of Paul’s letter to...
Little Letters: Titus, Chapter 1
Earlier this year, we spent eight weeks studying our identity as followers of Jesus in the book of Ephesians and then another three weeks...
Pastor Search Update
It was September 19, 2021 when our previous lead pastor announced he was being called away from Freshwater and then, on November 14, 2021,...
Discipleship at Freshwater
What does it look like to follow Jesus in our modern age? It looks a lot like what it meant to follow Jesus during the three years of his...
“What do you want?”
Questions can be challenging because questions demand answers. Maybe the most challenging question that Jesus could ask someone who follows...
Be on Mission
In a world that celebrates productivity and achievement, it’s easy for us even in the Church to get caught up in the hustle and...
Be with People
In Genesis 2:18, God created Eve from one of Adam’s ribs because, as He said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.”...
Be Transformed
What does it mean to follow Jesus in our modern age? That’s the question we’re exploring in our series, “A New Way of...
Be with Jesus
Genesis 1 tells us we are created for relationship – and not just any relationship, but the intimate and eternal relationship with our...
Discipleship to Jesus: A New Way of Living
When the world shut down in 2020, many of us realized the way we had been living wasn’t working for us. We knew that our schedule and...
In the boat and on the beach
Peter stands out as a relatable figure for many of us, embodying both zealousness and impulsiveness. Bruce Farley wrapped up our...
Progress to and from the empty tomb
In the Easter story, we’re reminded of the chaos and confusion that Jesus’ followers must have experienced in the aftermath of...
The quintessential Peter
In our Easter series, “Peter’s Progress,” we’ll spend four messages over three weeks exploring the life of Peter, a...
Transformed armor
Our series on Identity in Ephesians drew to a close Sunday morning when Pastor Jake explored Ephesians 6:10-24. We live in the midst of a...
Transformed relationships
As we near the end of our series on Identity in Ephesians, Mike Stark explored Ephesians 5:22-6:9, where the Apostle Paul gives us a...
Transformed Purpose
In the past two weeks of our series on Identity in Ephesians, we’ve transitioned from exploring the elements of our identity in...
Transformed living
The latest message of our series on Identity in Ephesians marked a shift from the indicative to the imperative – from understanding...
The love of Christ
In the latest message in our series on Identity in Ephesians, Jamey Codding explored Ephesians 3:14-21. In this passage, Paul prays for...
A new family
The idea of belonging has always been innate within us. From close-knit families to vibrant communities, we seek connection and acceptance....
Have you forgotten?
In the second week of our “In Christ” series, Jamey Codding continued exploring our identity in the book of Ephesians by looking at the...
A new identity
Last Sunday, we began to explore our identity through the book of Ephesians in our new series, “In Christ.” Pastor Jake began...
An update (and dairy challenge!) from the Hacketts
In 2023, Daniel and Katie Hackett, along with their three children, answered the Lord’s call on their family to teach and serve the...
Prayer and Fasting
We opened 2023 with a time of prayer and fasting throughout our church, a week that laid the foundation for a year in which the Spirit...
Family Conversations: Where we’ve been and where we’re headed
In our most recent Family Conversation, Pastor Sean and Clint Adams, one of our elders, joined together to look back at where we’ve...
Conversations: Family prayer
We welcomed in the new year on the morning of December 31 just like we did at the start of 2023: with some time for family prayer. In the...
Why should I believe?
Our Curious Christmas series concluded on Christmas Eve with the most important question of all: Why should I believe? Pastor Sean opened...
Why won’t God reveal my purpose?
What is my purpose on this earth? It’s a question that pops up at many points throughout life, in almost everything we do. When...
Why does God allow so much pain?
This week’s question in our Curious Christmas series is a big one – for some, it’s THE big one: Why does God allow so much...
Why is Jesus’ family such a mess?
Our “Curious Christmas” series will explore aspects of the Christmas story and ask, “Why did it happen that way?”...
What’s the drumbeat of your life?
Did you know that the Spirit-filled life is the normal Christian life? Clint Adams wrapped up our four-week sermon series on the Holy...
The Holy Spirit is at work
Last Sunday, Pastor Jake continued our series on the Holy Spirit, and specifically looked at the works of the Spirit. He said the evidence...
Are you on the throne or the cross?
In the second message of our series on the Holy Spirit, David Lane, our district superintendent with the C&MA, unpacked our role with...
The Holy Spirit: Who Is He?
Our new series on the Holy Spirit is intended to answer the question: What does it mean to seek and submit to the continuing ministry of...
Deadly seriousness
John Stott perfectly sums up our series on the Sermon on the Mount with the following words: “We must respond to (Jesus’)...
Sawdust and planks
In the seventh week of our Sermon on the Mount series, Josh Raines went all the way back in Genesis to look at the implicit authority God...
There your heart will be also
In Matthew 6:19-34, Jesus calls us to evaluate what (or who) captivates our hearts. What do we assign ultimate value and worth to – our...
What motivates you?
Some read Jesus’ words from the Sermon on the Mount and believe them to be a call to an impossible standard that leaves us with no...
Oaths, retaliation and loving our enemies
In Matthew 5:21-48, Jesus teaches on laws and commands that were heard by the people and leaders of Israel, but not fully understood. Over...
A new website and other changes
You may have noticed that things look a bit different around here. Last Sunday, Pastor Sean and Jamey Codding, our communications director,...
Salt & Light
In week two of our Sermon on the Mount series, “You Have Heard It Said,” Pastor Sean continued examining our position in Christ and...
Where are you sitting?
In the first message of our new series on the Sermon on the Mount, Pastor Sean shared an illustration of the different groups of people,...