Real conversations about following Jesus in everyday life. Each week, Lead Pastor Steve McKenzie explores what it means to live out the gospel in your relationships, work, struggles, and questions. Whether you're new to faith, wrestling with doubt, or just trying to figure out what it looks like to actually follow Jesus on a random Tuesday, this is for you. We're CrossPointe Church in Orlando, but these messages are for anyone, anywhere.
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We have all felt the heavy, suffocating weight of a mistake that seems too grand to undo. We lie awake bargaining with the night, convinced we have finally wandered past the boundary of redemption, or we look at someone who deeply wounded us and secretly decide they are beyond saving. In 2 Chronicles 33, King Manasseh traded his integrity for control, plunged a nation into spiritual ruin, and…
We spend our lives playing a silent game of hide-and-seek, wearing carefully crafted masks to cover our deepest shame and building thick walls around our fragile egos. Deep down, we harbor the quiet terror that if God or anyone else saw who we truly are, we would be instantly cast aside as completely disqualified. In week two of our Black Sheep series, Pastor Steve McKenzie uncovers the staggering…
We know that quiet, cold panic in the gut. You wake up in the dead of night, feeling completely unwound while exhaustion leeches every drop of strength from your bones. You have been running hard, trying to stay three steps ahead of a past that threatens to crash over you like a dark, suffocating wave. Maybe the wreckage behind you wasn't caused by someone else, but by your own bad decisions, your…
Have you ever looked around at people who play by their own rules, cheat their way to the top, and mock everything holy, only to watch them coast through life in luxury while you sweat blood just to keep food on the table? That crushing thought sneaks into the quietest hours of Monday morning, whispering that your faithfulness has been a bad investment and your sacrifices have yielded nothing but…
You started the journey with so much hope. You signed the marriage covenant, held the newborn child, or walked into the office on day one of your new career, and it felt like a grand adventure. But then the miles started to add up, the terrain hit like a brick wall, and suddenly you found yourself stuck in the ravine of your actual life, staring at the daunting wall of tomorrow. In this episode,…
Most of us are master builders who have spent a lifetime constructing invisible walls to protect ourselves from being fully seen. We hide our deep insecurities, past hurts, and secret flaws behind a highly polished, curated version of ourselves that handles our relationships and manages our careers. But maintaining this defensive facade leaves our souls utterly exhausted from the constant hiding.…
Have you ever looked at the spectacular reality of a God who stepped out of heaven to rescue you, and found yourself yawning? It is a terrifying reality for ordinary believers: the slow, quiet drift where your theological vocabulary stays perfectly intact, but your spiritual affections have flatlined. You know the words, you know the songs, but the wonder has completely faded and the heart has…
Most of us live somewhere between two quiet fears: that God is too far above us to notice, or too small to actually help. Psalm 34 was written from a cave — David on the run, unwashed, surrounded by misfits, having just faked his own insanity to survive. And yet somehow, he writes one of the most stunning declarations of praise in all of Scripture. Stephen Bean sits with that tension and doesn't…
There's a particular kind of exhaustion that comes not from one hard thing, but from a lifetime of hard things stacking up. If you've ever felt that weight, Psalm 18 was written for you. In this message, Pastor Steve McKenzie walks through the retrospective of an old, scarred David who looked back on decades of constriction and remembered what happened the moment he ran out of words and could only…
You can be singing at the top of your lungs one moment — hands raised, completely convinced of God's victory — and on your knees in the dark the next, begging Him not to abandon you. That's not a spiritual failure. That's Psalm 27. And that's the human experience. In this message from CrossPointe's summer series on the Psalms, Pastor Steve McKenzie walks through one of the most raw and layered…
Episode Summary We've domesticated Psalm 23. We've turned it into background noise for grief and decoration for walls. But David wrote this psalm with dirt under his fingernails — as a shepherd who knew exactly what it cost to keep sheep alive. This week, Steve McKenzie opens "The God Who Is…" — an 8-week summer series through the Psalms — by recovering what Psalm 23 actually says. It is not a…
What Can Separate Us From the Love of God? — Romans 8:31–39 You already know the answer. Nothing. But knowing it and feeling it are two very different things. This week, Stephen Bean closes out Romans 1–8 with Paul's thundering conclusion — a string of rhetorical questions that aren't really questions at all. What can be brought against you? Nothing. Who can condemn you? No one. What can separate…
You know the verses. You believe them. But Monday afternoon still feels heavy, and the gap between what you know and what you experience can be isolating. In this message from Romans 8:18-30, Steve McKenzie walks through one of the most hope-filled passages in all of Scripture, not as a quick fix for pain, but as an anchor for people who are tired of pretending everything is fine. If you've ever…
What do you do when you're a Christian who's done everything right and still feels like it isn't enough? Steve McKenzie opens Romans 8 with a declaration meant for the weary believer: the war with God is over. Through the story of a soldier who hid in the jungle for 30 years after his war had ended, we see what it looks like to finally lay down a fight Jesus already finished — and to live as sons…
You know the feeling: you promised yourself you'd do better, be more patient, more present, more faithful. And then you didn't. Romans 7 is Paul at his most raw, naming the civil war every honest person recognizes inside themselves. In this sermon, Steve McKenzie walks through why the struggle isn't a sign that something is wrong with you. It's actually evidence that something has gone right. If…
You finally land the job you've been chasing. You finally pay off the debt. You finally move out of your parents' house. And somewhere in the middle of celebrating, it hits you. The new job came with a new boss. The new place came with a stack of bills. The freedom you wanted came wearing a different uniform. So what if real freedom was never about getting rid of every master in your life? What if…
Do you feel defeated by sin? Not in some abstract theological sense, but the Tuesday afternoon kind, where you feel like you've broken the same promise for the thousandth time? Or maybe you've swung the other direction, quietly convinced that grace is a blank check and the fire for holiness has just gone cold. In this message from Romans 6:1–14, Pastor Steve McKenzie shows that both postures are…
Hope is a strange thing to lose quietly. You don't decide to stop believing it — it just goes cold. A diagnosis comes. A relationship falls apart. A child walks away. And the world tells you to stay positive, find your peace, keep your chin up. You try that. The peace doesn't come. And somewhere you don't show many people, you start to wonder if hope was ever real — or just something Christians…
Easter was powerful. The worship, the baptisms, the celebration of a risen Savior. But then Monday came. The alarm went off and nothing had changed. The diagnosis was still there. The marriage was still hard. The grief didn't lift just because we sang about an empty tomb. So what difference does the resurrection actually make when life is still heavy? In Romans 5, Paul answers that question, and…
Imagine the sinking feeling of standing outside a locked car while your only set of keys rests mockingly on the driver's seat. That thin sheet of glass suddenly feels like a thick brick wall, separating you from everything you need to move forward. Many of us live our daily lives behind similar barriers that are far more impenetrable than steel and glass. We find ourselves locked away by a grief…
Have you ever felt like your life is a quiet room where the wonder of God has slowly leaked out? We often treat the miracles of Jesus like dusty fairy tales we have heard a thousand times, forgetting that He is the King who speaks directly to the howling winds and commands the very molecular structure of a dead man to vibrate back into life. In this Palm Sunday message, we walk the dusty road into…
Have you ever looked in the mirror and felt the crushing weight of your own inadequacy? Many of us carry a satchel of religious guilt that feels like lead, constantly checking our spiritual temperature and wondering why the fever of our failures won't break. In this episode, Associate Pastor Stephen Bean walks us through Romans 4:13-25 to show us that the law acts like a thermometer which can…
We all know the heavy weight of the mirror. When we look at our own lives, we often see a fractured reflection of missed marks, hidden shames, and the exhausting effort of trying to prove we are enough. In this episode, we dive into Romans 4 to witness a radical courtroom scene where God calls a stargazer and a murderer to the witness stand. Whether you are hiding behind a mask of performance or…
For five weeks, we've been sitting in the dark. Paul has spent three chapters building a case so airtight that no one can escape it. The pagan, the philosopher, the priest... every mouth silenced. Every defense stripped away. If Romans ended at chapter 3, verse 20, you'd be holding the most devastating document ever written. A perfect diagnosis with no cure. A courtroom with no advocate. But Paul…
Ever feel like you’re running a race on a treadmill? You’re working harder, doing more, and trying to be "better," yet you’re still haunted by the nagging feeling that it’s just not enough. In this message, we step into the courtroom of Romans 3, where the Apostle Paul strips away our excuses and religious "maps" to show us the truth. It’s not a comfortable diagnosis, but it is a necessary one. By…
It’s easier to curate a photograph than to face a mirror. In Romans 2, Paul holds up a mirror to religious people who know the truth, teach the truth, and carry the symbols of belonging, yet may lack inward transformation. In this message, Pastor Steve explores the danger of religious privilege, the exhaustion of performance, and the gap between claim and conduct. God is not impressed with our…
Most of us know how to prosecute someone else’s sin. We are far less comfortable defending our own. In Romans 2, Paul turns the spotlight from the obvious sinner to the respectable, moral, churchgoing person. The finger we were pointing outward suddenly points back at us. In this message, Pastor Steve walks through the courtroom of the conscience and exposes the illusion of being a “good person.”…
Is our world falling apart, or is it falling into place? When we look at the shifting moral landscape of our culture, it’s easy to feel like God is distant or that His judgment is something far off in the future. But the sobering truth of Romans 1:26-32 is that the very things we lament are often signs that God is giving us exactly what we’ve asked for. Stephen Bean walks us through the "anatomy…
The Strong Man and the Niagara: Understanding God’s Wrath and Grace We live in a world that wants to taste the sweetness of God's love without the bitterness of His holiness. We often view "wrath" as a divine temper tantrum, but what if God’s wrath is actually the greatest proof of His love for us?. In this episode, we explore Romans 1:17-25 and the "Anatomy of Unbelief." Pastor Steve McKenzie…
The Hurricane and the Candle: Finding Power in the Belly of the Beast Have you ever felt like your faith is just a small, flickering candle trying to stay lit in the middle of a hurricane?. Whether it’s the pressure of your career, the weight of your past, or the chaos of the world around you, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and powerless. In this episode, we dive into Romans 1:8-17 to see how Paul…
Some passages of Scripture do more than teach us. They steady us. Romans opens by lifting our eyes to the grace of God that stands at the horizon of history and shines into our present lives. Before Paul explains what we must believe or how we should live, he shows us who we belong to and what God has already done. In this message, Pastor Steve introduces Romans as a journey into deep waters, not…
There are moments in Scripture that stop us in our tracks, not because they are confusing, but because they are overwhelming in beauty and weight. Revelation 5 is one of those moments. It pulls back the curtain on heaven and shows us what is truly at the center of reality. In this message, Pastor Steve leads us into the throne room where the fate of the world hangs in the balance and no one seems…
Many Christians feel overwhelmed by complexity. Faith can start to feel like a system to manage rather than a life to live. In Acts 2, Scripture gives us a surprisingly simple picture of what the church looked like when the Spirit first formed it. Ordinary people devoted themselves to the teaching of Jesus, shared life together, prayed with dependence, and lived with open hands. In this message,…
Do you know that feeling when everything finally settles down—the crisis passes, the argument resolves, the anxiety lifts—and you think, "Okay, maybe now I can breathe"? And then three days later, there it is again. Different problem, same darkness. Different fear, same weight. We glimpse peace, but it never seems to last. After enough cycles, even the peaceful moments feel haunted by whatever's…
Ever feel like you're just... ordinary? Like your life doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things? You're not alone. Mary felt that way too—a teenage girl in a forgotten town with a completely mapped-out, unremarkable future. But then God showed up. In this message, we discover that God doesn't wait around for impressive résumés or remarkable people. He breaks into ordinary lives with…
Every believer knows the sound of the inner critic. It tells you that you are too small, too inexperienced, too broken, or too tired for what God has called you to do. In this message from 1 Timothy 6:11 through 16, Pastor Steve shows how God speaks a stronger word than the voice inside us. Paul calls Timothy a man of God at a moment when Timothy likely felt anything but strong. That single name…
The gospel does far more than save us. It reshapes the way we work, the way we pursue godliness, and the way we think about wealth. In this message, Pastor Steve walks through one of the most practical and confronting passages in 1 Timothy. Paul speaks directly into places where our hearts are most tender, like our jobs, our ambitions, our longings for control, and our quiet battles with…
What does it mean to lead in a way that honors God? In 1 Timothy 5:17–25, Paul gives practical wisdom for how the church should honor faithful leaders, confront sin in leadership, and discern character with patience and care. In this message, Pastor Steve addresses the hard questions people often ask about church leadership. Should pastors be paid? What happens when a leader fails? How should…
What does godliness look like in real life? In this message from 1 Timothy 5, Pastor Steve shows that faith is not limited to quiet moments of prayer or worship. True godliness shows up in how we speak to one another, care for our families, and live with compassion in everyday life. Paul calls the church to be a household where people treat each other like family. Older men are honored as fathers,…
How do you train for godliness? In 1 Timothy 4:1–16, Paul shows that spiritual health is not built by willpower but by grace. Pastor Steve unpacks God’s plan for a healthy soul through three rhythms that mirror our physical life: exercise, rest, and nutrition. This message exposes counterfeit forms of spirituality that look impressive but leave the soul empty, and it reminds us that true godliness…
The church in Ephesus stood in the shadow of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Temple of Artemis. It was massive, beautiful, and filled with idols. Yet Paul reminded Timothy that the true wonder of the world was not made of stone but of people. In this message, Gene Coleman, an elder at CrossPointe, teaches from 1 Timothy 3:14–16, showing that the church is the household of God,…
When people think of deacons, they often picture board meetings or budget spreadsheets. But in Scripture, deacons are not administrators of an organization. They are lead servants who reflect the heart of Jesus. In this message from 1 Timothy 3:8–13, Pastor Steve shows how the gospel shapes every part of the church, including those called to serve. Deacons are not secondary leaders but living…
Trust in church leaders has been shaken in our generation, leaving many people wounded and wary of returning. In this message from 1 Timothy 3:1–8, Pastor Steve shows how the Gospel offers a better way. God’s design for leadership is not built on charisma or success but on character that has been shaped by grace. This passage lifts the curtain on what kind of men God calls to guide His people—men…
Few passages in the New Testament are as debated as 1 Timothy 2:8–15. Paul speaks about men raising holy hands in prayer, women adorning themselves with godliness rather than appearance, and even the hard line about women not teaching or having authority over men. These verses have sparked centuries of discussion, confusion, and sometimes division. In this sermon, Pastor Steve leans in with…
What powers the mission of the church? It is not strategy, programs, or polished leadership. It is prayer. In 1 Timothy 2, Paul urges the church to be a praying people, lifting up petitions, intercessions, and thanksgiving for all people, even leaders and enemies. In this message, Pastor Steve calls us back to the heart of the mission: prayer that fuels gospel proclamation. Prayer reminds us that…
When life feels heavy and faith feels weary, where do you turn? In 1 Timothy 1, Paul doesn’t give Timothy a list of tasks—he shares his testimony. Paul reminds us that mercy changes everything. It rewrote his story from blasphemer to believer, from persecutor to preacher. In this message, Pastor Steve shows that when mercy rewrites your story, gratitude becomes the song of your life and the…
Many people today say, “I love Jesus, but I don’t trust the church.” And let’s be honest—sometimes they have good reasons. From scandals to power grabs, churches can lose sight of who they are meant to be. But what if the problem isn’t with the idea of the church itself, but with forgetting its foundation? In this first message from the House of God series, Pastor Steve reminds us that when the…
Every wedding points to something greater. Beneath the music, the feast, and the vows is a longing for a love that lasts and a joy that never ends. Revelation 19 gives us a glimpse of that ultimate wedding: the marriage supper of the Lamb. In this message, Stephen Bean (elder at CrossPointe) reminds us that the Bible’s story ends not with despair, but with a feast. A Bride made ready. A Groom who…
It’s possible to sit at the Lord’s Table with bread and cup in hand—and still miss Jesus. That was the danger in Corinth, where communion became more about status and division than about grace. And if we’re honest, it can be our danger too. In this message, Pastor Steve shows how the Lord’s Supper is not just ritual but relationship—an invitation into fellowship with Christ Himself. Communion is…
What made the early church so powerful that 3,000 people were saved in a single day? In this heartfelt message, retired pastor Jim Fox takes us back to the very first Pentecost and reveals the four pillars that transformed ordinary believers into world-changers. From the apostles' teaching to fellowship, from breaking bread together to devoted prayer, discover how these simple practices created a…
