Whose Voice(s) Are You Hearing or Listening To
Could you imagine if we all had a little cricket named Jiminy sitting on our shoulders, telling us what is right and wrong? An audible conscience that provided just what you needed to hear, just when you needed to hear it!
Unfortunately, Jiminy only exists in the fantasy of animation.
As Christians, we have a different kind of compass that comes built in when we accept Jesus as our personal savior, the Holy Spirit. He may not always speak audibly when we need Him to, but if we learn to tune out the world and dial into what God is calling us to do, that still small voice whispers to our hearts.
But what if it’s unclear? What if you have trouble discerning whether it’s God providing a closed door or Satan spurring you onto something that ultimately wouldn’t be good for you?
I had a friend in this exact situation, only I didn’t know this was where she was at in her heart; actively asking God to reveal if it was Him or if it was Satan. I knew what she was going through, and I was praying for her one day. I felt like I received a word from the Lord for my friend.
I reached out to her and said, “I hope this doesn’t upset you, but this thing you’re thinking of doing, I feel like the Lord is telling me to tell you to wait. Now is not the time.”
She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It was the exact validation she was earnestly seeking. Sometimes God will use the people in our lives as vessels to help validate His will. It is in community where we can be carried by people we trust, and lean on their wisdom when our hearts are blinded in a moment of desperation.
Do you have two or three people you could go to about anything? People following the Lord, so you know you can trust what they say? Lean on the community God has given you and don’t try to walk this journey alone.
Sometimes that still small voice sounds like a friend’s encouragement, wisdom, or validation.
Kim Freels
Digital Media Specialist
The Awesome Power of Our Words
James 3:5-10
Growing up, people often told me I had a quick wit and a sharp tongue. In my family, that was almost a compliment. We were known for thinking fast, winning arguments, and always having the last word. I wore that reputation like a badge of honor.
The problem wasn’t that my words weren’t true. The problem was that I often used the truth to hurt people. I justified it by telling myself, “Well, it’s true,” as if that somehow made my words less harmful. Looking back, I realize I wasn’t using my words to build others up; I was using them to tear others down.
In ninth grade, another student and I traded insults almost every day, trying to outdo each other with the sharpest comeback. To me, it was just a game. A few months later, a different student at my school died by suicide after enduring intense bullying. I didn’t know him well, but his death shook me. That night, my mom said something I’ve never forgotten: “You never know what someone is carrying, or how deeply your words might affect them.”
Those words changed me. From that day on, our daily battle of insults ended. I made a promise to myself that my words would leave people with hope rather than hurt.
James writes that the tongue is like a small spark that can set an entire forest on fire. I realized my words could either leave scars or offer hope. They could tear someone down or point them toward life.
I still feel the urge to have the last word. I still think of the perfect comeback long before I should. But now, before I speak, I ask myself a different question: Will these words leave this person feeling more loved or more wounded?
I don’t always get it right, but I want my conversations to end with people feeling encouraged rather than defeated. I used to use my words to win. Now I pray God will use my words to give life.
Madison Kaaman
Nursery & Early Childhood Coordinator
Who Condemns You?
Series: Honest to God
Text: John 8:1-11
Speaker: Pastor Dennis Keating
October 4, 2026: On Sunday, we continued our series, Honest to God, as we keep exploring some of Jesus’ most soul-searching questions together. This latest message from guest speaker and former EFCC Pastor Dennis Keating is entitled “Who Condemns You?”
Called to Courage
In 2 Corinthians, Paul writes that God always leads us in victory in Christ. I said to God once, “If that’s true, why am I not experiencing victory?” He said, “I’m leading, but are you following?” As humans, we tend to do our own thing and then ask God to bless it. We forge our own paths, try to work out our own problems, and ask God to reinforce our efforts.
In this passage of Joshua, God invites Joshua to follow His lead. This means faith and obedience. Although we’re no longer bound by the Law, obedience still matters. When we go our own way, there’s no promise that God is going to back us up. Even though God is omnipresent, His promise of victory was contingent on obedience. (See the Battle of Ai, Joshua 7.) The invitation God extends is that we submit to Him as King and Loving Savior, and He will exert His power on our behalf to give us victory (Psalm 91 and John 14:15-15:11).
Our culture leans heavily on what we can observe with our five senses and what is testable through valid scientific experiments. And yet, the Bible boldly declares that what is physical is less than what is spiritual the physical came from the spiritual (see Hebrews 11:3). God wants us to give more weight to the reality of His presence than to what we see in our physical circumstances. Faith is not just a matter of taking the Bible at face value, but of having experiential knowledge of God, interacting with Him in intimacy and trust, and seeing His hand at work in our lives. Faith is the ability to see the spiritual reality and give it more weight than our physical circumstances (2 Kings 6:8-19).
To assist Joshua in faith and obedience, God tells him to meditate on His Word. Filling our minds with Scripture will help us to give more weight to what He says is true than what we can outwardly observe. Remember, no matter how big the things are on the physical side of the scale, the smallest bit of Truth about God tips the scale every time!
Carol Hill
Lay Counselor & Prayer Team
Who Do I Trust?
Psalm 56:3-4
“When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. I praise God for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me?” Psalm 56:3-4
When I read this, I hear a man declaring his trust in God. Yet I also hear him asking himself, “Why should I be afraid? What can man do to me?” He is using reason to conclude that God is trustworthy.
I believe God sometimes allows us to face frightening circumstances because it’s the only way we’ll discover who or what we truly trust. When life is going smoothly, it’s easy to think we trust in God alone. But when we feel trapped with nowhere to turn, our faith becomes real. We’re forced to use the same reasoning the Psalmist used.
Last year, I had thyroid cancer. One of my biggest fears (irrational, I know) was having to take thyroid medication. So when my doctor wanted to scan my thyroid and then do a biopsy, I was consumed with fear that it would have to be removed. One day, while I was quietly waiting before the Lord for the biopsy results, I sensed Him ask, “Can you trust Me with your thyroid?” I was startled. That was the million-dollar question.
The biopsy confirmed cancer. For months, I kept returning to that same question. I came face-to-face with both my faith and my lack of faith. It wasn’t a simple process, but eventually I concluded that God is trustworthy in this area of my life. They removed only half of my thyroid, and thankfully, I still don’t need medication. That could change someday, but the question has been answered. Yes, I trust Him with my thyroid.
I believe that question will always be before each of us in one form or another. It may involve our health, our family, or our finances, but it always includes uncertainty about the future. We’ll continue asking ourselves this question as long as we live because uncertainty is part of life on this side of heaven. But that’s okay. If I trust in God, what is there to fear? And when I breathe my last breath, He will be there. I will have no reason to be afraid.
Judy Linscheid
Writing Team
The Gift of Fear
Fear isn’t always the enemy.
There’s a kind of fear that is mercy. A holy interruption. The body’s alarm bell pushes us to necessary action when danger is near. Fear can make us pull a child back from the street, step away from the edge, and wake up to what we’ve been ignoring. In its proper place, fear is a gift.
But here’s the problem: Fear rarely stays in its proper place.
It spreads. It takes more ground than it was given. It moves from protection to possession. It stops being a warning and starts becoming a master. It tells us not to speak, not to try, not to confess, not to forgive, not to hope. It convinces us that safety is the same thing as wisdom, and that control is the same thing as peace.
You see, fear can keep us alive, but it cannot teach us how to live.
This is why Scripture says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Not fear of failure. Not fear of rejection. Not fear of loss. Not fear of the future. The fear of the Lord.
This kind of fear is different. It’s not the terror of a servant waiting to be struck. It’s the reverence of a child standing before a Father too good to manipulate, too holy to ignore, and too loving to abandon us. It’s the trembling realization that God is neither small nor ours to control.
This healthy fear puts everything else in its place.
When we fear the Lord, we don’t have to be ruled by every lesser fear. We can tell the truth in love because God is greater than our reputation. We can surrender control because God is wiser than our plans. We can confess sin because God’s holiness is matched by His mercy. We can step into obedience because God’s presence is more secure than our comfort.
Maybe the question isn’t whether we’re afraid. Maybe the question is: Which kind of fear is forming us? The fear that consumes and steals our lives, or the fear that gives them back?
So Lord, today and every day, teach us to fear You rightly, until every lesser fear loses its throne.
Nate Keating
Modern Worship Director
Why Are You So Afraid?
Series: Honest to God
Text: Mark 4:35-41
Speaker: Ryan Paulson, Lead Pastor
September 27, 2026: On Sunday, we continued our series, Honest to God, as we keep exploring some of Jesus’ most soul-searching questions together. This latest message from Pastor Ryan Paulson is entitled “Why Are You So Afraid?”
I Need to See
What can we do with doubts? How can we reconcile our doubts with the belief that Jesus is who He says He is? Perhaps the answer lies in the fact that Jesus waited days before appearing to Thomas.
Have you been waiting a long time for Jesus to rectify a troubling situation in your life? Has that caused you to question His care for you? Have you, like Thomas, expressed the thought “I won’t believe until I see?” Most likely, what you think you need to see is not really what you need to see. Jesus knows what you need to see. The long wait gives opportunities to wrestle with doubts, take them to Jesus, and choose to trust Him when you cannot see clearly what He is doing.
Soon after I gave my life to Jesus, someone challenged me with this devastating comment: “How can you be so stupid? I thought you had a brain.” That was a painful experience for me. Even though Jesus had revealed himself to me in a life-changing encounter, I began to doubt. Maybe Jesus was not real. Maybe I had made it all up. I cried out to Jesus. He reassured me, “Without Me, you do not have life.” I knew without any doubt that Jesus spoke the truth. I decided then I would trust him with the outcome of any future doubts.
Because I’m married to an unbeliever, Jesus has used a long wait to provide opportunities for me to wrestle with doubts. Over the years, this circumstance has occasionally caused me to doubt Jesus’ love for me. During times of doubt, I have chosen to trust Jesus. He has repeatedly shown His care and love for my husband and me, so I keep choosing to believe He is who He says He is.
There have been many times when I asked Jesus to intervene in the life of my husband and children. Even though most of them still deny Jesus, I keep seeing Him do amazing things in their lives. Consequently, I choose to trust the One who continues to express His love for me. I used to think what I needed to see was my family being saved. I now believe that what I need to see is Jesus alive and at work in my life and theirs, for His glory. No doubt about it, He is my life!
Sharon Chapman
Freedom in Christ Ministries
What a Friend!
2 Corinthians 12:9
In 2017, I had the privilege of leading a team of women on a mission trip in Spain to provide soul care for around 40 missionary women who were serving in Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa. It was an amazing opportunity!
While there, we each met with women who were struggling, grieving, questioning, and longing. They were convinced of their calling to serve Jesus, but life was hard and often didn’t make sense, which led many of these women to ponder their relationship with God.
One woman had struggled with her identity, knowing in her head that she was a beloved daughter of God, but feeling in her heart that she was simply “too much.” This sense of self had led her to some destructive behaviors.
One day, as we walked along the shores near Malaga, she poured her heart out. She could know and appreciate God as her Father. She saw Him as a disciplinarian and also as a loving Father who wanted what was best for her. But she could not see him as her Abba, her Daddy. He simply did not have enough space for her in his lap. She was too much.
Then there was Jesus… He was a friend to many, but not to her. She saw herself as needy, desperate, damaged, and basically annoying. There was no way that Jesus could find space for her.
As we walked, we talked about God’s character, specifically His love. We talked about what her head knew to be true versus what her heart would not embrace. Over and over again, she said, “I’m just too much.”
After a few minutes of silence, God brought to mind 2 Corinthians 12:9: “‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
At these words, she stopped abruptly and said, “If Jesus is enough for me, then maybe I can’t be too much for Him. He sounds like the perfect friend.” Slowly, a big smile came over her face, then she sat down on the sand and began to cry, not out of sadness, but from a place of relief.
For the first time, she was able to say with confidence, “I’m not too much, and I am enough, because Jesus is my Friend.”
Can you say with confidence today that Jesus is your friend?
Lynette Fuson
Care & Counseling Director
Who Then Is This?
Mark 4:41
Most of us have experienced storms we cannot escape. Some rage outside us, while others rise from within. We often think peace is simply the absence of conflict or the removal of danger. Yet Jesus reveals something altogether different.
Some of the disciples were seasoned fishermen. They understood the power of wind and waves better than most. They knew that nature is not sentimental. A storm on the Sea of Galilee could overturn a boat in moments. Fear was not irrational—it was entirely appropriate from a human perspective.
I remember being caught inside a powerful wave set at Waimea Bay. In those moments, the force of the ocean leaves little room for pride. You discover immediately how small you are. The sea does not negotiate. The wind does not ask permission. We are reminded that creation possesses a power far beyond our own ability to master.
It is striking, then, that the wind and the waves recognize a voice that human hearts so often resist.
At a single command — “Peace! Be still!” — creation responds without hesitation. The sea does not deliberate. The wind does not argue. Everything in nature gladly yields to the authority of its Creator.
The deeper question in this passage is not merely whether Jesus can calm storms. It is the question spoken by the disciples themselves: “Who then is this?” Until we answer that question, we’ll continue searching for peace in changing circumstances rather than in the unchanging presence of Christ.
Peace is not simply an emotional feeling, though it often quiets our emotions. Nor is it merely a disciplined state of mind, though it transforms our thinking. Biblical peace is the settled confidence that comes from living under the care and authority of the One whom all creation obeys. It is the soul resting in reality—the reality that Christ is Lord over every force that appears beyond our control.
The storms of life will continue to come. Relationships will strain. Bodies will weaken. Plans will fail. Yet the invitation of Jesus is not first to escape the storm but to remain with Him in the boat. As we learn to trust His presence, His peace becomes more than a momentary comfort; it becomes the atmosphere in which we live our lives.
The One who speaks to the sea also speaks to the anxious heart. His command still carries the same authority today.
Jaisen Fuson
Emmanuel Faith Elder