Life rarely turns out exactly the way we imagined, and the gap between what we hoped for and what actually happened is often where our deepest pain lives. In this Mother's Day message, we dive into the story of Hannah from 1 Samuel 1–2, a woman who faced years of heartbreak, provocation, and unanswered prayer, and whose response to all of it became one of the most powerful pictures of faith in all of Scripture. Through Hannah's story, we discover a pattern God keeps repeating throughout the Bible: appointed, tested, and surrendered, a pattern that runs from Hannah all the way to Jesus, and straight into the middle of your life. Whether you're a mom carrying more than you can say out loud, someone whose prayers feel like they've gone unanswered for too long, or anyone living in a season that doesn't look the way you planned, this message is for you. Because the key to living from victory in Christ isn't getting everything you prayed for. It's learning to pray honestly, and surrender fully.

Discussion Questions:

1. When you think about the gap between what you expected your life to look like and what it actually looks like right now, where do you feel that gap most? What's one area where life hasn't gone the way you planned?
2. Hannah kept showing up to the house of the Lord year after year, even though that was the very place her pain got reopened. Is there a place, a season, or a rhythm in your life that you've started avoiding because it's become associated with pain? What would it look like to keep showing up anyway?
3. The sermon drew a contrast between Peninnah and Hannah. Same circumstances, completely different posture. Peninnah had the blessing and used it as a weapon. Hannah had nothing and used her pain as a doorway to God. Honestly, when you're struggling, which posture do you tend toward, and what does that usually look like for you?
4. Hannah prayed so raw and honestly that the priest thought she was drunk. Most of us have been taught, directly or indirectly, to clean up our prayers before we bring them to God. What would it look like for you to actually pour out your soul to God this week? What's the version of your prayer you haven't let yourself pray yet?
5. The little robe Hannah made every year is one of the most quietly powerful images in the story: faithful, loving action in a situation that was complicated, painful, and not what she planned. What is the "little robe" in your life right now? What is the small, faithful thing God might be inviting you to keep doing, not because the circumstances are resolved, but because He is still worth showing up for?

In this sermon, Pastor Chad tackles one of the most honest tensions in the Christian faith: if Jesus really defeated death, why does it still feel like our bodies are losing? Drawing from 2 Corinthians 4, he walks through Paul's raw, unfiltered confession that "outwardly we are wasting away" and shows why that's not a crisis of faith, but actually the very place where resurrection power becomes most visible. Whether you're facing a diagnosis, watching someone you love decline, or just feeling the quiet weight of your own mortality, this message offers a grounded, hope-filled anchor: because Jesus already won, your healing is already secured, even if it hasn't fully arrived yet.

Discussion Questions:

1. Pastor Chad mentioned that aging or physical decline has a way of surfacing things we don't want to think about. What's one way your body has reminded you lately that it's "wasting away" — whether through aging, illness, or just the wear of life? How do you typically respond to those reminders?
2. Paul describes us as "jars of clay", fragile and ordinary containers holding something precious. Where in your life have you felt pressure (from culture, church, or yourself) to appear stronger or healthier than you actually are? What has that cost you?
3. The sermon continued on the "Already / Not Yet" tension; that Jesus has already won, but full healing hasn't fully arrived. Have you ever felt like unanswered prayer for healing meant something was wrong with your faith? How does the idea that healing is "secured but not yet arrived" either help or challenge that feeling?
4. Joni Eareckson Tada said, "He has chosen not to hold me, but to hold me. The more intense the pain, the closer His embrace." Is that sentence easy or hard for you to believe right now, and why? What would it take for you to move toward that kind of trust in a season of physical suffering?
5. Pastor Chad said "your cracked jar is not your embarrassment, it's your testimony." What is one area of brokenness, illness, or physical limitation in your life that you've been hiding rather than allowing God to use? What would it look like to let that become a place where His light shines through instead?

Jesus conquered death, and yet we still die and we still grieve loved ones. Because Jesus rose as the “firstfruits,” death is not the final word, and we can grieve with real and certain hope for bodily resurrection.

In this sermon we will #1. Recognize our time on earth is temporary, #2.Answer the question How can we live in Jesus’ victory over death when we & our loved ones die?” #3. If we are not the person going through grief right now, How can we represent Jesus to someone whose world is falling apart?

Discussion Questions:

1. Why do you think the Psalmist says “Teach us to number our days?”
2. What potential (Latent, inherent abilities ,possibilities that exist but are not yet realized.) are in you, that need to be released.
3. Who do you know right now that is walking through a season of grief? How can you come along side to lighten their load?
4. If you are the one walking through a grief season how can your community support you?
5. Read 1 Corinthians 15:54-55. Put it in your own words.