FOUNT

In todays Leadership Lesson, Mike Oaks teaches about the furnished room of the Shunammite woman becomes a picture of the heart. The bed calls us to rest and healing, the chair establishes God's authority, the table invites fellowship and formation, the lamp brings light and discernment, and the walls remind us this dwelling is permanent, not seasonal. As we intentionally furnish the heart, we become a place where God rests, leads, and works through us.

Matthew 1:23, John 1:14, Genesis 1:1–2. This Sunday, Pastor Brittany Smigielski reveals the everlasting with‑ness of a God who moves first. From creation to Christ to this very moment, God's defining nature is nearness. When shame isolates, suffering overwhelms, or faith feels fragile, Immanuel steps toward us. God is not distant, He is with you, present in every season, bearing every pain, and restoring what was broken.

Matthew 1:18–25.  This Sunday, Pastor Kevin Myers reminds us the war over sin is already won. When fear rises and battles feel overwhelming, Jesus enters as Immanuel, God with us. Now, the battle is for our faith. In every struggle, God is not distant. He's present, powerful, and fighting for you.

From creation to incarnation to resurrection, Scripture shows one pattern: God expands life through pressure. Pressure isn't punishment, it's the environment where roots deepen, clarity forms, and new creation emerges. In this week's Leadership Lesson, Pastor Kevin Myers teaches how the circular patterns of creation, the birth and life of Jesus, and the grain-of-wheat principle reveal the same truth: leaders grow through resistance. As we remain in God, pressure becomes formation, constriction becomes fruitfulness, and what feels tight becomes the very space where His kingdom breaks through.

Isaiah 40:28–31. When exhaustion twists our view of God, the storm feels final, our limits feel fatal, and hope feels out of reach. But Scripture shows a different story: God doesn't answer weariness with sentiment, He answers it with revelation, exchange, and Spirit-given endurance. This Sunday, Pastor Josh Kelsey walks us through soaring, running, and walking as Isaiah reveals them not as metaphors for self-effort, but as pictures of what happens when we braid our lives into God's strength. In the storm, grace lifts us. In the race, purpose steadies us. In the ordinary, Jesus Himself becomes our strength.