Mercy Culture

This message explores how we can connect with God through creation, recognizing that everything He made points back to Him. Rooted in John 1, it reveals that Jesus is the source of all creation and the true light of the world. As we slow down, pay attention, and engage with what God has made, we can encounter His presence, hear His voice, and grow spiritually—while keeping our focus on the Creator, not the created.

In this episode of Holy Disruption, host Heather Schott and co-host Jasmine Weiler sit down with Pastor Chris Donald — evangelist, Mercy Culture pastor, co-founder of 33rd Company, and director of Mercy Culture Spiritual Leadership School — to talk about what God is doing in the nations right now, and what the American church needs to wake up to. Chris shares his radical conversion story, his heart for local and global missions, and why evangelism and discipleship were never meant to be separated. From baptizing thousands in Fort Worth to sharing the gospel with ISIS, to a Muslim family in Pakistan encountering Jesus — this conversation will wreck you in the best way.

Pastor Will Ford’s message centers on the idea that connecting with God through compassion means aligning our hearts with God’s deep love and concern for people, moving beyond sympathy or empathy into action that “suffers with” others and seeks to bring restoration. Drawing from scriptures like Exodus 3 and John 11, he shows that God both sees suffering and steps into it—just as Jesus wept with Mary and Martha before raising Lazarus—demonstrating that true compassion is not distant observation but personal identification with pain that leads to transformation. Biblical compassion, rooted in deep inward emotion, fuels kindness, mercy, and intercession, empowering believers to partner with God in bringing healing and solutions to a broken world. Ford emphasizes that compassion unlocks the miraculous, deepens intimacy with God, and births powerful prayer, warning that a comfort-driven, numb Christianity stifles true intercession. Ultimately, the message calls believers to reject passivity, embrace vulnerability, and allow God to break their hearts for what breaks His—because compassion is the doorway to encountering God, carrying others in prayer, and releasing His power on the earth.

In this message, we unpack how connecting with God through conversation is a daily, relational exchange of asking, listening, and responding that leads to real encounters with Him. Jesus still meets us in the middle of our questions and everyday moments, inviting us into a deeper walk that transforms our hearts.

 

Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/49582882

In this message, we look at Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and His defining moment of surrender: “Nevertheless, not my will, but Yours be done.” Apostolic Elder Zane Anderson reminds us that we can connect with God in our hardest moments, and that one surrendered decision can change everything.