It started with 100-to-one odds. In 1987, the Minnesota Twins were the biggest underdogs in baseball — outscored during the regular season, dismissed by every expert, and picked by nobody to win. They won the World Series anyway. Lead Pastor Jon Stoe opens part three of Acts: To the Ends of the Earth with that story to set up something even harder to explain: how a small group of ordinary people with no Bible, no building, no army, and no institutional backing turned the entire world upside down.

Jon takes us into Acts 2 to look at the origins of the early church — what they were actually devoted to, how they lived together, and why it worked. Along the way he doesn't shy away from the hard stuff. He names church hurt directly, calls out what happens when a church loses its way, and then brings it back to Jesus's one command that was supposed to prevent all of it. The local church, Jon says, is the hope of the world. There is no plan B. And whether you love the church, left it, or aren't sure what you think about it, this message is worth your time.

Litchfield Church of the Nazarene is a welcoming, bilingual community of faith in Litchfield, MN, whose mission is to produce fruitful disciples of Jesus Christ. We gather every Sunday at 10:45 AM. New messages drop on the podcast each week. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite app. Learn more at litchfieldnaz.com.

George Whitefield crossed the Atlantic in 1738 with nothing but a message and a willingness to preach it in the open air. No army, no institution, no platform. An estimated 50,000 people were transformed in New England alone. In part two of Acts: To the Ends of the Earth, Lead Pastor Jon Stoe uses that story to ask a question that lands closer to home: what if God wants to write a volume three through ordinary people like us?

Jon walks through the opening chapters of Acts to show that everything happening in the early church, from the choosing of the apostles to the healing at the temple gate to Peter's jaw-dropping boldness in front of the religious leaders, was divine activity working through completely ordinary people. The religious leaders themselves said it. They looked at Peter and John and saw unschooled, unremarkable men. And they were astonished. Jon argues that the same offer is on the table today, but it starts with one question: are you available?

Litchfield Church of the Nazarene is a welcoming, bilingual community of faith in Litchfield, MN, whose mission is to produce fruitful disciples of Jesus Christ. We gather every Sunday at 10:45 AM. New messages drop on the podcast each week. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite app. Learn more at litchfieldnaz.com.

If your faith has ever felt shaky, or you've watched someone you care about walk away from the church, this message is worth your time. Lead Pastor Jon Stoe opens the new series Acts: To the Ends of the Earth by asking a question most Christians have never seriously sat with: if the first followers of Jesus never owned a Bible, never read one, and still turned the world upside down, what exactly was the foundation of their faith? The answer isn't what a lot of people assume.

Jon traces the explosive beginning of the early church through Acts chapters 1 and 2, from Jesus' final conversation with his disciples before the ascension to the moment the Holy Spirit fell on Pentecost and 3,000 people converted in a single day. Along the way he takes on the new atheists, compares how Christianity spread against Islam and Judaism, and lands on something that's both historically defensible and personally urgent. The foundation wasn't a philosophy or a set of teachings. It was a single, verifiable claim: they saw a dead man walking. And that, Jon argues, is still the only message with enough weight to hold the next generation.

Litchfield Church of the Nazarene is a welcoming, bilingual community of faith in Litchfield, MN, whose mission is to produce fruitful disciples of Jesus Christ. We gather every Sunday at 10:45 AM. New messages drop on the podcast each week. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite app. Learn more at litchfieldnaz.com.

Most Easter sermons start at the empty tomb. This one starts somewhere darker. Lead Pastor Jon Stoe takes you back to the hours right after the crucifixion, when there were no Christians, no church, no Bible, and no believers. Just a handful of brokenhearted Galileans who thought they'd been following God's chosen king, now watching Rome claim his body. Nobody was keeping the dream alive. There was no dream left.

Jon builds from that moment forward through 350 years of history, through Peter and John sprinting to an empty tomb, through disciples who wrote themselves into the story as cowards and quitters, to make the case that the resurrection isn't just a Bible story. It's the explanation for everything. And more personally, it answers the question most of us quietly carry: how do I know where I actually stand with God?

Litchfield Church of the Nazarene is a welcoming, bilingual community of faith in Litchfield, MN, whose mission is to produce fruitful disciples of Jesus Christ. We gather every Sunday at 10:45 AM. New messages drop on the podcast each week. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite app. Learn more at litchfieldnaz.com.

Jon Stoe opens this one with a story from his 25th anniversary trip to Antigua — an all-inclusive resort where the staff anticipated every need before you even asked. It was wonderful, he says. And also a little unsettling. Because being served that well has a way of making you feel things you weren't expecting. That feeling is exactly where this sermon goes.

This is the final message in The Jesus Way series, and Jon brings it home with one of the most jarring scenes in the gospels. The night before the crucifixion, Jesus already knows who's going to betray him, who's going to deny him, and who's going to run. He knows all of it. And what he does next stops the room cold. He picks up a towel and washes their feet. One by one. Starting with Judas. Jon walks through what that moment would have meant in Roman culture — who washed feet, and who absolutely did not — and why what Jesus did wasn't just humble. It was shocking. And then he asks the question that lands: when you have all the power and all the leverage, and the people who wronged you are right in front of you — what do you do?

Litchfield Church of the Nazarene is a welcoming, bilingual community of faith in Litchfield, MN, whose mission is to produce fruitful disciples of Jesus Christ. We gather every Sunday at 10:45 AM. New messages drop on the podcast each week. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite app. Learn more at litchfieldnaz.com.

We're all running a race with no finish line. Comparing ourselves to people who don't even know they're in the competition, chasing something we can't quite name, and still feeling like we're falling behind. In part five of The Jesus Way series, Lead Pastor Jon Stoe opens with something unexpected: a candid quote from Madonna at the height of her career, admitting she still couldn't outrun the fear of being mediocre. Turns out that feeling doesn't care how famous you are.

Jon digs into 1 Corinthians and the story of the Apostle Paul to unpack what the cross actually meant to the first people who followed Jesus. Not a symbol to wear around your neck. A way of life. One that looks foolish from the outside and goes completely against the grain of how we're wired to think about winning, proving ourselves, and keeping up. Ambition and achievement are good things, Jon says. They just make terrible masters.

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Litchfield Church of the Nazarene is a welcoming, bilingual community of faith in Litchfield, MN, whose mission is to produce fruitful disciples of Jesus Christ. We gather every Sunday at 10:45 AM. New messages drop on the podcast each week. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite app. Learn more at litchfieldnaz.com.

Self‑righteousness is one outfit none of us look good in—and most of the time, we don’t even realize we’re wearing it. In this message, “The Jesus Way: Rebranding,” lead pastor Jon Stoe walks us into Luke 15 and shows how Jesus completely reframes what God is like and who God likes. Through the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son, Jon explores a God who is laser‑focused on what is lost, not content to simply enjoy what’s already “found.”

Along the way, Jon presses into our own tendencies to be “right” but not righteous, especially around hot‑button areas like religion and politics. He contrasts the self‑righteous posture of the Pharisees with the surprising, pursuing love of the Father, asking us hard but hopeful questions: Do we see people far from God as problems to fix—or as someone valuable who’s been disconnected from their Owner? This episode is an invitation to let Jesus rebrand your view of God, of others, and of yourself.

In this message from lead pastor Jon Stoe, we continue our journey through “The Jesus Way” by looking at one of Jesus’ most disruptive and beautiful stories: the Good Samaritan. Pastor Jon shows how Jesus didn’t just bring a new set of rules, but a completely new kind of kingdom that is “inviting, and relational, and without borders, and it was as if it was for everybody.” Everyone is endowed with inherent worth, created in the image of God, and Jesus insists that love for God is always expressed in love for people.

Walking through Luke 10, Jon unpacks the lawyer’s question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” and Jesus’ radical answer that “love for God is demonstrated by love for others.” He explores what neighbor love actually looks and acts like, using Jesus’ story of a beaten traveler, two religious passersby, and a surprising hero from the wrong side of the cultural divide. Along the way, you will be invited to rethink the minimums you have settled for and to see that following Jesus means crossing lines, absorbing cost, and moving toward people in need.

If you have ever wondered what God is really like, or what it practically means to follow Jesus in your everyday relationships, this episode will stretch your assumptions and stir your heart. Come discover a kingdom where everybody is invited, everybody is included, and neighbor love is the defining mark of the people of God.