In her sermon From Groanings to Glory, Lydia Brooks draws from Romans 8:18-28 to challenge the tendency many believers have to skip straight to the comfort of verse 28 without sitting in the weight of the verses that precede it. Using a mirror-versus-microscope approach to Scripture, she walks through three movements in the passage: first, that we are bound to our human nature and our pride will be challenged by the call to obedience; second, that God provides warning signs and a map so we are never left without direction in our suffering; and third, that difficulty produces endurance, endurance produces wisdom, and wisdom ultimately produces glory. She unpacks the key phrase "according to His purpose," reframing love for God not as a feeling but as trust, surrender, faith, and obedience. Her closing charge is clear: the groanings of this life are not obstacles to salvation but instruments of it, and our responsibility in the middle of those groanings is obedience, prayer, and attentiveness to where God is working.

This week we wrapped up our “Big Picture” series by turning to the final two chapters of the Bible — Revelation 21–22. From Genesis to Revelation, Scripture tells one unified story: creation, fall, rescue, redemption, and restoration. Pastor Russ explores how the Bible ends where it began — with God dwelling among His people in a renewed creation. Along the way, we look at the connection between Eden and the New Heavens and New Earth, the symbolism of Revelation, and the hope Christians have in the resurrection and restoration of all things through Jesus. This message reminds us that the story of Scripture is not ultimately about fear or speculation, but about hope: in the end, God wins.

In week five of "The Big Picture", Ebony traces the birth of the church through Acts 2. The early church was marked by devotion to scripture, shared meals, communal prayer, and generosity, a model the pastor admits she deeply longs for while also acknowledging the tension modern believers feel between that first-century ideal and today's consumer-driven church culture. Drawing on the example of her own painful experience with church leadership, she is honest that no single model of church is one-size-fits-all, while testifying that her healing and renewed faith in the local church came through her community at Maury Hills. The sermon closes with a challenge rooted in Micah 6:8 and Francis Chan's pointed contrast between what congregations expect from church and what God actually commands of it, calling believers away from comfort-centered faith toward sacrificial, Spirit-led community, with a charge that lingers long after the benediction: don't just come to church; be the church.