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THE CRUSHING PLACE
Pastor Jerrid Fletcher
October 25, 2026

In “The Crushing Place,” Pastor Jerrid Fletcher names the experience of living under pressure that won’t let up: carrying more than we can bear, praying “How long, O Lord?” (Psalm 13), and slowly being shaped by survival mode. Through the life of Paul, a man who was beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, and “under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure” (2 Corinthians 1:8), the sermon shows that faithfulness and feeling overwhelmed can exist together. In 2 Corinthians 4, Paul names his pressure honestly but doesn’t let it have the final word: “hard pressed on every side, but not crushed” (2 Corinthians 4:8–9). The sermon invites us to focus on two things while we’re being pressed. The first is our posture: whether we turn toward God or away from Him, as seen in Job, Hannah, and Paul. The second is our perspective: whether we let the pressure become the whole picture or fix our eyes on what is unseen and eternal (2 Corinthians 4:17–18). Paul learned contentment in the middle of the crushing, not after it (Philippians 4:11). In the same way, the crushing place doesn’t have to be where our faith breaks. It can be where God does His deepest work in us.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. The sermon says, “What we carry doesn’t just weigh on us. It trains us.” What have the burdens you’ve carried trained you to become: guarded, cynical, numb, or something else?

2. Paul named his pressure honestly in 2 Corinthians 1:8 and 2 Corinthians 4:8–9. What makes it hard for you to name what you’re carrying, whether to God or to other people?

3. Think of a “How long, Lord?” season in your life (Psalm 13). What did the waiting reveal about your faith that an easier season might not have?

4. Job worshiped, Hannah poured out her soul, and Paul submitted. Which of these postures comes most naturally to you under pressure, and which one is hardest?

5. “The crushing place doesn’t create what’s inside of us. It reveals it.” What has pressure revealed in you, and what are you filling yourself with day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16)?

6. Paul called his suffering “light and momentary” by weighing it against eternal glory (2 Corinthians 4:17–18). How can you hold onto that perspective without minimizing real pain?

7. Paul says he learned contentment (Philippians 4:11). What might God be trying to teach you in the season you’re in right now?

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THE HEART GRACE REFUSES TO ABANDON
After God’s Own Heart | Part 4
Senior Pastor Keith Stewart
October 18, 2026

What happens when you love God but keep getting things wrong? King David was called a man after God's own heart. Yet his life was filled with extraordinary faith, astonishing failures, and contradictions that followed him to his grave.

So how could someone like David be called a man after God's own heart? Maybe we've been telling his story all wrong.

This Sunday, we conclude our series After God's Own Heart with “The Heart Grace Refuses to Abandon.” If you've ever wondered whether your mistakes have disqualified you from God's purposes, this message is for you.

David's story isn't ultimately about a man who never failed God. It's about a God Who never failed David.

Join us at Springcreek Church, in person or online, and discover why your failures don't have to have the final word.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. When you think about King David, what qualities or events immediately come to mind? How has this series challenged or changed your understanding of him?

2. David demonstrated extraordinary faith and remarkable failures, sometimes in close succession. Why do you think we prefer stories in which people learn from their mistakes and continually improve? How does David's actual story challenge those expectations?

3. David could respond to Shimei's insults with remarkable humility, yet years later instruct Solomon to deal harshly with him (2 Samuel 16:9–12; 1 Kings 2:8–9). What does this contradiction teach us about the possibility of holding on to resentment even when we believe we've moved past it?

4. The message emphasized that spiritual maturity is not always linear. Looking back over your own spiritual journey, where have you experienced growth, setbacks, or recurring struggles? How might understanding spiritual growth this way change how we view ourselves and others?

5. Michelangelo's sculpture portrays David as an almost perfect physical specimen, while Scripture reveals a deeply flawed human being. Why do Christians sometimes feel pressure to appear more spiritually mature or put-together than they really are? What does that pressure cost us?

6. David described himself as a man of prayer (Psalm 109:4). The message emphasized that David repeatedly brought his whole self to God—his faith, doubts, anger, failures, and fears. What makes it difficult for us to be completely honest with God? Are there feelings or questions we tend to censor in our prayers?

7. Consider these two statements from the message:
"Pray what's in you instead of what ought to be in you."
"God's love and acceptance preceded our disclosure."
How might truly believing these statements transform your prayer life and your understanding of your relationship with God?


8. John Stephen Akhwari finished the 1968 Olympic marathon injured, limping, and long after the winner had crossed the finish line. How does his story challenge our assumptions about what it means to finish well in life?

9. Acts 13:36 says that David "served the purpose of God in his own generation." Considering all of David's failures, what does this statement teach us about how God measures the significance of a life? What might serving God's purposes in your own generation look like?

10. The message emphasized that God's grace doesn't erase the consequences of our decisions, but neither do our failures necessarily disqualify us from His purposes. How do we hold together personal responsibility, genuine repentance, and confidence in God's continuing grace?

Closing Reflection and Prayer

11. The message concluded with this statement:
"God's faithfulness was greater than David's failures. And His faithfulness is greater than yours, too."

Is there an area of your life where you've struggled to believe that truth? What would change if you genuinely trusted that God hasn't abandoned you or finished working in your life?

Closing Prayer: Invite group members to reflect silently on an area of regret, disappointment, or perceived failure. Pray for the courage to bring their authentic selves before God, the humility to acknowledge where change is needed, and renewed confidence that God's grace and purposes remain active in their lives.

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THE HEART POWER REVEALS
After God’s Own Heart | Part 3
Senior Pastor Keith Stewart
October 11, 2026

What if the greatest danger in your life isn’t the brokenness you already know about—but the brokenness you still can’t see? The Bible tells us the whole truth about David—his faith and failures, his courage and wounds, his devotion to God and the destructive patterns he sometimes refused to face. Why? Because Scripture exposes David so David can expose us.

This Sunday, in Part 3 of After God’s Own Heart, we’re asking an uncomfortable question: What’s in me that I still don’t see?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

This isn’t a message about shame. It’s about transformation. God isn’t frightened by the truth about us. And what we’re willing to bring into the light, God can begin to heal.

1. The message says, “Scripture exposes David so David can expose us.” Why do you think the Bible is so honest about the failures of people God loved and used?

2. We often compare ourselves with people whose failures seem worse than ours. Why is it easier to recognize someone else’s obvious sin than pride, self-righteousness, jealousy, control, or other “sins of the spirit” in ourselves?

3. David’s story suggests that unresolved wounds can become patterns we pass on to others. Without sharing anything you consider too personal, what attitudes, behaviors, or family patterns have you had to recognize and intentionally change?

4. The message says, “Power didn’t create what was wrong with David. Power exposed it.” How can success, influence, money, authority, or even religious leadership reveal things in us that adversity may not?

5. Why do you think we tend to do more soul-searching after failure than after success? What spiritual practices can keep us grounded when life is going particularly well?

6. Consider the central question of the message: “What’s in me that I still don’t see?” Why can that be such a difficult question to ask ourselves? What makes genuine self-awareness possible?

7. The message says, “God apparently isn’t frightened by the truth about us. We are.” How does believing that God already knows us completely—and still loves us—change the way we face our brokenness?

8. Read Psalm 139:23–24 together. Of the four prayers from the message—Search me, Test me, Tell me, Help me—which one do you find easiest to pray? Which is the most difficult? Why?

Closing challenge: Spend a few quiet moments individually praying Psalm 139:23—Rather than asking God to change someone else, simply pray: “Lord, show me the truth about myself—and give me the courage to respond to what You show me.”