Mercy Culture Waco

Pastor Sean Gleason preaches a direct call for the church in Waco to wake up from spiritual slumber, opening in Acts 9 with Saul’s encounter on the road to Damascus. He teaches on the spirit of stupor, a demonic numbness and apathy that blinds people to the truth of God, drawing from Romans 11, Isaiah 29, and 2 Corinthians 4 to explain how this spirit keeps believers comfortable, distracted, and disengaged from the things of God. Pastor Sean shares personal stories, including a season of unexplainable exhaustion that the Lord revealed was tied to a spirit of slumber over the city, and challenges Mercy Culture to recover the hunger and grit he says has been replaced by comfort and domestication. He names four signs of being under a spirit of stupor, treating God’s presence as optional, knowing what is right without doing it, spiritual numbness, and apathy, and connects these patterns to the church at Sardis in Revelation 3 and the disciples falling asleep in the garden of Gethsemane in Luke 22. He pushes the congregation to engage culture rather than retreat from it, pointing to examples like Baylor University and broader cultural compromise as evidence of a sleeping church, and calls for zeal, described through Jesus clearing the temple in John 2, as the only true antidote to apathy and tolerance. Pastor Sean closes by inviting the church into a 40 day Freedom Fast at the start of the new year and leads the congregation in prayer, asking God for a holy visitation that awakens hunger, repentance, and a renewed pursuit of His presence. The vision of Mercy Culture is to take people from corporate encounters with God to daily personal encounters with God. At Mercy Culture, one of our unique characteristics is that we are a presence driven church. We are not built around any person or ministry. We are built around the presence of God. Each week, you will hear a teaching from our Lead Pastors, Sean and Natalie Gleason or another leader in our community. To learn more about Mercy Culture, visit https://mercyculturewaco.com

Pastor Les Cody continues the Spiritual Warfare series by teaching on the Jezebel spirit, opening in Revelation 2 where Jesus confronts the church at Thyatira for tolerating this controlling, seductive influence. Pastor Les explains that spiritual warfare is a battle over who rules the will of man and warns that the enemy’s most effective tactic is convincing believers their problems are only natural rather than spiritual. Tracing Jezebel’s biblical history as the daughter of a Baal worshiping king, Pastor Les describes her as a demonic spirit of manipulation, intimidation, and control that targets prophetic, spirit led people and works to divide churches and relationships. He clarifies this spirit is not gender specific and outlines ten of its characteristics, including jealousy, false submission, weaponized vulnerability, seduction, division, confusion, and a refusal to ever repent. Using Ahab and Naboth’s vineyard from 1 Kings 21, Pastor Les teaches that Jezebel has no authority except what is surrendered to her through unchecked desire, and he challenges listeners to examine what they want badly enough to be manipulated through. He also shares a deeply personal testimony of years spent under the influence of this spirit at a previous ministry, describing fear, performance, and silence, until exposing it in the light broke its power over him, pointing to Elijah’s story in 1 Kings 19 as a model for finding rest and truth after spiritual battle. Pastor Les closes by urging the church to stop tolerating this spirit in their own lives and relationships, to expose it rather than hide it, and to pursue the presence of God as the surest way to recognize and resist its counterfeit voice. The vision of Mercy Culture is to take people from corporate encounters with God to daily personal encounters with God. At Mercy Culture, one of our unique characteristics is that we are a presence driven church. We are not built around any person or ministry. We are built around the presence of God. Each week, you will hear a teaching from our Lead Pastors, Sean and Natalie Gleason or another leader in our community. To learn more about Mercy Culture, visit https://mercyculturewaco.com

Pastor Sean Gleason continues the Spiritual Warfare series by confronting the orphan spirit, a demonic stronghold that convinces believers they must live for acceptance, approval, and survival rather than resting in their identity as sons and daughters of God. Teaching from Luke 15, the story of the prodigal son, Pastor Sean reveals that both sons in the parable were wrestling with the same orphan spirit, one through rebellion and reckless living, the other through performance and resentment, even though they had a good father. Pastor Sean opens up about his own journey with the orphan spirit, tracing it back to a childhood moment of rejection and through his deliverance from depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. He shares a recent personal story of wrestling with ambition and rebellion when he felt pulled to start his own ministry, and how the Lord used spiritual fathers and mothers in his life to expose a transactional, orphan mindset still at work in his heart. Drawing from Romans 8:15, Philippians 2:3, and Hebrews 12:5, Pastor Sean breaks down how the orphan spirit causes people to sell short their inheritance, chase counterfeit sources of acceptance, and either rebel against authority or exhaust themselves trying to perform for it. He contrasts performance with presence, reminding the church that nothing they do can impress God, only please Him, and that sons and daughters are able to receive correction as love rather than rejection. The vision of Mercy Culture is to take people from corporate encounters with God to daily personal encounters with God. At Mercy Culture, one of our unique characteristics is that we are a presence driven church. We are not built around any person or ministry. We are built around the presence of God. Each week, you will hear a teaching from our Lead Pastors, Sean and Natalie Gleason or another leader in our community. To learn more about Mercy Culture, visit https://mercyculturewaco.com

In this compelling message, Pastor Chris Cheema challenges the church to wake up and engage in spiritual warfare, drawing from 1 Kings 18 and Ephesians 6. He unpacks the story of Elijah on Mount Carmel, revealing that the same demonic spirits Elijah confronted then, including the Jezebel spirit of control, seduction, and intimidation, are the same familiar spirits the church in America faces today. Pastor Chris challenges believers to stop spectating and to get into the fight, because the time for watching from the sidelines is over. Pastor Chris warns that what many label as political issues are actually spiritual ones, including abortion, sexual perversion, censorship, and the silencing of truth, and that the church's reluctance to engage is itself a symptom of the Jezebel spirit at work. He calls believers to stop letting intimidation, fear of man, and talking points silence the truth of God's word, reminding the church that separation of church and state was never designed to keep the church out of public life, but to keep the government out of the church. This message equips believers with five practical strategies for spiritual warfare: stand on truth, fear God over man, seek spiritual authority over influence, obey God, and confront wickedness. Pastor Chris closes with a powerful declaration over Waco, calling the church to take its place as warriors who provide the altar for the fire of God to fall and who make it known that Jesus is the highest authority over every street, neighborhood, and office in their city. The vision of Mercy Culture is to take people from corporate encounters with God to daily personal encounters with God. At Mercy Culture, one of our unique characteristics is that we are a presence driven church. We are not built around any person or ministry. We are built around the presence of God. Each week, you will hear a teaching from our Lead Pastors, Sean and Natalie Gleason or another leader in our community. To learn more about Mercy Culture, visit https://mercyculturewaco.com

In this compelling message, Pastor Sean Gleason explores what it truly means to wage war against the demonic spirit of mammon, drawing from Matthew 19 and Matthew 6. He unpacks the truth that mammon is not just money, it is a spiritual master that competes directly for your love for God, and that you reveal what you truly love by what you obey. Pastor Sean challenges believers to stop rationalizing disobedience in the area of finances and to recognize that the same spirit that kept the rich young ruler from following Jesus is the same spirit keeping many believers from fully surrendering to the Lord today. Pastor Sean warns that mammon operates on both ends of the spectrum, through the prosperity gospel that makes money the point of the Christian life, and through the poverty gospel that finds spiritual pride in lack. He calls the church to reject both ditches and to walk in radical, joyful obedience through generosity, because generosity is not just a spiritual discipline, it is a warfare strategy that expands the kingdom of God and cuts off the enemy's supply line. This message challenges believers to tithe first as an act of declaring God as their first priority, to stop letting their bank statement determine whether they obey God, and to understand that mammon will never satisfy because only the Prince of Peace can meet the deepest needs of the human heart. The vision of Mercy Culture is to take people from corporate encounters with God to daily personal encounters with God. At Mercy Culture, one of our unique characteristics is that we are a presence driven church. We are not built around any person or ministry. We are built around the presence of God. Each week, you will hear a teaching from our Lead Pastors, Sean and Natalie Gleason or another leader in our community. To learn more about Mercy Culture, visit https://mercyculturewaco.com

In this compelling message, Pastor Sean Gleason explores what it truly means to fight mental warfare as spiritual warfare, drawing from Mark 9 and 2 Corinthians 10. He unpacks the truth that much of spiritual warfare begins in the mind, and that what culture calls mental illness, the Bible often calls demonic. Pastor Sean challenges believers to stop waging war in the flesh through medication, diagnosis, new age practices, or other substitutes, and to pick up the spiritual weapons that God has given them. Pastor Sean shares his own powerful testimony of years of depression, suicidal thoughts, and torment from childhood, culminating in a miraculous deliverance while simply encountering God in a daily moment of worship and prayer. He challenges the church to stop seeking one-time deliverance experiences and instead build a life of daily encounters, because one encounter with God can set you free but daily encounters with God will keep you free. This message challenges believers to renew their minds practically by writing down their lies and asking God what He says about them, memorizing the word of God, exposing their thoughts to others in authentic community, and doing the opposite of what the enemy tells them to do. The goal is not just to be free from the yoke, but to outgrow it so it can never return. The vision of Mercy Culture is to take people from corporate encounters with God to daily personal encounters with God. At Mercy Culture, one of our unique characteristics is that we are a presence driven church. We are not built around any person or ministry. We are built around the presence of God. Each week, you will hear a teaching from our Lead Pastors, Sean and Natalie Gleason or another leader in our community. To learn more about Mercy Culture, visit https://mercyculturewaco.com

In this compelling message, Pastor Sean Gleason explores what it truly means to engage in spiritual warfare, drawing from Matthew 28 and Ephesians 6. He unpacks the truth that principalities are high-ranking demonic spirits that reign over regions, cities, and nations with the primary goal of blinding the minds of unbelievers from seeing the light of the gospel. Pastor Sean challenges believers to be aware of the spiritual realm without becoming obsessed with it, keeping their focus fixed on Jesus who holds the highest authority. Pastor Sean walks through the history of Waco, revealing how the city has partnered with principalities of dishonor, covetousness, the orphan spirit, and false religion, and calls the church to unseat each one by lifting up the highest authority. He warns that every act of disobedience surrenders spiritual authority to the enemy, while every act of obedience partners with Jesus and reclaims ground. This message challenges believers to understand that you unseat principalities not by binding and rebuking in your own name, but by lifting up Jesus, repenting of any partnership with the enemy, speaking His name, and boldly preaching the gospel everywhere you go, because the great commission was never meant only for the pulpit. The vision of Mercy Culture is to take people from corporate encounters with God to daily personal encounters with God. At Mercy Culture, one of our unique characteristics is that we are a presence driven church. We are not built around any person or ministry. We are built around the presence of God. Each week, you will hear a teaching from our Lead Pastors, Sean and Natalie Gleason or another leader in our community. To learn more about Mercy Culture, visit https://mercyculturewaco.com

In this compelling message, Pastor Nikki Cody explores what it means to be a war horse for God in this hour, drawing from Jeremiah 1 and Revelation 19. She unpacks the truth that truth is not a concept, it is a person, and his name is Jesus Christ. Pastor Nikki challenges believers to stop fighting from a place of defeat and to recognize that the battle has already been won, that the church's assignment is simply to go onto the battlefield and do what God says. Pastor Nikki warns that the enemy's greatest weapon is not the giants in the land but the distraction and fear that keep believers from fixing their gaze on the Rider. She calls the church to stop being moved by emotions, culture, politics, and popular opinion, and to return to an it is written theology rooted in the living word of God. This message challenges believers to understand that war horses are not raised in comfort, they are forged in the fire of hidden seasons, trained in obscurity, and proven through resistance. Just as Jesus rides in on a white horse representing a victory already won, the church must awaken from apathy and become faithful carriers of His truth into every classroom, workplace, and family, bold enough to speak what they know even when culture pushes back. The vision of Mercy Culture is to take people from corporate encounters with God to daily personal encounters with God. At Mercy Culture, one of our unique characteristics is that we are a presence driven church. We are not built around any person or ministry. We are built around the presence of God. Each week, you will hear a teaching from our Lead Pastors, Sean and Natalie Gleason or another leader in our community. To learn more about Mercy Culture, visit https://mercyculturewaco.com

In this special Family Anointing Sunday message, Pastor Les Cody challenges parents, grandparents, and the entire church to spiritually prepare their families for the year ahead, drawing from Deuteronomy 6. He unpacks the truth that the word of God and the presence of God are meant to permeate every part of life, not just Sunday mornings, and that parents cannot deposit into their children what they have not first received themselves. Pastor Les calls families to stop compartmentalizing God and to make Him the center of how they raise their children, manage their marriages, and conduct their everyday lives. Pastor Les reminds parents that the goal of raising children is not to protect them from darkness but to prepare them to carry the light into it. He challenges fathers to spiritually lead their homes, encourages mothers to intercede faithfully, and calls every member of the congregation, whether parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or single believer, to pick up the burden of the next generation and pray, mentor, and invest in them. This message closes with a powerful time of prayer and anointing over families, students, and children as the congregation prepares to enter a new school year, believing that their children have not been sent out to survive but to be sent as carriers of the presence and glory of God. The vision of Mercy Culture is to take people from corporate encounters with God to daily personal encounters with God. At Mercy Culture, one of our unique characteristics is that we are a presence driven church. We are not built around any person or ministry. We are built around the presence of God. Each week, you will hear a teaching from our Lead Pastors, Sean and Natalie Gleason or another leader in our community. To learn more about Mercy Culture, visit https://mercyculturewaco.com

In this special Presbytery Sunday service, Pastor Sean Gleason leads Mercy Culture Waco through a powerful time of prophetic ministry, drawing from 1 Timothy 4 and Acts 13. Visiting pastors Brandon and Nellie Grulé from the Fort Worth campus minister prophetic words over several individuals, couples, and the congregation, with themes of faithfulness, fruitfulness, clarity, new seasons, and the courage to step into calling. Pastor Sean reminds the church that prophetic words from leaders serve to confirm what God has already been speaking in the secret place of your daily encounters. Through words submitted over individuals and couples, the congregation witnessed powerful prophetic ministry centered on stepping forward in calling, the removal of fear and white noise in daily encounters, the breathing of new life into dry and weary places, and the Lord publicly honoring faithfulness that had gone unseen. The Waco campus also received a corporate prophetic word declaring that a new wineskin is required for the new wine being poured out, that more oil, more souls, and more victory are coming to the city, and that a season of soul winning and hunger for the gospel is at hand. The vision of Mercy Culture is to take people from corporate encounters with God to daily personal encounters with God. At Mercy Culture, one of our unique characteristics is that we are a presence driven church. We are not built around any person or ministry. We are built around the presence of God. Each week, you will hear a teaching from our Lead Pastors, Sean and Natalie Gleason or another leader in our community. To learn more about Mercy Culture, visit https://mercyculturewaco.com