Why trying harder doesn’t work

When was the last time you needed help but hesitated to ask? What goes through your mind when someone asks you for help?In Week 6 of Follow, Jake Downing takes us to the road outside Jericho in Mark 10:46–52. Bartimaeus cries out for mercy, and the crowd tells him to be quiet. Jesus stops, asks the same crowd to call him over, and gives Bartimaeus the chance to say what he needs. After Jesus restores his sight, Bartimaeus follows him down the road.We come to Jesus needing mercy, and we follow him by showing that mercy to others. Sometimes that starts with slowing down long enough to ask the question Jesus asked: “What do you want me to do for you?”Whether you’re carrying something you’ve been afraid to ask for help with or there’s someone you’ve been looking past, there’s a next step you can take this week. Name where you need mercy. Start a conversation you’ve been avoiding. Ask what would help, listen to the answer, and follow through on one thing you can do.Scripture: Mark 10:46–52 (CSB)Speaker: Jake DowningCornerstone Church, Prescott, AZYavapai County | Evangelical Free Church of AmericaSeries: FollowWeek Number: 6November 8, 2026Learn more or plan a visit: https://prescottcornerstone.com

How do you love people you disagree with? Can you build meaningful relationships without compromising what you believe?In Week 5 of Follow, Scott Savage explores Mark 2:13–17, where Jesus calls Levi, a tax collector, to follow him. Levi leaves his tax booth and hosts a meal with Jesus, his disciples, and friends the religious leaders would rather avoid.When those leaders question his choice of company, Jesus answers with a picture of a doctor caring for the sick. His welcome reveals both our need for grace and our calling to extend it to others.Following Jesus changes how we live and moves us toward people who need his love. Scott explores how we can become isolated from others or compromise our convictions to fit in. Jesus offers another way: being set apart and sent, living faithfully while building relationships across real differences.Whether you’re navigating political disagreements, struggling to connect with someone whose beliefs differ from yours, or realizing your circle only includes people who think like you, this message invites you to remember your own need for grace and make room at your table. Jesus calls us out of our old lives and sends us into others’ lives.Scripture: Mark 2:13–17Speaker: Scott SavageCornerstone Church, Prescott, AZYavapai County | Evangelical Free Church of AmericaSeries: FollowWeek Number: 5November 1, 2026Learn more or plan a visit: https://prescottcornerstone.com

Have you ever let one failure define how you see yourself? What if the moment you wish you could erase could become a place where God helps you grow?In Week 4 of Follow, guest speaker Trey VanCamp opens Mark 10:32-45 to explore what it means to become like Jesus. Beginning with Miss Havisham from Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, a woman who stopped every clock after a devastating disappointment, Trey asks us to consider where we may have stopped moving forward.As Jesus prepares his disciples for his suffering, death, and resurrection, James and John ask for positions of honor. They’ve spent years following him, yet they still misunderstand greatness. Jesus responds by pointing them toward a life of service and sacrifice. Their mistaken request becomes an opportunity for growth, and their story continues beyond this embarrassing moment.Becoming like Jesus means receiving correction with humility, allowing our worst moments to refine us, and making ourselves available to his transforming grace. We can stay busy doing things for Jesus while neglecting the work he wants to do within us. His invitation is to keep becoming more patient, humble, loving, and gentle throughout our lives.Whether you’re carrying shame over a failure, feeling defensive after a difficult conversation, or wondering why years of church activity haven’t brought the change you hoped for, this message offers a next step. You cannot rewrite your past, but by God’s grace, you can choose what happens next. Your worst moment doesn’t have to define you, and your story isn’t over.Scripture: Mark 10:32-45 Speaker: Trey VanCamp Cornerstone Church, Prescott, AZ Yavapai County | Evangelical Free Church of America Series: Follow Week Number: 4 October 25, 2026Learn more or plan a visit: https://prescottcornerstone.com

Why is change so hard, even when you want it? What do you do when the habits that once helped you get through life start keeping you stuck?In Week 3 of Follow, Scott Savage opens Mark 8:11-21 to explore why moving forward often means unlearning old patterns. Beginning with a dishwasher disaster and the everyday habits we pick up from others, Scott asks us to consider how family, culture, past experiences, and even church have shaped the way we think.Jesus warns his disciples about the influence of the Pharisees and Herod, but they’re focused on whether they have enough bread. They’ve watched him feed thousands, yet their immediate problem keeps them from understanding what he’s teaching. Later, Peter correctly identifies Jesus as the Messiah, then pushes back when Jesus explains that suffering and the cross are ahead. Peter knows who Jesus is, but he still has to unlearn what he expects Jesus to do.Following Jesus means learning his way and unlearning the ways that keep us from him. That includes letting him challenge what we think we know, recognizing the influences we’ve absorbed, and releasing patterns that contradict his way. Change often happens gradually, and Jesus doesn’t abandon us while we’re learning.Whether you’re exhausted from trying to control everything, measuring your worth by what you accomplish, or carrying habits from a painful family or church experience, this message invites you to take one next step. Identify something Jesus may be inviting you to unlearn, then practice a different way: ask for help, make room for rest, listen before insisting you’re right, or obey even when you don’t fully understand.Scripture: Mark 8:11-21Speaker: Scott SavageCornerstone Church, Prescott, AZYavapai County | Evangelical Free Church of AmericaSeries: FollowWeek Number: 3October 18, 2026Learn more or plan a visit: https://prescottcornerstone.com

Have you ever wondered what God is doing in your life? You're praying for answers, waiting for something to change, and trying to trust God, but you can't see where He's leading you. In Mark 8:22–26, Jesus heals a blind man in one of the most unusual miracles recorded in the Gospels. Instead of healing him immediately, Jesus leads him somewhere unexpected and restores his sight in stages. This encounter reveals some powerful lessons about trusting God when life doesn't make sense. In this message, Pastor Scott Savage explores four moments from this story that teach us how to follow Jesus when we don't know what He's doing. You'll discover what it looks like to let go of control, trust God's process, and remain honest with Him when you're still waiting for answers. Following Jesus means trusting Him when you can't see clearly. Whether you're facing uncertainty, waiting on an unanswered prayer, or struggling to understand God's timing, this message will encourage you to keep following Jesus, even when you can't see what comes next.

Do you believe Jesus enjoys being with you, or do you picture him as disappointed and just putting up with you? Can you do all the right Christian things and still miss the relationship at the center of it all?In Week 1 of Follow, Josh McClintock opens Mark 3:13-15 to explore where following Jesus begins. Using a puzzle filled with familiar Christian activities, Josh shows how church, prayer, Bible reading, and serving can fill our lives while Jesus gets pushed to the edge.When Jesus appoints the twelve apostles, he first calls them to be with him. Before he sends them out to preach and drive out demons, he invites them close. These are imperfect people who will struggle, misunderstand, and fail, yet Jesus wants them with him. Their mission grows out of their relationship with him.Jesus extends that invitation to us too. Being with him comes before doing things for him. And even when prayer, Scripture, or silence feels ordinary, choosing to give him our attention shapes who we become. Like compound interest, small moments repeated over time can grow into a life that reflects Jesus.Whether you feel worn out from doing the right things, unsure Jesus wants your company, or distracted by your phone and a packed schedule, this message offers one practical step: choose time with Jesus without an agenda. Begin with Psalm 27:4, slow down, and bring him whatever comes up.Scripture: Mark 3:13-15Speaker: Josh McClintockCornerstone Church, Prescott, AZYavapai County | Evangelical Free Church of AmericaSeries: FollowWeek Number: Week 1October 4, 2026Learn more or plan a visit: https://prescottcornerstone.com

How can you tell when a thought that feels true is actually a lie? What would change if you stopped agreeing with the beliefs keeping you stuck?In Week 3 of Kill the Spider, Scott Savage closes the series by exploring John 8:31-36 and how Jesus leads us into real freedom. Through the surprising story of Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle being fooled by staged fairy photographs and the story of Stanislav Petrov questioning a false missile warning, Scott shows why intelligent, sincere people can believe things that are not true.Jesus tells those who believed him that they will know the truth and the truth will set them free. He also challenges them to admit where they are still enslaved and reveals that lasting freedom comes from the Son. Freedom begins with truth, requires admitting where we are not free, and is ultimately found in Jesus.This is not about replacing a negative thought with a positive one. It is about confessing the lie, rejecting your agreement with it, and replacing it with what Jesus says is true. Freedom comes when we stop agreeing with the lie and start agreeing with Jesus.Whether you feel trapped by people pleasing, perfectionism, overworking, isolation, control, or beliefs shaped by painful experiences, this message will help you question what feels true, recognize the places where you are not free, and take a practical next step toward freedom.Scripture: John 8:31-36Speaker: Scott SavageCornerstone Church, Prescott, AZYavapai County | Evangelical Free Church of AmericaSeries: Kill the SpiderWeek Number: Week 3September 27, 2026Learn more or plan a visit: https://prescottcornerstone.com

Does God care about what you’re going through? When he seems silent, does that mean you’re on your own?In Week 2 of Kill the Spider, Scott Savage explores Mark 4:35-41 and the stories we tell ourselves about painful experiences. Through the disciples’ encounter with a storm and his own struggle with criticism, approval, and burnout, Scott asks us to consider how what happened to us has shaped what we believe.As waves fill their boat, the disciples find Jesus asleep and ask, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are going to die?” The danger is real, but they interpret his sleep as a lack of care. Jesus calms the storm and challenges their fear, revealing both his authority and the limits of their trust.You don’t have to deny what happened to question what it means. Rejection can lead us to believe we are unlovable. Betrayal can convince us that nobody is safe. Unanswered prayer can leave us wondering whether God cares. Those beliefs can shape how we live, fueling fear, control, people pleasing, overwork, or isolation. Jesus invites us to examine those conclusions and let him have the final word on what is true.Whether you’re carrying the pain of rejection, exhausted from trying to prove your worth, or struggling to trust God with an unanswered prayer, this message offers three questions to help you identify the story beneath your struggle: What happened? What did I decide it meant? How is that belief shaping me today?Scripture: Mark 4:35-41Speaker: Scott SavageCornerstone Church, Prescott, AZYavapai County | Evangelical Free Church of AmericaSeries: Kill the SpiderWeek Number: Week 2September 20, 2026Learn more or plan a visit: https://prescottcornerstone.com

Why do the same struggles keep coming back, no matter how disciplined you try to be? What if the behavior you are fighting is only a symptom of something deeper?In Week 1 of Kill the Spider, Scott Savage opens Genesis 3:1-7 to explain why trying harder doesn’t work. Beginning with a moldy loaf of bread hidden in a college apartment and the story behind Carlos Whittaker’s Kill the Spider, Scott shows how easily we can spend our lives covering a smell without ever confronting its source.In Genesis 3, the serpent begins by questioning God’s words and character. Eve’s agreement with that lie shapes her behavior, and fear, shame, covering, and hiding follow. The passage reveals a pattern that still affects us: the enemy begins with belief, his lies become our agreements, and our behavior follows what we believe.A spider is an agreement we make with a lie. Cobwebs are the habits and medicators we reach for to find temporary comfort. Anxiety, people pleasing, control, overwork, isolation, achievement, and endless distraction may be visible struggles that point toward something deeper. Jesus offers more than symptom management. He offers real freedom.Whether you keep circling the same struggle, feel exhausted from trying harder, or wonder why change never seems to last, this message invites you to become curious about what is happening beneath the surface. What keeps happening? When does it show up? What are you hoping it will give you? This week, the goal is not to fix everything. It is to pay attention and begin looking for the source.Scripture: Genesis 3:1-7Speaker: Scott SavageCornerstone Church, Prescott, AZYavapai County | Evangelical Free Church of AmericaSeries: Kill the SpiderWeek Number: Week 1September 13, 2026Learn more or plan a visit: https://prescottcornerstone.com

What do you do when failure, loss, or disappointment leaves you wondering whether you can begin again? How do you move forward when you cannot yet see where a new beginning will lead?In this standalone message, Why Failure Does Not Get the Last Word, Scott Savage turns to Lamentations 3:21-26 and the story of Theodore Roosevelt to show why starting over is rarely simple. In the middle of Jerusalem’s devastation, Jeremiah finds hope in God’s faithful love, mercy, and goodness.The message explores four truths for a new beginning: God’s grace and mercy meet us in the mess, God meets us on every kind of morning, his faithfulness matters more than our achievements, and waiting on God calls us to faithful action. Through Peter’s restoration and Paul’s words about grace, we see that failure does not have to become the final chapter of our story.Whether you are carrying regret from the past, pain in the present, fear about the future, or the weight of an unexpected transition, God’s mercy is new every morning. You can name where you need his grace, receive what you cannot earn, and take the next faithful step.Scripture: Lamentations 3:21-26Speaker: Scott SavageCornerstone Church, Prescott, AZYavapai County | Evangelical Free Church of AmericaSeries: Standalone SermonSeptember 6, 2026Learn more or plan a visit: https://prescottcornerstone.com