Stronger Marriages

What if the order of your giving says more about your trust than the amount? In this Timeless Truths message, Pastor Andy Wood unpacks a principle that runs from Genesis to Malachi: when I trust God with my first and my best, he blesses the rest. He clears up what the tithe is and what it isn’t. It’s not a tip, a membership fee, or a deal to get something from God. It’s the first tenth of what we receive, brought back to him as an act of worship. Cain brought an offering eventually, but Abel brought the best of his firstborn, and God looked with favor on the one who gave first in faith (Genesis 4:3–5). Pastor Andy also takes on honest objections, like what to do when the math doesn’t seem to work, and reminds us that salvation is a free gift no amount of giving can earn (Ephesians 2:8–9). What would change if you gave God your first instead of your leftovers?

What kind of harvest is your life producing right now? In the second message of Timeless Truths, Pastor Andy Wood explores a principle built into God’s design: we reap what we sow. Writing to the Corinthian church about generosity, Paul speaks of giving as seed, reminding us that those who sow sparingly reap a small harvest while those who sow generously reap an abundant one (2 Corinthians 9:6). Pastor Andy unpacks four laws of sowing and reaping. We reap what we sow, whether we plant resources, faith, peace, or God’s Word. We reap as we sow, in proportion to how freely we give. We reap where we sow, so investing in eternal things matters. And we reap later than we sow, which is why we shouldn’t grow weary in doing good (Galatians 6:9). Seed left in the bag never grows. What is God inviting you to plant today?

What would change if you truly believed nothing you have is yours? In this first message of Timeless Truths, Pastor Andy Wood lays the foundation for a five-week series on money, generosity, and stewardship with one central principle: God is the owner, and we are the stewards. Walking through the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14–30), Pastor Andy unpacks three mindsets of a faithful steward. First, we are blessed by God, as everything we have comes from God and belongs to God (Psalm 24:1). Second, we are responsible before God to put what we’ve been entrusted with to work rather than burying it out of fear or comparison. Third, we are accountable before God, who will one day settle accounts with us all. Faithfulness isn’t measured by how much you’ve been given but by what you do with it. What has God placed in your hands, and how will you put it to work?

What is your home really built around? In the fourth message of the Stronger series, Pastor Andy Wood calls the home the most influential place in any culture and turns to Joshua’s farewell charge to Israel. Near the end of his life, Joshua urged the people to revere the Lord, serve him faithfully, and throw away the false gods their ancestors had worshiped, then declared that he and his household would serve the Lord (Joshua 24:14–15). Pastor Andy explains that homes don’t drift toward God by accident. They are built through daily decisions, and a family’s calendar and bank statement often reveal what truly sits at the center. Scripture says a house is built by wisdom and established through understanding (Proverbs 24:3), and Pastor Andy offers practical ways to make Christ the foundation of family life. Whom will your household choose to serve?

What makes a marriage strong enough to last a lifetime? In the third message of the Stronger series, Pastor Andy Wood and Pastor Stacie Wood return to a verse Scripture repeats at creation, in the teaching of Jesus, and in the letters of Paul: a man leaves his father and mother, is united to his wife, and the two become one flesh (Genesis 2:24). From there, they outline three marks of a stronger marriage: committing to God's design, keeping a covenant rather than a contract, and caring for one another God's way. Drawing from Paul's words to husbands and wives, they describe a marriage where both submit to one another out of reverence for Christ, husbands love sacrificially as Christ loved the church, and wives offer honor and respect (Ephesians 5:21–33). Marriage was designed to put the gospel on display. What is your marriage showing the world?

What does it mean to be a strong woman when culture keeps sending mixed messages? In the second message of the Stronger series, Pastor Stacie Wood goes back to creation, where God made male and female in his image, declared his work very good, and said the man needed a helper suited to him (Genesis 1:27, 31; 2:18). Pastor Stacie unpacks the Hebrew word for helper, ezer, not as a lesser role but as a strong and necessary ally. From there, she describes three strengths God has built into women: nurturing with compassion, influencing with gentleness, and supporting with wisdom. Scripture says a wise woman builds her house (Proverbs 14:1), and Pastor Stacie calls women to build on the unshakable foundation of God's Word rather than on the shifting opinions of influencers and ideologies. What foundation are you building your life on?

What does it mean to be a strong man? In this first message of the Stronger series, Pastor Andy Wood goes back to the beginning, where God gave Adam two assignments before sin ever entered the world: to work the garden and to guard it (Genesis 2:15). When temptation came, Adam stood by in silence and then shifted the blame, and Pastor Andy traces much of today's confusion about manhood back to that moment. Drawing from Paul's charge to Timothy, he describes four identities God calls men to reclaim: a leader who initiates and serves like a disciplined athlete, a lover who is secure as a beloved son, a protector who stands in the gap like a soldier, and a provider who works with the diligence of a farmer (2 Timothy 2:1–7). For every man, real strength starts with knowing whose son you are. Where is God calling you to step up?

What if the hardest moment is the ripest one? In this message, guest speaker Andy Byrd points to a generation hungry for God, to movements stirring in Sweden and Norway, and to what he believes is the edge of an awakening the world has not yet seen. In Matthew 9:35–38, Jesus looks out at crowds that are harassed and helpless and calls the harvest plentiful. What was lacking was not the harvest but the workers. Byrd argues the same perspective shift is needed now: a difficult moment is not evidence God has stopped moving, and often it is the sign a harvest is ready. The workers Jesus sends are ordinary people, fishermen and tax collectors and teenagers, not specialists. Most of us wait for someone better qualified to answer God's longing to awaken his church. You are that someone. Pray for new eyes, then move.

What makes your story worth telling? In this final message from the Live Sent series, Pastor Andy Wood turns to the man born blind in John 9, whose condition was no verdict on anyone's sin but an occasion for God's work to be displayed. When religious experts pressed him to denounce the one who healed him, he had no theology to offer them, only what had happened to him: he was blind, and now he sees. A personal story cannot be argued away. Pastor Andy draws four principles from the account: make it personal, make it specific about what Jesus has done and when he did it, make Jesus the hero rather than yourself, and make the Good News digestible, offering a small taste so others can see for themselves that God is good (Psalm 34:8). You don't need a dramatic past or perfect answers, only what God has actually done in your life. Who needs to hear it?