Purpose Over Perfection: Dr. Essence Deming-Rivers

Send us Fan Mail“What if Jesus never told us to be flawless, but to become fully ourselves?”In this honest, funny, and deeply human message, Dr. Essence Deming-Rivers unpacks the difference between perfection and purpose. Starting with her own reluctance to step into the calling in front of her, she reflects on Matthew 5, the pressure to “get it right,” and the ways religion can turn love into rules, performance, and policing.But what if “be perfect” was never about never making mistakes?Dr. Essence reframes perfection through the word teleios: becoming whole, fully developed, and aligned with your intended purpose. Through the life of Jesus, she reminds us that purpose is not discovered by performing flawlessly, but by stepping away, listening deeply, being tested, finding community, missing the mark, adjusting, and trying again.This is a message for anyone who has been afraid to move forward because they might mess it up. The point is not perfection. The point is becoming. Support the showHarvest is a fully affirming, inclusive (including the LGBTQ+ community) progressive Christian church located in Sarasota, Florida.Follow us on Social Media:Instagram - Instagram.com/harvestsarasotaFacebook - Facebook.com/harvestsarasotaTikTok CLICK HEREDONATE to support our podcast HERERecorded live at Harvest Church in Sarasota by Michael Thomas Regina and Stephen Lehman of Boardtown Creative

Send us Fan Mail“Jesus didn’t center marginalized people because they lacked value. He centered them because the world refused to recognize it.”In Part 1 of What Are We Becoming?, Dan Minor invites Harvest Sarasota into a deeper conversation about the kind of people, church, and community we are becoming.Moving beyond the old religious scoreboards of attendance, giving, volunteering, and performance, this message asks a better question: not what are we doing for God? but what is love making of us?Through the life of Jesus and the work of Harvest Sarasota and Harvest House, Dan challenges us to reimagine inclusion, belonging, service, and dignity. Because true belonging is not just letting people into a space that still belongs to us. True belonging means allowing their presence to change what the space becomes.This is a message about moving closer, listening better, recognizing the value society has tried to strip away, and becoming a community where love forms us into people who look more like Jesus.#HarvestSarasota #HarvestSarasotaPodcast #WhatAreWeBecoming #DanMinor #InclusiveChurch #ProgressiveChristianity #FaithReimagined #Belonging #Dignity #MarginalizedVoices #JesusAndJustice #LoveLikeJesus #SpiritualFormation #FaithInAction #HarvestHouse #Sarasota #ChurchForAll #CommunityCare #SocialJustice #EveryoneBelongs Support the showHarvest is a fully affirming, inclusive (including the LGBTQ+ community) progressive Christian church located in Sarasota, Florida.Follow us on Social Media:Instagram - Instagram.com/harvestsarasotaFacebook - Facebook.com/harvestsarasotaTikTok CLICK HEREDONATE to support our podcast HERERecorded live at Harvest Church in Sarasota by Michael Thomas Regina and Stephen Lehman of Boardtown Creative

Send us Fan Mail“We do not build community with marginalized people because they need the church. We build community with marginalized people because the church needs them.”In Part 2 of What Are We Becoming?, Dan Minor continues the conversation about the kind of church Harvest Sarasota is becoming, one shaped not by rescue, pity, or religious scorekeeping, but by proximity, humility, and mutual transformation.This message challenges the idea that the church exists to “fix” people from a distance. Instead, Dan invites us to move closer, listen better, and recognize that every person carries the image of God, including those society and religion have too often labeled, excluded, or discarded.Through Philippians 2, 1 Corinthians 12, Luke 4, and the radical mission of Jesus, this message reminds us that the people often treated as weak, unseen, or outside are not optional to the body of Christ. They are indispensable.This is a message about belonging, dignity, justice, and becoming a community that doesn’t just make room for people, but understands we cannot become who Jesus dreamed we would be without them.#HarvestSarasota #HarvestSarasotaPodcast #WhatAreWeBecoming #DanMinor #InclusiveChurch #ProgressiveChristianity #FaithReimagined #Belonging #Dignity #ProximityChangesUs #ChurchForAll #JesusAndJustice #MarginalizedVoices #Indispensable #ImageOfGod #FaithInAction #SpiritualFormation #CommunityCare #HarvestHouse #Sarasota #LoveLikeJesus Support the showHarvest is a fully affirming, inclusive (including the LGBTQ+ community) progressive Christian church located in Sarasota, Florida.Follow us on Social Media:Instagram - Instagram.com/harvestsarasotaFacebook - Facebook.com/harvestsarasotaTikTok CLICK HEREDONATE to support our podcast HERERecorded live at Harvest Church in Sarasota by Michael Thomas Regina and Stephen Lehman of Boardtown Creative

Send us Fan Mail“What if you’ve spent your whole life living inside a biography someone else wrote about you?”In this powerful message, Dr. Jekeyma Robinson asks one of the most honest questions of faith: Who are we becoming when we stop conforming and start being transformed?Drawing from his own story of church hurt, rejection, and finding his way back to his calling as his authentic self, Dr. Robinson challenges the labels we’ve inherited, the identities others have placed on us, and the religious systems that confused sameness with unity.Through the stories of Zacchaeus, the Samaritan woman, Peter, and the radical love of Jesus, this message reminds us that transformation does not begin with conformity. It begins with being seen, loved, and invited closer.This is a message about rewriting the story, dropping the labels, loving better, and becoming people who see others the way Jesus sees them. Support the showHarvest is a fully affirming, inclusive (including the LGBTQ+ community) progressive Christian church located in Sarasota, Florida.Follow us on Social Media:Instagram - Instagram.com/harvestsarasotaFacebook - Facebook.com/harvestsarasotaTikTok CLICK HEREDONATE to support our podcast HERERecorded live at Harvest Church in Sarasota by Michael Thomas Regina and Stephen Lehman of Boardtown Creative

Send us Fan Mail“What if God is not waiting at the end of our deconstruction with a test, but with a lantern?”In this honest and hopeful message, Dan Minor speaks directly to the complicated journey of faith deconstruction, church hurt, and what it means to find something worth keeping in the ruins.Rather than framing deconstruction as destruction or abandonment, Dan invites us to consider a deeper possibility: redemption. Through the stories of Adam and Eve, Jacob, and Jesus cleansing the temple, this message explores how our theology, spirituality, and sacred community can be reimagined through a healthier lens.Not everything from our past needs to be rebuilt. Not everything needs to be thrown away. Some things need to be redeemed.Listen in for a message about shame, pursuit, spiritual searching, religious harm, and the God who meets us in the ruins with light.#HarvestSarasota #HarvestSarasotaPodcast #DanMinor #FaithDeconstruction #Deconstruction #FaithAfterDeconstruction #ChurchHurt #ReligiousTrauma #SpiritualHealing #ProgressiveChristianity #InclusiveChurch #FaithJourney #Redemption #Theology #Spirituality #SacredCommunity #ChurchRenewal #JesusAndJustice #HealingAndHope #GodInTheRuins Support the showHarvest is a fully affirming, inclusive (including the LGBTQ+ community) progressive Christian church located in Sarasota, Florida.Follow us on Social Media:Instagram - Instagram.com/harvestsarasotaFacebook - Facebook.com/harvestsarasotaTikTok CLICK HEREDONATE to support our podcast HERERecorded live at Harvest Church in Sarasota by Michael Thomas Regina and Stephen Lehman of Boardtown Creative

Send us Fan Mail“Humility is not thinking less of yourself. It is moving into what the Spirit is trying to do right now.”In this bold and deeply moving message, Rev. Dr. Erin Edwards brings humor, honesty, and holy fire to a conversation about Pride, humility, justice, and what it really means to follow Jesus.Preaching during Pride Month, Rev. Dr. Edwards challenges the idea that humility means shrinking, hiding, or becoming less than who God created us to be. Instead, she calls us into a deeper kind of courage: knowing we are beloved, walking humbly with God, serving without needing recognition, and becoming a church where healing, restoration, and transformation are actually possible.With stories from her own life, her family, and Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, this message asks a powerful question: What could happen if we were proud of who we are, but humble enough to let God keep changing us?Listen in for a message about belovedness, service, Pride Month, and the kind of humility that can change a church, a community, and a life. Support the showHarvest is a fully affirming, inclusive (including the LGBTQ+ community) progressive Christian church located in Sarasota, Florida.Follow us on Social Media:Instagram - Instagram.com/harvestsarasotaFacebook - Facebook.com/harvestsarasotaTikTok CLICK HEREDONATE to support our podcast HERERecorded live at Harvest Church in Sarasota by Michael Thomas Regina and Stephen Lehman of Boardtown Creative

Send us Fan MailWhat happens when religion stops seeing people as people and starts using them as ammunition?In this sermon, Pastor Dan uses the story of the woman caught in adultery to confront one of the cruelest habits of modern Christianity: turning vulnerable people into talking points, culture-war targets, and proof texts for someone else’s agenda.But Jesus refuses to play that game.When the religious crowd drags a woman into the center to make a point, Jesus sees what they refuse to see: a human being. Not a prop. Not a scandal. Not a sermon illustration. Not ammunition.This message is a call back to the heart of Jesus, a Jesus who stands between the accused and the accusers, between the vulnerable and the stones, between the person being used and the people using them.Because if people cannot find mercy, grace, and hope in our communities, whatever else we are defending, we are not defending it in the way of Jesus.#HarvestSarasota #HumanAmmunition #ProgressiveChristianity #PastorDan #InclusiveChurch #FaithWithoutFear #John8 #JesusAndMercy #PeopleAreNotProps #StopDehumanizingPeople #LGBTQAffirmingChurch #ImmigrantJustice #ReligiousTrauma #FaithAfterHarm #MercyOverMorality #CultureWarChristianity #Deconstruction #Exvangelical #JesusNotEmpire #NoMoreStones #LoveYourNeighbor #ProgressiveFaith Support the showHarvest is a fully affirming, inclusive (including the LGBTQ+ community) progressive Christian church located in Sarasota, Florida.Follow us on Social Media:Instagram - Instagram.com/harvestsarasotaFacebook - Facebook.com/harvestsarasotaTikTok CLICK HEREDONATE to support our podcast HERERecorded live at Harvest Church in Sarasota by Michael Thomas Regina and Stephen Lehman of Boardtown Creative

Send us Fan MailIn this Pentecost Sunday sermon, Pastor Stan Mitchell invites us into one of the most tender and disruptive moments in the resurrection story: Jesus telling Mary Magdalene, “Don’t hold on to me.”For anyone who has ever lost the Jesus they once knew, this message offers a startling word of hope. Maybe losing an old understanding of Christ is not the failure of faith. Maybe it is faith growing up. Maybe Jesus is always lovingly uncurling our fingers from the version of him we have clung to, not because he is leaving us, but because Spirit is leading us into a larger, freer, more inclusive revelation of who Christ is.Pentecost reminds us that Jesus does not ask to be preserved in the past. He keeps returning in new ways, expanding our consciousness, disrupting our certainty, and inviting us to stop clinging so tightly to what we have known, so we can receive what love is revealing next.#HarvestSarasota #PastorStanMitchell #ProgressiveChristianity #Pentecost #Eastertide #Deconstruction #FaithAfterCertainty #StillChristian #StillPentecostal #MaryMagdalene #ResurrectionHope #InclusiveChurch #LGBTQAffirmingChurch #SpiritualReconstruction #TheChristWhoReturns #ProgressiveFaith #FaithJourney #GodCallsYourName Support the showHarvest is a fully affirming, inclusive (including the LGBTQ+ community) progressive Christian church located in Sarasota, Florida.Follow us on Social Media:Instagram - Instagram.com/harvestsarasotaFacebook - Facebook.com/harvestsarasotaTikTok CLICK HEREDONATE to support our podcast HERERecorded live at Harvest Church in Sarasota by Michael Thomas Regina and Stephen Lehman of Boardtown Creative

Send us Fan MailWhat if Jesus was bad at starting a religion because he was never trying to build a machine?In this sermon, Pastor Dan Minor reminds us that Jesus did not come with a five-year plan, a brand strategy, a headquarters, or a hustle-culture blueprint. He came with twelve friends. He came with dinners, stories, weddings, walks, children, bread, wine, and the unhurried work of connection.At Harvest Sarasota, we are not trying to build a church that runs people over in the name of results. We are trying to follow the way of Jesus, where belonging comes before mission, connection comes before service, and people matter more than efficiency.Because things can grow and still be unhealthy. Things can work and still wound people. Things can look impressive and still have nothing to do with Christ.The kingdom of God is not a machine. It is a table. It is a community. It is the slow, sacred work of being with God and with one another.#HarvestSarasota #PastorDanMinor #ProgressiveChristianity #ProgressiveFaith #InclusiveChurch #JesusSavesTheParty #ConnectionBeforeMission #PeopleOverResults #TheWayOfJesus #FaithCommunity #BelongingBeforeBelieving #ChurchIsNotAMachine #EfficiencyIsNotFaithfulness #JesusAndCommunity #TableNotMachine #SlowFaith #SpiritualCommunity #SarasotaChurch Support the showHarvest is a fully affirming, inclusive (including the LGBTQ+ community) progressive Christian church located in Sarasota, Florida.Follow us on Social Media:Instagram - Instagram.com/harvestsarasotaFacebook - Facebook.com/harvestsarasotaTikTok CLICK HEREDONATE to support our podcast HERERecorded live at Harvest Church in Sarasota by Michael Thomas Regina and Stephen Lehman of Boardtown Creative

Send us Fan MailIn this Mother’s Day sermon, Pastor Dan Minor continues the conversation around the 99 and the one, asking what love looks like when it refuses to stay comfortable. With humor, honesty, and a deeply pastoral challenge, this message reframes community as something active: noticing who is missing, moving toward pain, refusing disconnection, and becoming the kind of people who go with Jesus to the margins.Because when Jesus goes searching, love does not just make room. Love makes joy.#PastorDanMinor #HarvestSarasota #SermonPodcast #TheLostSheep #Luke15 #MothersDaySermon #LoveMoves #InclusiveChurch #ProgressiveChristianity #Belonging #FaithInAction #TheMarginsAreHolyGround #CommunityHealing #DisconnectionIsAnIllusion #LovePaysAttention Support the showHarvest is a fully affirming, inclusive (including the LGBTQ+ community) progressive Christian church located in Sarasota, Florida.Follow us on Social Media:Instagram - Instagram.com/harvestsarasotaFacebook - Facebook.com/harvestsarasotaTikTok CLICK HEREDONATE to support our podcast HERERecorded live at Harvest Church in Sarasota by Michael Thomas Regina and Stephen Lehman of Boardtown Creative