What if your sermon prep — or your spiritual life — isn’t meant to be efficient, but formative?
In this episode, Mike Neglia sits down with Heath Hardesty, Lead Pastor of Valley Community Church in Pleasanton, California, and author of the forthcoming book All Things Together: How Apprenticeship to Jesus Is the Way of Flourishing in a Fragmented World.
Together they explore what it truly means to preach the full counsel of God—not by checking off every verse, but by weaving the whole redemptive story of Scripture: creation, covenant, Christ, and new creation. Heath reflects on ten years of ministry at Valley Community Church, preaching through Acts and preparing for Romans, and how he seeks to unite the Old and New Testaments in every sermon.
The conversation then turns to the practice of Scripture meditation—what it is, what it isn’t, and how it forms both believers and preachers. Heath unpacks the Hebrew word hagah—to “chew” or “gnaw” on the Word—as a vivid picture of feasting on God’s truth until it becomes part of us. He explains why we should read Scripture aloud, how attention shapes the soul, and why delight—not duty—is what keeps us returning to God’s Word.
For preachers, Heath cautions against seeing sermon prep as an efficiency exercise. Instead, meditation is the slow, transformative work that shapes the preacher before the sermon ever shapes the people. As he beautifully puts it: “You can’t microwave an acorn into an oak tree.”
This conversation will refresh anyone feeling hurried, fragmented, or spiritually dry—and rekindle a love for Scripture that is slow, deep, and Christ-centered.
Resources Mentioned:
All Things Together: How apprenticeship to Jesus is the way of flourishing in a fragmented world. (Forward by Jon Tyson) : https://www.heathhardesty.org/
Heath's two earlier Expositors Collective appearances: https://cgnmedia.org/podcast/expositors-collective/episode/beholding-the-glory-of-jesus-with-heath-hardesty
https://cgnmedia.org/podcast/expositors-collective/episode/symphonic-preaching-bad-sermons-consistent-improvement-with-heath-hardesty
About Heath Hardesty
Heath Hardesty serves as Lead Pastor of Valley Community Church in Pleasanton, California, and is the founder of Inklings Coffee & Tea in downtown Pleasanton. He grew up in a blue-collar home and was a plumber’s apprentice in Colorado before becoming a pastor on the edge of Silicon Valley, where he, his wife, and their four children now live.
Heath holds degrees in literature, leadership, biblical studies, and theology from the University of Colorado Boulder and Western Seminary in Portland. His forthcoming book, All Things Together: How Apprenticeship to Jesus Is the Way of Flourishing in a Fragmented World (with a foreword by Jon Tyson), releases October 14, 2025.
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