GARDEN CHURCH Podcast

At some point, most of us have asked the question, even if we’ve never said it out loud. Does God actually want me to be happy?In this Advent teaching, Pastor Darren sits with that tension and invites us to slow down and be honest about how we think about joy. Not the kind that depends on things going well, but the kind that can exist even when life feels complicated. He looks at the Christmas story and points out how joy shows up right in the middle of uncertainty, fear, and ordinary people trying to trust God one step at a time.There’s an invitation here to rethink happiness, not as something we chase or manufacture, but as something rooted in who God is and how close He comes to us. Especially in a season where expectations are high and emotions run deep, this conversation helps ground joy in something deeper than circumstances.

In this Advent message, Pastor Bill Dogterom invites us to look beyond a shallow idea of peace and see the deeper work Jesus is doing in us. Peace is not just the absence of conflict. It is the restoration of what has been fractured in our hearts and in our relationships. Bill walks through Isaiah 9 and Ephesians 2 to show how Jesus takes the fragments of our lives and brings them together into something whole.This teaching calls us to receive the peace Jesus offers and to become people who bring that peace into a divided world. As followers of the Prince of Peace, we learn how to step out of hostility, lay aside the need to be right, and join God in his work of reconciliation.

We are beginning a four week series through Advent as we prepare the way for Christmas. Advent is the season where the Church slows down so we can become awake to God’s presence. It teaches us to wait, to notice, and to make room for the God who comes close.In this opening message, Pastor Bill calls us to step out of the rush and become present to what God is doing right now. Advent invites us to breathe, to pay attention, and to trust that God meets us in the real moments of our lives.Pastor Bill reminds us that thanksgiving is more than a reaction. It is a practice that grounds us and becomes the place where hope grows. Through Romans 5 and 1 Thessalonians 5, we see how joy, prayer, and gratitude shape us into people who can carry hope in every season, even in suffering or uncertainty.Advent forms us into people who recognize that God is near in the highs, the lows, and the everyday moments in between.

Pastor Darren teaches from Acts 3 and invites us to recover a simple truth. Healing was never meant to be unusual for the people of Jesus. In the early church it was normal for God to meet people in their pain, restore what was broken and reveal his Kingdom through ordinary disciples who made themselves available.Through the story of the man at the Beautiful Gate and the testimonies coming from our own community, Pastor Darren shows how Jesus continues his ministry through the Church today. This message calls us to lay down a powerless version of faith, raise our expectations and learn to pray with compassion, courage and trust.If you have ever wondered how healing fits into everyday discipleship, this teaching will help you step toward a bigger and more hopeful view of what life with Jesus can look like.

Most of us do not feel rich. We just feel like we never have enough. We live in a culture of Amazon boxes, comparison, and quiet anxiety about money, and it is easy to believe that life really does consist in the abundance of our possessions.In this teaching, Pastor Darren Rouanzoin walks through Acts 4, Luke 12, John the Baptist’s call to repentance, and the story of Zacchaeus to show that Jesus cares deeply about how we relate to our stuff. Not because he wants something from us, but because he wants freedom for us.You will hear real stories from our church family of canceled debts, unexpected cars given away, rent covered, and spontaneous offerings that could only be explained by grace. Then Pastor Darren presses into the deeper question behind all of it: what would Jesus see if he looked at your bank statement, and what would change if he was truly in charge of your finances?This message is for anyone who feels the pull of consumerism, who feels suspicious of the church and money, or who longs to live with open hands but does not know how to start.

When the Holy Spirit takes hold of your life, nothing stays off limits. In this message from our Church on Fire series, Pastor Darren Rouanzoin teaches that when God fills His people with His Spirit, generosity becomes the natural response.This isn’t about guilt or percentages. It’s about surrender. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is forming a people who live with open hands and open hearts. When we give everything to Him, we become a church marked by abundance, grace, and extravagant generosity.Scripture: Acts 2:42–47, Acts 4:32–37, 1 John 3:16–18, Deuteronomy 15:7–11Speaker: Darren RouanzoinSeries: Church on Fire

What does real devotion look like in a world built around comfort and convenience? In this message, Pastor Darren looks at Acts 2:42–47 and shows us a picture of the first church. It was a community of people devoted to Jesus, devoted to one another, and devoted to His mission.So much of faith today can become about consuming spiritual content, showing up to events, or chasing comfort. But the call of Jesus is different. He invites us to be all in. To live in a way that reflects heaven on earth. To be a people shaped by Scripture, filled with the Spirit, and committed to love.This teaching will help you see what the church was meant to be and how to live with wholehearted devotion in an age of consumerism.

The gospel is not an idea or an experience. It is a person. In this message from our Church on Fire series, Pastor Ramin walks through Peter’s first sermon in Acts 2 and shows the full story of Jesus—the King who lived, died, rose again, and now reigns with power and love.If you’ve been trying to carry life on your own, this is an invitation to turn to Him and receive the life only Jesus can give.

The Spirit of God still speaks. In Acts 2, Peter stands and reminds the crowd that God’s promise is for everyone. Sons and daughters. Young and old. Every person filled with the Holy Spirit now carries His voice into the world.In this message, Pastor Darren teaches that prophecy isn’t about performance or hype. It’s about revealing the heart of Jesus. The Church is meant to be a prophetic people who listen to God and speak His words of life, truth, and love.

What does it mean to speak in tongues, and why does it matter for followers of Jesus today? In this message, Pastor Darren teaches from Acts and 1 Corinthians to bring clarity to what the Bible says about this gift.Tongues are a way of praying and praising God through the power of the Holy Spirit. They help us grow in intimacy with God, strengthen our spirit, and build faith in ways our own words cannot. Tongues are not proof of salvation, they are not a requirement to follow Jesus, and they are not something to be afraid of. They are a gift meant to bring us closer to the presence of God and to stir our hearts toward love.This message helps us see that the Spirit still speaks, still fills, and still moves through His people today.