Verve City Church: Weekly Messages

Some roads you never choose: pain, loss, betrayal. But you still find yourself walking them. Jesus did too. We’re talking about how His journey to the cross meets us in our worst moments and gives us something better than just survival; it gives us a way forward.

Buckle up for a summer series through four powerful stories in Scripture! From compassion on the Road to Jericho, to resilience on the Road to Calvary, discovery on the Road to Emmaus, and transformation on the Road to Damascus, these journeys remind us what it means to follow Jesus. Each week, we’ll journey through core elements of discipleship: spending time with Jesus, learning from Him, and becoming more like Him.For the first week of our series, we'll dive into a story that shows that knowing the right thing and doing the right thing are two different things. The story of the ambushed traveler rescued by a good Samaritan on the Road to Jericho reminds us that love is inconvenient, and offers a great road map for how the way of Jesus is radically counter-cultural. 

Josiah stepped into a world already on fire. The temple was in ruins, the Scriptures were forgotten, and the people had traded purpose for idols. He could’ve coasted. He could’ve inherited the throne, played it safe, and passed the blame. But something inside him broke when he heard the words of the forgotten Scriptures. Josiah shows us what it looks like when someone refuses to be shaped by the past and decides to rewrite the future. He was young, bold, and unshakable. Perhaps the most radical thing he did was believe that change was still possible. 

In the midst of global turmoil, what does it mean to follow the way of Jesus? It's not enough to just love peace – we’re called to make it by committing our allegiance to a kingdom that transcends every border. As headlines fill with conflict, polarization, and competing narratives, our primary identity is not national or political, it’s spiritual. If you’ve ever felt the tension between faith and patriotism, peace and power, this message is for you. Don’t fit in. Fit out. Be the misfit who heals the world. 

Solomon is like that restaurant every TikTok influencer is raving about in LA. The reviews are glowing, the videos look incredible, the hype is off the charts. But then you go, and the food is overpriced, the service is slow, and you leave wondering what everyone else was so excited about. That’s what reading Solomon’s life feels like. You’re told he’s the wisest man who ever lived, but most of what he does feels more tragic than transcendent. He builds empires, writes poetry, marries hundreds of women, and somehow loses himself in the process. Perhaps the real wisdom in his story is found not in what he did right, but in what he got wrong. If we’re paying attention, we won’t just admire his insight, we’ll learn from his collapse.

David refuses to leave our cultural imagination, not because he was perfect but because he was profoundly human. He was a warrior and a poet, a king and a failure, a man after God’s own heart who sometimes broke God’s heart. His story lives in us. When we root for the underdog, we’re channeling David facing Goliath. When power shifts hands, we see the shadows of Saul and the rise of a shepherd king. And when we fall, when our desires outpace our integrity, we remember what David did to Bathsheba and her husband. We see our triumphs in him, and our darkest moments. Maybe that’s why we keep coming back to his story. Because somehow, in understanding David, we begin to understand ourselves. 

We’re told to follow our hearts, chase our dreams, and write our own story. Self-empowerment is the language of our age. But at what point does that stop being inspiring and start feeling isolating or exhausting? This week, we’re exploring the messages behind hustle culture and radical independence — and why trusting someone wiser than ourselves might not be weakness after all.

In today’s culture, there are all kinds of ways to talk about Jesus: as a life coach, a path to success, a political symbol, or a way to guarantee life after death. But when the focus shifts from Jesus himself to what we can get through him, something subtle but significant changes. This week, we’ll look at four popular versions of Christianity in America and ask a simple but important question: are these still rooted in the way of Jesus? Or have we started to follow something else entirely? 

We live in a time when spirituality, wellness, and self-optimization are increasingly intertwined. Mindfulness, breath work, energy, alignment — these practices and ideas offer people a sense of peace and wholeness. But how do they fit with Jesus? Do they complement his way, conflict with it, or do something else entirely? This week is an invitation to explore how ancient practices and modern wellness trends intersect with Christian spirituality. 

Karma has quietly become one of the most accepted spiritual ideas in the West, even among people who’ve never studied Eastern religions. It’s simple, intuitive, and feels just. But is that what the world is really like? This week, we’ll explore what karma actually teaches, where it resonates with the way of Jesus, and where the two paths begin to diverge.