Countryside Church | Sermon Podcast

Most of us walk around with this quiet feeling that we're just... not enough. Not qualified enough. Not put-together enough. Too much baggage. Too many mistakes. And somewhere along the way, we decided that means God probably can't do much with us. But what if that's 100% wrong? This week, Pastor Sam Weitman preaches from Acts 1:6-8, and what he unpacks might stop you in your tracks. Because it turns out — from Abraham to Moses to a young unwed teenager named Mary — God has always had this pattern of choosing the people nobody else would have chosen. And He hasn't changed. This message is for you because more than likely, that thought "God could never use someone like me" has crossed your mind more than once — and more than likely, there's someone in your life you love deeply who doesn't know Jesus yet. And if you're curious about faith but feel like you're on the outside looking in, or you've been following Jesus for years but feel like you're just going through the motions — this message is for you too. Nobody's asking you to have it all figured out. Sam's not going to guilt you into anything. He's just going to tell you the truth — gently, honestly, and in a way that might just change how you see yourself. Come as you are. Seriously. 🤍 Acts 1:6-8 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Is there someone on your heart today who doesn't know Jesus? Pause and pray for them right now — we're believing with you. 🤍

Most of us have a running list of reasons why God wouldn't use us. Not smart enough. Not bold enough. Don't have the right words. Haven't got it all figured out yet. Maybe you're not even sure you believe any of this. And yet… here's what keeps jumping off the page in this week's sermon: God has never once waited for the right person to show up. He just uses whoever's already there. Pastor Sam Weitman is kicking off a brand new 12-week series through the Book of Acts this week, and in just three verses from Acts 1:1-3, one thing becomes really clear: The people who turned the world upside down weren't special. They were scared, ordinary, and honestly pretty unqualified. And God used them anyway. Here's what this message digs into: ›› Why so many of us are living like the resurrection didn't actually happen ›› What it looks like to see the people around you the way God sees them ›› Why your ordinary life might be exactly what God is looking for ›› Why your job isn't to make things happen — just to show up and be obedient ›› How ordinary people, gripped by something bigger than themselves, actually change the world If you've ever wondered whether your life is supposed to mean something more, this message is worth your time. If you've been around church your whole life and somewhere along the way it started feeling a little hollow, this is for you too. Because there's a difference between knowing about the resurrection and actually living like it's true. We think you'll be glad you watched. 🙌 Acts 1:1-3 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up, after He had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom He had chosen. He presented Himself alive to them after His suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. What's one reason you've told yourself God couldn't use you?

He Is Risen — but what does that actually mean for YOU? Whether you are walking in faith or full of doubt — this message is for you. This Easter, Pastor Sam Weitman preaches from John 20 and brings Easter to life in an honest, powerful way. No fluff, no empty religious phrases — just the raw, real story of an empty tomb and why it still matters nearly 1,993 years later. In this message, you'll discover: ✝️ Why the stone was rolled away ✝️Why doubt doesn't disqualify you from faith (the first people at the tomb had the same questions you do!) ✝️Why going to church your whole life doesn't automatically mean you've gotten the point ✝️Why the Easter story is for the hurting, the skeptical, the burned, and the broken — not just the faithful If you've been hurt by the church... this message is especially for you. Jesus gets it more than you know. If you're walking through a hard season... the empty tomb has a word for you too. The cross reveals the compassion of God. The empty tomb reveals the power of God. Together? That's not a victim. That's not a tyrant. That's a Savior. John 20:1-10 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put Him!” So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back to where they were staying. What's one word that describes where you are with Jesus right now — searching, skeptical, hopeful, grateful?

What if Good Friday isn't meant to be rushed? 🕊️ We live in a world that skips straight to Sunday. But what if slowing down and staying in the grief of Friday and Saturday is exactly what your soul needs this Easter season? In this reflective and moving Good Friday service, Care Pastor Bryan Intemann invites us to resist the urge to fast-forward to the resurrection and instead do something countercultural: sit with the cross. Drawing from Isaiah 53:7 and Mark 8:27-29, Bryan asks us to transport ourselves back to that Friday and truly take in what happened — the sights, the sounds, the silence, and the weight of it all. This message centers on two truths Bryan doesn't want us to miss: 🐑 The Silent Savior — In a world that never stops talking, Jesus said almost nothing in his own defense. What does that mean for us? 👑 The Reigning King — He was mocked, beaten, and dismissed. But who did people say He really was — and who do you say He is? Bryan's heart in this service is simple: don't celebrate Sunday on Friday. Let Saturday be Saturday. Let the weight of this moment do what it was meant to do — because the people who stood at that cross didn't get to skip ahead either. Whether you've known Jesus for decades or you're just starting to wonder who He really is, this is a space to slow down, reflect, and encounter the cross honestly. The next chapter is coming. But not yet. Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth. Mark 8:27-29 Jesus and His disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way He asked them, “Who do people say I am?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” He asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.” Additional scriptures referenced: Luke 23 | John 1, 6, 11, 12 | 1 John 4:10 Where are you this Easter — curious, doubting, believing, or somewhere in between?

Have you ever felt like things aren't going the way they were supposed to? 🌱 Life has a way of not matching our expectations — relationships that don't work out, dreams that never happen, a world that feels more broken than hopeful. And maybe you've wondered... if God is real, why does everything feel so uncertain? You're not alone in asking that. But this message isn't just for people who are far from God. It might actually hit harder if you've been in church your whole life. In this message, Pastor Sam Weitman gets honest — about his own heart, his own idols, and the uncomfortable reality that you can spend decades in church, know all the right answers, and still have a heart that looks a lot more like the religious leader in the room than like Jesus. Sam admits it about himself, and it's the kind of honesty that should have a way of making you look in the mirror too. Starting in Luke 13:10-17, we see Jesus stop everything to heal a woman who had been suffering for 18 years — bent over, rejected, and written off by the very people who were supposed to represent God. And the religious leader in the room? He wasn't evil. He was educated, experienced, and devoted. Yet when the miracle happened right in front of him, his heart was cold. He cared more about the rules than the broken woman he'd watched walk in pain for nearly two decades. It's an uncomfortable picture. Because most of us have more in common with him than we'd like to admit. Then in Luke 13:18-21, Jesus tells two small but stunning parables — a mustard seed and a bit of yeast — and makes a promise that's just as real today as it was then: God's kingdom is slow, but it is unstoppable. In this sermon, you'll be challenged and encouraged by: ◦ How the Word of God exposes what's really in our hearts — and why that's good news ◦ Why real transformation looks more like slow-smoked BBQ than a microwave meal ◦ What to do when life hasn't gone the way you planned, and hope feels hard to hold onto ◦ The sneaky ways longtime believers lose their kingdom imagination — and how to get it back ◦ What it looks like to stop circling the wagons and start dreaming big again Whether you've followed Jesus for decades or you've never stepped foot in a church, there's something in this message for you. Because the kingdom of God isn't just for the put-together people — it's for the bent-over ones, the overlooked ones, the ones who aren't sure what they believe yet, and honestly? The ones who think they have it all figured out. The dream isn't dead. In fact, it's just getting started. 🕊️ Luke 13:10-21 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.” The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?” When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing. Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.” Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.” Here's a question worth sitting with: Is your heart keeping up with the kingdom? Take some time to pray and see what God stirs in your heart.