When Something Stands Between You and God: Reclaiming Clear Vision for Your Family
Family Month 2026

Centerpointe Apostolic Church •
September 28, 2026

6 Minute Read

There is a simple but sobering experiment worth trying. Hold a book directly in front of your face. Nothing about you changes. Nothing about the room changes. But suddenly, your ability to see everything in front of you is gone. Something came between you and your view, and that was enough.

That image captures one of the most quietly dangerous realities in the spiritual life. We do not lose our vision of God all at once. We rarely wake up one morning and decide to walk away from faith, abandon our values, or let our family drift. Instead, it happens gradually, almost imperceptibly, through small compromises, misplaced priorities, and subtle distractions that inch their way between us and the God we love. One quiet decision at a time, our vision becomes blurry.

The First Commandment Is About Position, Not Rank

When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, He said something worth examining very carefully. He did not say, "You shall have no other gods above me." He said, "You shall have no other gods before me." The distinction matters enormously. The issue is not merely about rank or hierarchy. It is about position. Whatever stands in front of God in your life will eventually distort how you see Him.

An idol, in the truest biblical sense, is not limited to a golden statue or an ancient pagan deity. An idol is anything that moves between you and God until it begins to shape how you see Him. It could be a career, a relationship, money, or ambition. It could also be something less obvious: the need for approval, the grip of fear, the bitterness of offense, or the comfort of control. None of these things are inherently evil. The danger comes when a good thing moves into God's place. As the saying goes, a blessing becomes an idol the moment it occupies a position that belongs to God alone.

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 that the enemy's strategy is not to steal your Bible or silence the gospel. His aim is to blind the mind. If he can distort your vision of who God is and what God can do, he does not have to force your decisions. Your distorted vision will make them for you.

A Miracle in Two Stages

In Mark chapter 8, Jesus heals a blind man in an unusual way. Rather than restoring the man's sight instantly, He does it in two stages. The man first says he can see people, but they look like trees walking. Jesus touches him again, and then he sees clearly. This has puzzled many readers over the years. Why would Jesus, who is fully capable of instant healing, work in stages?

The answer becomes clear when you read the surrounding context. In the same chapter, Jesus asks His disciples who people say He is. Peter gives the remarkable answer: "You are the Christ." It is a moment of genuine revelation. But just a few verses later, when Jesus begins to explain that He must suffer, be rejected, and be killed, Peter pulls Him aside and rebukes Him. Jesus responds with a sharp correction: "Get behind me, Satan, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."

Peter did not lose his faith. He lost his clarity. He had received genuine revelation about who Jesus was, but his personal expectations and ambitions had stepped in front of that truth. He wanted a Messiah who fit the version of victory he had imagined. When Jesus did not match that image, Peter tried to reshape Him.

The two-stage healing is not a picture of limited power. It is a picture of the Christian journey. Sanctification is a process. We see in part, we grow, we are corrected, and we see more clearly. The danger comes when we assume that because we have received light in one area, we see everything perfectly. Spiritual maturity is not reaching the place where you have all the answers. It is remaining teachable enough for God to keep correcting your vision.

What You Place Before God, Your Children May Place Beside God

This is where the conversation becomes deeply personal, especially for families. Exodus 20:5-6 speaks of God visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations. The word translated as "iniquity" carries three literal meanings: bent, twisted, and distorted. Idolatry does not just affect the worshiper. It bends the home, twists the priorities, and distorts the lens through which the next generation learns to see the world.

Children are not born believing that success is life's greatest pursuit. They learn it by watching what the adults around them celebrate. They are not born thinking church is optional. They learn that by watching what is made optional. The choices made within a family's sphere of influence have a way of outlasting the people who made them.

But here is the extraordinary hope embedded in that same passage. While the consequences of rebellion may reach three or four generations, God's mercy extends to thousands of those who love Him and keep His commandments. His grace is always longer than the reach of sin.

The Declaration That Changes Everything

In Joshua 24, a 110-year-old man who has fought battles, buried generations, and led a nation to the promised land gathers everyone together for his final message. He does not give a long list of rules. He simply draws a line and makes a declaration: "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

Joshua identifies three categories of gods his people were tempted by: the gods of their ancestors, the gods of their past bondage in Egypt, and the gods of the surrounding culture. The progression is familiar. Inherited idols, personal idols, and cultural idols are still the three great temptations facing every family today.

His message is not complicated. It comes down to one word: choose. Faithfulness is never an accident. It is always a decision.

Your greatest legacy is not what you leave to your children. It is what you leave in them. You can leave them material wealth, but if they never learn how to call on the name of God in a moment of crisis, what was the gain? A heritage of prayer, of worship, of knowing how to seek God in the dark, is worth more than any financial inheritance.

Whatever has been broken in your family line is not the final word. Mercy is longer than your history. And today, you can be the generation that draws the line and says: it stops here.

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From this Author: Centerpointe Apostolic Church
November 11, 2026 • 4 Minute Read
The Weekly - November 11
This Week At Centerpointe 👋 This is your one-stop spot for everything happening at our church. From kids to adults, Connect Groups to special events, here's how you can get connected over the next seven days. Join us tonight at 7pm for Midweek at Centerpointe as Pastor Kevin Allen continues the series, Jesus Is Better. Come early, grab a coffee and join us as we study God’s word together. Sundays are always the best and this week is no exception. Join us this Sunday for Military Appreciation Sunday, anointed worship and the Word. Pastor Kevin Allen will be ministering. Bring your family and friends for a wonderful day in the House of the Lord! Life Class starts at 10:30am & Worship Service starts at 11:30am. If you're unable to attend, service will be available LIVE on YouTube. Last Sunday's Message “What does it take to move from where we are to where God is calling us to be? In Genesis 32, we find Jacob alone in the night, wrestling with a mysterious figure until the breaking of dawn. This ancient story carries a surprisingly modern and deeply personal message for each of us.” Continue reading belowLast Sunday's Message Upcoming Events Semesters Semester 4 began on Sunday, September 27 and will continue through Sunday, November 22.Learn More About Semesters Appreciation Sunday: Military Join us this Sunday, November 15 during the Main worship service as we honor those who have served and are currently serving in any branch of the Military. We are so grateful for the sacrifices made by these service men and women that allow us to experience the freedoms we have today. Best of 2026 Congratulations Centerpointe! You have been recognized as the Best Apostolic Church in Murfreesboro for 2026, based on Google reviews. This distinction reflects a level of excellence that has earned the respect and confidence of everyone that comes through our doors. Let’s keep Being the Church to our City! Christmas at Centerpointe The miracle of Christmas has never changed. This December, we're asking God to help us see it with wonder once again. Throughout this month, we'll intentionally slow down, revisit the story from different perspectives, and allow God to restore our awe at the miracle of the Incarnation. Click for more details about Christmas at Centerpointe. Other events to add to your calendar November 25 - No Midweek Service due to Thanksgiving November 30 - Deck the Halls, Clean the Walls | 6pm Outreach Opportunities Home Bible Study Class | Sunday evenings at 5pm in Room 201 November 22 - Journey Home November 29 - Red Bag Sunday Prayer Opportunities Pre-Service Prayer - Sunday mornings at 11:15 am in Room 101 Ladies' Prayer - Tuesday mornings at 10 am in the Prayer room Men's Prayer - Thursday mornings at 6 am in the Prayer room *For access to the 24 hour prayer room, email info@centerpointetn.com New to Centerpointe? Join First Steps! First Steps was designed to clearly explain who we are and what we value at Centerpointe. Everyone has a First Step - maybe you are new to Centerpointe or you have been a member of the family for some time. This course is designed to help you get plugged in at Centerpointe. First Steps is made up of four steps that equip you to follow Jesus, connect to the church, discover your purpose, and serve others. We invite anyone who has not been through First Steps, whether new or old, to come and learn with us. Justin and Amanda Martin are the First Steps Coordinators. They meet weekly on Sundays at 10:30am. There is no First Steps on 5th Sundays.Join First Steps Stay Connected 📩 Subscribe to The Weekly to get these updates delivered directly to your inbox. 📱 Download The Church Center App and stay connected. 📸 Follow us on , Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. 🎶 Centerpointe Worship playlist on Apple Music & Spotify 💬 Questions? Connect with us here. Services: Sundays at 11:30 am · Wednesdays at 7:00 pm 1800 New Lascassas Pike, Murfreesboro, TN 37130 Church Office: Monday - Thursday, 9 am - 3 pm | 615-893-5906

Centerpointe Apostolic Church

November 10, 2026 • 6 Minute Read
How to Get From Here to There
There is a place called "there." You may not be able to see it from where you are standing right now, but it exists. It is a place of blessing, restoration, peace, and transformation. It is the future God has prepared for you. And the distance between where you are and where God is calling you to be is not measured in miles or months. It is measured in surrender. The ancient story of Jacob in Genesis 32 is one of the most raw and revealing passages in all of Scripture. It is the account of a man who had spent the better part of his life relying on himself, and the night God finally got him alone long enough to change him forever. The Man Who Ran From Himself Jacob was, by his own admission, a complicated man. He had manipulated his hungry brother Esau into trading his birthright for a single bowl of soup. He had dressed in animal skins and walked into his dying father's room to steal a blessing that was not meant for him. He was a schemer. A deceiver. A man who believed that if you were clever enough, you could get whatever you wanted. And for a while, it seemed to work. But the deceiver eventually met his match in Laban, who tricked Jacob into working fourteen years without wages for the woman he loved. What you sow, you will reap. Jacob had spent his life outrunning consequences, but consequences have a way of catching up. By the time we reach Genesis 32, Jacob is on the eve of reuniting with his brother Esau for the first time in twenty years. He is afraid. He is praying. And in a moment of solitude, after sending his family and his possessions across the brook, Jacob is left alone. And it is in that aloneness that everything changes. The Fight He Did Not Start The text says that a man wrestled with Jacob until the breaking of day. What is significant is the way the language is ordered: there wrestled a man with him. Jacob did not start this fight. God came looking for him. And that truth alone should stop you in your tracks, because it means God is in search of you, too. They wrestled through the night, will against will, strength against strength. Jacob was determined. He was relentless. He was the kind of man who did not quit. But as the hours wore on, his strength began to fail. He could not win. And yet he would not let go. "I will not let you go unless you bless me." That sentence is the turning point of the entire story. Not because of Jacob's strength, but because of his desperation. He had finally arrived at a place where he knew, deep in his bones, that what he needed could not be found in himself. No amount of cleverness would get him there. No strategy, no scheme, no human ingenuity. He needed something that could only come from God. The Paradox of Winning by Surrendering The prophet Hosea would later look back on this very moment and describe it in a way that seems almost contradictory. He wrote that Jacob had power over the angel, that he prevailed, and yet in the same breath described him weeping and begging for favor. How does a conqueror cry? How does a winner beg? Because in the kingdom of God, surrender is not defeat. Surrender is victory. Jacob did not win the wrestling match by overpowering his opponent. He won by finally releasing his grip on his own self-sufficiency and clinging instead to the only one who could actually give him what he needed. His strength was not revealed in his ability to muscle through. His strength was revealed in his willingness to let go of himself. This is the lesson that runs through the entire Bible. Jesus himself wrestled with his will in the Garden of Gethsemane, and his victory came not through resistance but through the words, "Not my will, but thine be done." The apostle Paul begged God repeatedly to remove a painful thorn from his life, and the answer he received was not the removal of the circumstance but the revelation that God's grace was sufficient, that the weakness itself was producing something in him that comfort never could. God is far less interested in changing your circumstances than he is in changing you. And the hardest truth to accept is that those two things are deeply connected. So often, the circumstances we are desperate to escape are the very conditions God is using to do his most important work in our hearts. What Is Your Name? Before the blessing came, God asked Jacob a question: "What is your name?" God did not need information. He needed honesty. Wrapped up in that name was Jacob's entire story, his failures, his deceptions, his history of self-reliance. To say his name was to confess who he had been. And when Jacob finally said it, when he stopped hiding behind his cleverness and stood exposed before God, that is when the transformation came. "Your name shall no longer be Jacob. You are Israel." God cannot heal what you keep hiding. He cannot rename what you refuse to acknowledge. The great exchange only happens when you bring him who you actually are, not who you wish you were, and let him replace it with something better. He takes the sin and gives salvation. He takes the shame and gives a new identity. He takes the fear and gives peace. The Way From Here to There If you are sitting in a "here" that you are desperate to leave, the path forward is not more strategy or more effort or more self-improvement. The path is prayer. Real prayer. The kind that wrestles. The kind that refuses to let go. The kind that finally arrives, exhausted and honest, at the feet of God and says, "I cannot do this without you." You came in as Jacob. You can leave as Israel. You came in broken. You can leave blessed. The place called "there" is real, and the road that leads to it runs straight through surrender.

Centerpointe Apostolic Church

November 4, 2026 • 4 Minute Read
The Weekly - November 4
This Week At Centerpointe 👋 This is your one-stop spot for everything happening at our church. From kids to adults, Connect Groups to special events, here's how you can get connected over the next seven days. Join us tonight at 7pm for Midweek at Centerpointe as Pastor Kevin Allen continues the series, Jesus Is Better. Come early, grab a coffee and join us as we study God’s word together. Sundays are always the best and this week is no exception. Join us this Sunday for anointed time of worship and the Word. Bro. Dan MacLeod from Terra Haute, IN will be ministering. Bring your family and friends for a wonderful day in the House of the Lord! Life Class starts at 10:30am & Worship Service starts at 11:30am. If you're unable to attend, service will be available LIVE on YouTube. Last Sunday's Message “There is a moment in every person's life when the road ahead looks impossible. The bridges are burned, the path is unclear, and the weight of past failures has made the future seem like a closed door. If you have ever found yourself in that place, there is a word that cuts through the noise of doubt and discouragement: God is not only able to do what He has always done, He is ready to do what He has never done before.” Continue reading belowLast Sunday's Message Upcoming Events Semesters Semester 4 began on Sunday, September 27 and will continue through Sunday, November 22.Learn More About Semesters Appreciation Sunday: Military Join us on Sunday, November 15 during the Main worship service as we honor those who have served and are currently serving in any branch of the Military. We are so grateful for the sacrifices made by these service men and women that allow us to experience the freedoms we have today. If you would like to be recognized as a Military veteran or honor a fallen soldier during this service, please REGISTER. Today is the deadline to register. Christmas at Centerpointe The miracle of Christmas has never changed. This December, we're asking God to help us see it with wonder once again. Throughout this month, we'll intentionally slow down, revisit the story from different perspectives, and allow God to restore our awe at the miracle of the Incarnation. Click for more details about Christmas at Centerpointe. Other events to add to your calendar November 7 - 24 Hour Prayer Chain | Starts at 6am in the Chapel November 9 - Family Prayer | 7pm in the Sanctuary November 30 - Deck the Halls, Clean the Walls | 6pm Outreach Opportunities Home Bible Study Class | Sunday evenings at 5pm in Room 201 November 22 - Journey Home November 29 - Red Bag Sunday Prayer Opportunities Pre-Service Prayer - Sunday mornings at 11:15 am in Room 101 Ladies' Prayer - Tuesday mornings at 10 am in the Prayer room Men's Prayer - Thursday mornings at 6 am in the Prayer room *For access to the 24 hour prayer room, email info@centerpointetn.com New to Centerpointe? Join First Steps! First Steps was designed to clearly explain who we are and what we value at Centerpointe. Everyone has a First Step - maybe you are new to Centerpointe or you have been a member of the family for some time. This course is designed to help you get plugged in at Centerpointe. First Steps is made up of four steps that equip you to follow Jesus, connect to the church, discover your purpose, and serve others. We invite anyone who has not been through First Steps, whether new or old, to come and learn with us. Justin and Amanda Martin are the First Steps Coordinators. They meet weekly on Sundays at 10:30am. There is no First Steps on 5th Sundays.Join First Steps Stay Connected 📩 Subscribe to The Weekly to get these updates delivered directly to your inbox. 📱 Download The Church Center App and stay connected. 📸 Follow us on , Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. 🎶 Centerpointe Worship playlist on Apple Music & Spotify 💬 Questions? Connect with us here. Services: Sundays at 11:30 am · Wednesdays at 7:00 pm 1800 New Lascassas Pike, Murfreesboro, TN 37130 Church Office: Monday - Thursday, 9 am - 3 pm | 615-893-5906

Centerpointe Apostolic Church

November 2, 2026 • 6 Minute Read
Faith for a New Thing: Why God Is Ready to Move in Your Life Right Now
There is a moment in every person's life when the road ahead looks impossible. The bridges are burned, the path is unclear, and the weight of past failures has made the future seem like a closed door. If you have ever found yourself in that place, there is a word that cuts through the noise of doubt and discouragement: God is not only able to do what He has always done, He is ready to do what He has never done before. That is not a motivational phrase. That is a declaration rooted in the very nature of who God is. The Word That Does Not Fail Before anything else, it is worth establishing the foundation on which this entire conversation rests. The Bible, all 66 books and 31,102 verses, is not a collection of human opinions or cultural wisdom. As described in 2 Timothy 3:16, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for shaping what we believe, correcting what we get wrong, and instructing us in how to live. It is not the word of man. It is the word of God. That distinction matters enormously, because the words of man, no matter how educated or well-intentioned, have limits. Doctors, lawyers, counselors, and social media voices all have something to offer, but none of them can speak to the deepest needs of the human soul. Psalm 107:20 tells us that God sent His word and healed people, delivering them from destruction. That same word is available today. A Leper, a Soldier, and a Plot Twist Two back-to-back stories in Matthew chapter 8 tell us something profound about how God works and how faith can change the equation entirely. The first involves a man with leprosy, a condition that in that era meant total social exclusion and no medical hope. He came to Jesus, worshiped Him, and made his need known plainly. Jesus reached out, touched him, spoke the word, and the man was immediately healed. A pattern was established: come with your need, worship with vulnerability, and Jesus will move. Then comes the second story, and this is where things get remarkable. A Roman centurion, a military man with no religious pedigree, approached Jesus with a request for his servant who was suffering at home. Jesus, following the same pattern He had just demonstrated, was prepared to come and heal the servant directly. But the centurion stopped Him. He said, in essence, You do not need to come. Just speak the word, and my servant will be healed. There was no precedent for that. No scripture the centurion could have pointed to. No story he had witnessed that told him it would work that way. He simply had faith for something new, something that had never been done before in that manner. And Jesus marveled. He said He had not found faith like that anywhere in Israel. The servant was healed that very hour. That is the power of faith for a new thing. Worship That Is Real One of the most striking elements of both stories is the nature of the approach. Neither the leper nor the centurion came with polished religious performance. They came with honest, vulnerable declarations of need. And that is exactly what God is looking for. Authentic worship is not always a carefully scripted prayer or a perfectly worded petition. Sometimes it is simply coming before God without the mask, without the facade, and saying, I have a broken situation and I need Your intervention. God is not looking for perfection. He is looking for a real relationship. The woman at the well in John chapter 4 experienced this firsthand. Jesus was willing to reveal Himself as the Messiah, but first He asked her to be honest about her own life. Vulnerability before God does not disqualify you from His presence. It invites Him in. The Enemy's Strategy and God's Timing There is a reason so many people feel spiritually stuck. The enemy operates in two specific places: the past and the future. He uses the past to replay failures and build hopelessness. He uses the future to create anxiety and paralysis, convincing people that God will move eventually, just not today. Not yet. Wait until the circumstances align. Wait until January. Wait until things settle down. But God operates in the present. Psalm 46:1 describes Him as a very present help in time of trouble. His favorite day is today. If the enemy can convince you that God wants to use you tomorrow, he will keep you from giving God your today. This is not abstract theology. It is a practical battle over your faith, because faith is the mechanism through which God moves in a person's life. Hebrews 11:6 makes it clear: without faith it is impossible to please God. And faith is not simply believing that God exists. Even the demons do that. True faith, the kind that moves heaven, also believes that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him, specifically, personally, and right now. God Can Exceed Himself Perhaps the most breathtaking truth in all of this is that God is not bound by what He has done before. In the Old Testament, He enabled a woman well past childbearing age to have a son. In the New Testament, He caused a virgin to bring forth the Son of God. He exceeded Himself. The Spirit that once came upon men in the Old Testament now dwells within believers. The miracles that could be counted in the Old Testament became so numerous in the New Testament that the Gospel of John says the world itself could not contain the books that would be needed to record them all. God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we can ask or think, as Ephesians 3:20 declares. That promise is not past tense. Your Story Is Not Over If you have placed a period at the end of your story, if you have concluded that healing will not come, that ministry is behind you, that the promise you once believed has expired, consider this: God is the author and finisher of faith. He can replace that period with a comma and begin writing again. The question is not whether He is able. The question is whether you still have faith for a new thing.

Centerpointe Apostolic Church

October 28, 2026 • 3 Minute Read
The Weekly - October 28
This Week At Centerpointe 👋 This is your one-stop spot for everything happening at our church. From kids to adults, Connect Groups to special events, here's how you can get connected over the next seven days. Join us tonight at 7pm for Midweek at Centerpointe as Pastor Jason Saling continues the series, Jesus Is Better. Come early, grab a coffee and join us as we study God’s word together. Sundays are always the best and this week is no exception. Join us this Sunday for anointed worship and the Word. Bro. Taylor Little will be ministering. Bring your family and friends for a wonderful day in the House of the Lord! Life Class starts at 10:30am & Worship Service starts at 11:30am. If you're unable to attend, service will be available LIVE on YouTube. Last Sunday's Message “There is something deep within every human being that longs to be noticed. It does not matter how old you are, where you come from, or what you have accomplished in life. Every person carries within them a quiet, persistent need to know that someone sees them, that their life matters, that they are not invisible in a world crowded with billions of people.” Continue reading belowLast Sunday's Message Upcoming Events Semesters Semester 4 began on Sunday, September 27 and will continue through Sunday, November 22.Learn More About Semesters Appreciation Sunday: Military Join us on Sunday, November 15 during the Main worship service as we honor those who have served and are currently serving in any branch of the Military. We are so grateful for the sacrifices made by these service men and women that allow us to experience the freedoms we have today. If you would like to be recognized as a Military veteran or honor a fallen soldier during this service, please REGISTER. Other events to add to your calendar November 1 - DST, Fall Back November 7 - 24 Hour Prayer Chain, 6am in the Chapel November 9 - Family Prayer at 7pm in the Sanctuary Outreach Opportunities Home Bible Study Class. Sunday evenings, 5pm, Room 201 Prayer Opportunities Pre-Service Prayer - Sunday mornings at 11:15 am in Room 101 Ladies' Prayer - Tuesday mornings at 10 am in the Prayer room Men's Prayer - Thursday mornings at 6 am in the Prayer room *For access to the 24 hour prayer room, email info@centerpointetn.com New to Centerpointe? Join First Steps! First Steps was designed to clearly explain who we are and what we value at Centerpointe. Everyone has a First Step - maybe you are new to Centerpointe or you have been a member of the family for some time. This course is designed to help you get plugged in at Centerpointe. First Steps is made up of four steps that equip you to follow Jesus, connect to the church, discover your purpose, and serve others. We invite anyone who has not been through First Steps, whether new or old, to come and learn with us. Justin and Amanda Martin are the First Steps Coordinators. They meet weekly on Sundays at 10:30am. There is no First Steps on 5th Sundays.Join First Steps Stay Connected 📩 Subscribe to The Weekly to get these updates delivered directly to your inbox. 📱 Download The Church Center App and stay connected. 📸 Follow us on , Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. 🎶 Centerpointe Worship playlist on Apple Music & Spotify 💬 Questions? Connect with us here. Services: Sundays at 11:30 am · Wednesdays at 7:00 pm 1800 New Lascassas Pike, Murfreesboro, TN 37130 Church Office: Monday - Thursday, 9 am - 3 pm | 615-893-5906

Centerpointe Apostolic Church

October 25, 2026 • 6 Minute Read
The God Who Sees You
There is something deep within every human being that longs to be noticed. It does not matter how old you are, where you come from, or what you have accomplished in life. Every person carries within them a quiet, persistent need to know that someone sees them, that their life matters, that they are not invisible in a world crowded with billions of people. We live in the most connected generation in human history. Cell phones, social media, instant messaging, video calls — we have more ways to reach one another than ever before. And yet, somehow, loneliness has never felt more common. People sit in rooms full of others and still feel utterly alone. Conversations happen while eyes drift to screens. Attention has become so scarce that we no longer just give it — we pay it. And that language matters. Paying attention costs something. It requires time, focus, and the willingness to stop what you are doing long enough to truly see the person in front of you. But here is the truth that changes everything: there is a God who sees you. Not a distant, indifferent God. Not a God who glances your way occasionally. A God whose face shines upon you with full, undivided, unrelenting attention. A Name for the God Who Sees In Genesis 16, a woman named Hagar found herself in one of the most desperate moments imaginable. She was an Egyptian servant in the household of Abraham and Sarah, a woman with little control over her own life. Caught in the middle of a family situation she never asked to be part of, she was mistreated by the very people who should have protected her. Pregnant and alone, she fled into the wilderness with no plan, no guarantee of safety, and no idea what came next. If you have ever felt used, overlooked, or abandoned by the people who were supposed to care for you, you understand something of what Hagar carried into that desert. But then something remarkable happened. Scripture says the angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness. Not at an altar. Not in a place of worship. Not somewhere anyone would expect a divine encounter to take place. God found her exactly where she was — broken, frightened, and running. He called her by name. He invited her to be honest about her circumstances. And after that encounter, Hagar did something that has echoed through centuries of faith. She gave God a name. She called Him "El Roi" — the God who sees. "Have I also seen Him who sees me?" she asked. It was the declaration of a woman who entered the wilderness believing she was forgotten and left knowing she was seen. Seen Before You Can See The Gospel of John records the story of a man who had been blind since birth. He had never seen a sunrise, never looked into the face of someone he loved, never experienced the beauty of the world around him. For years he sat at the gate, dependent on the generosity of strangers, so familiar to those who passed by that they barely registered his presence anymore. When Jesus encountered this man, the disciples immediately looked for someone to blame. "Who sinned," they asked, "this man or his parents?" It is a deeply human response. We want a reason. We want a handle to hold onto when life does not make sense. If we can find a justification for someone's suffering, it somehow feels more manageable. But Jesus reframed the entire question. According to John 9:3, the man's blindness was not the result of sin at all, but existed so that the works of God could be revealed in his life. That answer is uncomfortable because it removes the tidy explanation we were looking for. It reminds us that God's purposes are larger than our logic, and that sometimes what looks like abandonment is actually preparation. What stands out most in this story is a simple, stunning detail. The man was blind. He could not see Jesus. But Jesus saw him. Long before this man could turn his eyes toward the Savior, the Savior had already turned His attention toward him. That is the nature of this God. He sees you before you see Him. When You Cannot Find Him There are seasons in life when God feels impossibly distant. You pray and the silence is deafening. You look forward and He is not there. You look backward and cannot perceive Him. You search left and right and find nothing. Job, a righteous man who had done everything right, described exactly this experience in Job 23:8-9. He looked in every direction and could not find God. And then he said something that is worth holding onto for the rest of your life. Job 23:10 begins with three words that shift everything: "But He knows." I cannot find Him, but He knows where I am. My inability to see God does not mean God has lost sight of me. That distinction matters enormously. Feelings are real, but they are not always reliable narrators. When the wilderness feels endless and God feels absent, the truth of Scripture stands unchanged. He knows the way you take. What This Means for How We Live The God who sees individuals also moves with compassion toward crowds. Matthew 9:36 and Matthew 14:14 both describe Jesus looking out at multitudes of people and being moved with compassion. There is something that happens when people gather together with the intention of seeking God. His compassion is drawn toward that. He brings into those moments every resource needed to meet every need present in the room. This is why the people around us matter so deeply. Every person you encounter has a name, a story, a struggle, and a future. Every one of them is someone God sees. The question is whether we will see them too, or whether we will pass by like the crowds who had long since stopped noticing the blind man at the gate. Romans 5:8 makes the stakes of this love unmistakably clear. God demonstrated His love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. He did not wait for us to become worthy of His attention. He did not require us to clean ourselves up before He would look our way. He turned His face toward us at our worst and went to Calvary anyway. You are not invisible. You are not forgotten. You are not too far gone. The God who saw Hagar in the wilderness, who saw the blind man at the gate, who knew Job's location even when Job could not find Him — that same God sees you right now, exactly where you are. The only question remaining is whether you will turn your heart toward the One who has already turned His face toward you.

Centerpointe Apostolic Church

October 21, 2026 • 4 Minute Read
The Weekly - October 21, 2026
This Week At Centerpointe 👋 This is your one-stop spot for everything happening at our church. From kids to adults, Connect Groups to special events, here's how you can get connected over the next seven days. Join us tonight at 7pm for Midweek at Centerpointe as Pastor Kevin Allen continues the new series entitled Jesus Is Better. Come early, grab a coffee and join us as we study God’s word together. Sundays are always the best and this week is no exception. Join us this Sunday for Be the Church Day. It’s also Red Bag Sunday, Family Worship and Pastor Kevin Allen will be ministering. Bring your family and friends for a wonderful day in the House of the Lord! Life Class starts at 10:30am & Worship Service starts at 11:30am. If you're unable to attend, service will be available LIVE on YouTube. Last Sunday's Message “There is a difference between a sip and a river. One sustains you for a moment. The other transforms everything it touches. Too many believers have settled for the sip.” Continue reading belowLast Sunday's Message Upcoming Events Semesters Semester 4 began on Sunday, September 27 and will continue through Sunday, November 22.Learn More About Semesters Be the Church Day We invite you to join us this Sunday, October 25 at 11:30am for Be The Church Day. This is the perfect time for you to invite your family, friends, and co-workers to experience what God is doing at Centerpointe. For more information, clickHERE! Fall Festival The fun continues with our FALL FEST from 5:00-7:00pm! Bring the whole family and enjoy inflatables, face painting, balloon animals, food trucks, games, prizes, and plenty of FUN together. This is one of our favorite events of the year, and we can't wait to celebrate with you. Start thinking now about who you can invite, and make plans to join us for a great day at Centerpointe! Admission is a new or slightly used Adult size coat or a blanket...All to be given to Journey Home. Appreciation Sunday: Military Join us on Sunday, November 15 during the Main worship service as we honor those who have served and are currently serving in any branch of the Military. We are so grateful for the sacrifices made by these service men and women that allow us to experience the freedoms we have today. If you would like to be recognized as a Military veteran or honor a fallen soldier during this service, please REGISTER. Other events to add to your calendar November 1 - DST, Fall Back November 7 - 24 Hour Prayer Chain, 6am in the Chapel November 9 - Family Prayer at 7pm in the Sanctuary Outreach Opportunities October 25 Red Bag Sunday. ClickHEREfor this month’s list. October 25 Journey Home. Sign Up For Journey Home Home Bible Study Class. Sunday evenings, 5pm, Room 201 Prayer Opportunities Pre-Service Prayer - Sunday mornings at 11:15 am in Room 101 Ladies' Prayer - Tuesday mornings at 10 am in the Prayer room Men's Prayer - Thursday mornings at 6 am in the Prayer room *For access to the 24 hour prayer room, email info@centerpointetn.com New to Centerpointe? Join First Steps! First Steps was designed to clearly explain who we are and what we value at Centerpointe. Everyone has a First Step - maybe you are new to Centerpointe or you have been a member of the family for some time. This course is designed to help you get plugged in at Centerpointe. First Steps is made up of four steps that equip you to follow Jesus, connect to the church, discover your purpose, and serve others. We invite anyone who has not been through First Steps, whether new or old, to come and learn with us. Justin and Amanda Martin are the First Steps Coordinators. They meet weekly on Sundays at 10:30am. There is no First Steps on 5th Sundays.Join First Steps Stay Connected 📩 Subscribe to The Weekly to get these updates delivered directly to your inbox. 📱 Download The Church Center App and stay connected. 📸 Follow us on , Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. 🎶 Centerpointe Worship playlist on Apple Music & Spotify 💬 Questions? Connect with us here. Services: Sundays at 11:30 am · Wednesdays at 7:00 pm 1800 New Lascassas Pike, Murfreesboro, TN 37130 Church Office: Monday - Thursday, 9 am - 3 pm | 615-893-5906

Centerpointe Apostolic Church

October 19, 2026 • 6 Minute Read
Living in the Overflow: Moving Beyond Survival Into the Fullness of God's Spirit
There is a difference between a sip and a river. One sustains you for a moment. The other transforms everything it touches. Too many believers have settled for the sip. We drag ourselves into a worship service on Sunday, hoping the music hits right or the message lands with enough force to carry us through the week. By Wednesday, the tank is running low. By Friday, we are back to white-knuckling it through the demands of life. Then Sunday comes again and we repeat the cycle, marching back to the well, drawing just enough to get by, and pouring it out on an altar that never seems to change. This is not the life Jesus promised. The Feast and the Cry To understand the fullness of what Jesus offers, you have to picture the scene in John chapter 7. It was the Feast of Tabernacles, the most joyful and celebrated event on the Jewish calendar. For seven days, Jerusalem overflowed with worshipers who had traveled from across the region. They built temporary shelters from palm branches to remember how God had sustained their ancestors in the wilderness. Every morning of that feast, the high priest would take a golden pitcher, march down to the Pool of Siloam, scoop up water, and process back through the city to pour it on the stone altar before all of Israel. It was a plea for rain, a cry for the latter harvest, a ritual that had been repeated year after year after year. Then came the eighth day. The great day of the feast. The ceremony was over. The golden pitcher was set aside. The crowd stood in silence, wondering whether God had heard their prayers. And right in the middle of that silence, Jesus stood up and cried out. Not whispered. Not suggested. He declared it. John chapter 7, verse 37 records that he invited anyone who was thirsty to come to him and drink, and then in verse 38 he promised that rivers of living water would flow from within those who believed in him. He was not offering a refill of the golden pitcher. He was offering a river. The priest had been pouring water on cold stone for seven days. Jesus was saying that the altar needing refreshment was never the temple stone. It was the human heart. And he had come to pour his Spirit out on every willing heart that would receive him. Pentecost Is a Birthday, Not a Destination There is a meaningful distinction between the Feast of Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles. Pentecost was the celebration of the early wheat harvest, and in the New Testament it marks the birthday of the church. Acts chapter 2 describes the moment the Holy Ghost was poured out, when those gathered in one place heard a sound like a rushing mighty wind, saw what appeared as cloven tongues of fire, and were all filled with the Holy Ghost, speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. It was a glorious and foundational moment. But Pentecost was never meant to be a monument. The Feast of Tabernacles pointed toward something more. It celebrated the final and greatest harvest of the agricultural year, the ingathering of every olive, every grape, every fruit. And it looked forward to the latter rain, the rain that would make the next harvest possible. It pointed toward abundance, completion, and the dwelling of God with his people. When we treat our initial experience with the Holy Ghost as the finish line rather than the starting line, we miss the point entirely. We park at Pentecost when God is calling us toward Tabernacles. We celebrate the birthday of the church while the harvest rots in the field. The River Changes Everything Jesus described the overflow of the Spirit not as a trickle or a puddle, but as rivers of living water. That language is deliberate. Rivers do not sit still. Rivers carve canyons, sustain ecosystems, and draw civilization to their banks. Every major city in human history has been built near a river because rivers bring life wherever they flow. The landscape around a river is never the same as the land far from it. This is the image Jesus used to describe what Spirit-filled believers are meant to be in the world. Not a bucket that holds a limited supply. Not a pitcher that has to be refilled every Sunday. A river. Constant, flowing, life-giving, and impossible to exhaust. Psalm 16:11 tells us that in God's presence there is fullness of joy. Acts 1:8 promises that when the Holy Ghost comes upon a believer, they receive power to be a witness. John 7:38 declares that the overflow reaches outward, touching everyone around it. These are not distant theological concepts. They are the inheritance of every Spirit-filled believer. A Harvest Is Waiting The world around us is not short on problems. Marriages are fracturing. Families are unraveling. People are carrying burdens they were never designed to carry alone. And they are walking right past us every single day, at workplaces and schools and restaurants and neighborhoods, desperate for something real. They are tired of dead religion. They are tired of ceremony and ritual and golden pitchers poured on cold stone. They want to encounter something living. Revelation chapter 12 reminds us that believers overcome the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. The blood was entirely God's work. But the testimony belongs to you. The story of what Jesus has done in your life is a weapon, and silence is surrender. There are people in your community who have never heard that they can have the Holy Ghost. Not that they rejected it, but that no one ever told them it was available to them. They are hungry. The harvest is real. Stop Surviving. Start Overflowing. God never intended for the Holy Ghost to be rationed out in small doses just to keep you functional. He did not save you so you could barely drag yourself across the finish line of heaven. He filled you with the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, and he did it so that rivers, not drops, would flow from your life into the world around you. The question is not whether the river is available. The question is whether you are living in it. Stop praying just to survive the week. Stop marching back to the well for just enough to get by. The overflow belongs to you. Step into the river, and let it change everything around you.

Centerpointe Apostolic Church

October 14, 2026 • 4 Minute Read
The Weekly - October 14, 2026
This Week At Centerpointe 👋 This is your one-stop spot for everything happening at our church. From kids to adults, Connect Groups to special events, here's how you can get connected over the next seven days. Join us tonight at 7pm for Midweek at Centerpointe. Pastor Kevin Allen will begin a new series entitled Jesus Is Better. Come early, grab a coffee and join us as we study God’s word together. Sundays are always the best and this week is no exception. Join us as this Sunday at Centerpointe for Week 3 of Be the Church Month. We have a special surprise for everyone and Bro. Hank Hayes will be ministering. Bring your family and friends for a wonderful day in the House of the Lord! Life Class starts at 10:30am & Worship Service starts at 11:30am. If you're unable to attend, service will be available LIVE on YouTube. Last Sunday's Message “There are moments in life when circumstances seem to scream louder than the promises of God. Seasons when prayers go unanswered in the way we hoped, when the ground beneath us feels like it is eroding, when everything we were trusting for appears to be slipping away. In those moments, a question rises up from the deepest part of us: Is God still in control...” Continue reading belowLast Sunday's Message Upcoming Events Semesters Semester 4 began on Sunday, September 27 and will continue through Sunday, November 22.Learn More About Semesters Be the Church Day We invite you to join us for Be The Church Day at Centerpointe on Sunday, October 25 at 11:30am. This is the perfect time for you to invite your family, friends, and co-workers to experience what God is doing at Centerpointe. For more information, clickHERE! Fall Festival The fun continues with our FALL FEST from 5:00-7:00pm! Bring the whole family and enjoy inflatables, face painting, balloon animals, food trucks, games, prizes, and plenty of FUN together. This is one of our favorite events of the year, and we can't wait to celebrate with you. Start thinking now about who you can invite, and make plans to join us for a great day at Centerpointe! Admission is a new or slightly used Adult size coat or a blanket...All to be given to Journey Home. Appreciation Sunday: Military Join us on Sunday, November 15 during the Main worship service as we honor those who have served and are currently serving in any branch of the Military. We are so grateful for the sacrifices made by these service men and women that allow us to experience the freedoms we have today. If you would like to be recognized as a Military veteran or honor a fallen soldier during this service, please REGISTER. Other events to add to your calendar November 1 - DST, Fall Back November 7 - 24 Hour Prayer Chain, 6am in the Chapel November 9 - Family Prayer at 7pm in the Sanctuary Outreach Opportunities October 25 Red Bag Sunday. ClickHEREfor this month’s list. October 25 Journey Home. Sign Up For Journey Home Home Bible Study Class. Sunday evenings, 5pm, Room 201 Prayer Opportunities Pre-Service Prayer - Sunday mornings at 11:15 am in Room 101 Ladies' Prayer - Tuesday mornings at 10 am in the Prayer room Men's Prayer - Thursday mornings at 6 am in the Prayer room *For access to the 24 hour prayer room, email info@centerpointetn.com New to Centerpointe? Join First Steps! First Steps was designed to clearly explain who we are and what we value at Centerpointe. Everyone has a First Step - maybe you are new to Centerpointe or you have been a member of the family for some time. This course is designed to help you get plugged in at Centerpointe. First Steps is made up of four steps that equip you to follow Jesus, connect to the church, discover your purpose, and serve others. We invite anyone who has not been through First Steps, whether new or old, to come and learn with us. Justin and Amanda Martin are the First Steps Coordinators. They meet weekly on Sundays at 10:30am. There is no First Steps on 5th Sundays.Join First Steps Stay Connected 📩 Subscribe to The Weekly to get these updates delivered directly to your inbox. 📱 Download The Church Center App and stay connected. 📸 Follow us on , Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. 🎶 Centerpointe Worship playlist on Apple Music & Spotify 💬 Questions? Connect with us here. Services: Sundays at 11:30 am · Wednesdays at 7:00 pm 1800 New Lascassas Pike, Murfreesboro, TN 37130 Church Office: Monday - Thursday, 9 am - 3 pm | 615-893-5906

Centerpointe Apostolic Church

October 12, 2026 • 6 Minute Read
Hell Can't Cancel Calvary
There are moments in life when circumstances seem to scream louder than the promises of God. Seasons when prayers go unanswered in the way we hoped, when the ground beneath us feels like it is eroding, when everything we were trusting for appears to be slipping away. In those moments, a question rises up from the deepest part of us: Is God still in control? The answer is an unshakeable, resounding yes. No matter what hell tries to start, it cannot stop God. The promises of God are not dependent upon the cooperation of our circumstances. If He declared something to happen, it is going to happen. Hell cannot cancel Calvary. The Promise Was Never Plan B To understand the power of that statement, we have to go back to the very beginning. In Genesis chapters one and two, God created humanity in His own image and placed them in a garden of perfect fellowship. There was no sin, no shame, no separation. But in Genesis three, the serpent entered the picture and convinced Adam and Eve that what they had was somehow less than what they deserved. Sin entered the world, and with it, death. From a human perspective, everything appeared to be lost. But here is what is remarkable: God was not surprised. He did not wake up scrambling for a backup plan. Before He ever drove Adam and Eve from the garden, He spoke directly to the serpent in Genesis 3:15, declaring that the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent's head. In other words, before the dust had even settled on the first act of human rebellion, God had already announced that the enemy would not have the final word. Calvary was not an emergency response to an unexpected crisis. It was God's eternal plan. As 1 Peter 1:18-20 makes clear, Christ was foreordained as the spotless lamb before the very foundation of the world. The cross was not evidence that God's purpose had failed. It was the ultimate revelation of how far God was willing to go to redeem broken humanity. When Hell Tried to Stop the Promise Throughout history, the enemy launched repeated assaults against God's redemptive promise, and each time he failed. In Exodus 1:15-16, Pharaoh commanded the Hebrew midwives to kill every newborn Israelite son, attempting to extinguish the people through whom God's promise would be fulfilled. But the midwives feared God above Pharaoh, and the very household trying to destroy Israel ended up raising Moses, the man God would use to lead His people out of bondage. God did not panic. He had a plan. Centuries later, a wicked queen named Athaliah attempted to destroy the royal descendants of David by killing her own grandchildren, hoping to seize the throne and sever the lineage through which the Messiah would come. But a young boy named Joash was hidden away in the house of God for six years. When he was brought out and crowned king in 2 Kings 11:12, the royal line was preserved. Athaliah could seize a throne, but she could not cancel a covenant. Then came Herod. When the wise men arrived in Jerusalem asking where the newborn King of the Jews could be found, Herod ordered the slaughter of every male child two years old and under in Bethlehem. But God had already warned Joseph in a dream, recorded in Matthew 2:13, to take the child and flee to Egypt. Jesus was preserved. The promise kept moving forward. Different generations. Different rulers. Different strategies. The same result every single time: God's redemptive purpose continued marching forward because you cannot stop what He has already set in motion. What Looked Like Defeat Was Victory When Jesus stood before Pilate, when Judas had betrayed Him and His disciples had scattered and the crowd that had praised Him days earlier cried out for His crucifixion, everything appeared to be over. From every earthly angle, it looked like the opposition had finally succeeded. But what appeared to be the greatest defeat in human history was actually the greatest victory the world has ever known. Jesus was not dragged helplessly to Calvary. In John 10:17-18, He declared plainly that no one was taking His life from Him. He was laying it down willingly. When soldiers came to arrest Him in the garden and He spoke His name, they fell backward to the ground (John 18:6). He lacked nothing in terms of power. He simply understood the assignment. Colossians 2:14-15 describes what happened at the cross in triumphant language: the handwriting of ordinances against us was blotted out and nailed to His cross, and the principalities and powers were openly defeated. The cross was not merely a place of suffering. It was a place of the most decisive victory ever won. The Promise Is Still Alive On the day of Pentecost, Peter stood before a crowd and preached Christ crucified, buried, and risen. When the people were cut to the heart and asked what they should do, Peter's answer in Acts 2:38 was direct: repent, be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Then he added something that reaches across every generation: this promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all who are far off. That means the promise is still alive today. It has not lost any of its power. It is as active and available now as it was on that day in Jerusalem. If you find yourself weary, if your circumstances seem to contradict everything you have been believing for, if you feel like the enemy has gained the upper hand, hear this clearly: your past does not have the final word over your life. Your failures do not have the final word. Your circumstances do not have the final word. Jesus Christ has the final word. The promise that was announced in a garden, preserved through generations of attack, and fulfilled through death, burial, and resurrection is still marching forward. Numbers 23:19 reminds us that God is not a man that He should lie. When He says something is going to happen, it is going to happen. Stand on the Word. Claim the promises. Worship through the weariness. Hell cannot cancel Calvary.

Centerpointe Apostolic Church

October 5, 2026 • 6 Minute Read
Occupy Until He Comes: Living With Purpose Between Now and Eternity
There is a moment in Luke 19 that is easy to read past without fully absorbing its weight. Jesus is nearing Jerusalem, and the crowd around him is electric with anticipation. They are convinced that the kingdom of God is about to appear immediately. They want Rome overthrown. They want a throne established. They want everything set right, right now. Jesus senses the expectation. And instead of simply riding the wave of enthusiasm, he stops and tells a story. The parable of the ten servants in Luke 19 is not a comfortable story. It is a clarifying one. A nobleman leaves for a far country to receive a kingdom, entrusts his servants with resources, and gives them one command before he departs: occupy until I come. In the New King James rendering, that command becomes even more direct. Do business until I come. Not sit. Not wait. Not simply show up. Do business. The Space Between Departure and Return The setting of that parable is, in many ways, the exact setting in which the church finds itself today. Jesus has come. Calvary has happened. The grave has been defeated. The Holy Spirit has been poured out. And yet he has not returned. We are living in the space between his departure and his return, and the question that every believer must honestly wrestle with is this: what are we supposed to do while we wait? The answer the parable gives is not passive. It is not merely about attendance or preservation. It is about productivity, engagement, and stewardship. The nobleman did not leave his servants empty-handed. He placed something of value in their care and expected a return. God operates the same way. He never gives responsibility without also giving opportunity. He fills his people with his Spirit, as Acts 1 makes clear, not simply so they can speak in tongues in a church building, but so they can be witnesses. The evidence of the Spirit points toward an assignment, not just an experience. What Has Been Placed in Your Hands Every believer has been entrusted with something. The Word of God. A testimony. Time. Influence. Relationships. Gifts and abilities that were woven into the fabric of who you are before you were ever born. The question is not whether God has placed something in your hands. He has. The question is what you are doing with it. This is where the parable becomes uncomfortably personal. One of the servants in the story did not lose what he was given. He did not squander it or spend it recklessly. He wrapped it in a cloth and kept it safe, reasoning that his master was a hard man and he was afraid of failing. When the nobleman returned and called for an accounting, this servant presented the original amount, unchanged, untouched, and unproductive. The master's response was not relief. It was rebuke. Preservation is not the whole assignment. The truth was not handed down through generations so that it could be carefully wrapped and stored away. It was given to be spread. The Holy Spirit was not poured out so that believers could feel something extraordinary on Sunday mornings and then return to ordinary, self-focused weeks. It was given so that ordinary people could carry an extraordinary message into a world that desperately needs it. Fear Is a Terrible Steward The servant who buried his talent named his reason plainly. He was afraid. And fear, while understandable, is a devastating steward of kingdom resources. Fear buries gifts. It silences testimony. It keeps people from stepping into ministry, from reaching out to a neighbor, from sharing what God has done in their own life. The world around us is not always friendly territory. Luke 19:14 makes that plain as well. The citizens of the nobleman's story sent word after him saying they would not have him reign over them. Hostility is not a new development. But the parable is equally clear that hostility never canceled the assignment. Resistance does not excuse inactivity. Rejection does not release anyone from responsibility. Jesus declared in Matthew 16:18 that the gates of hell shall not prevail against his church. In the ancient world, the gates of a city were where legal decrees were posted, where the business of governance was conducted. The declaration of Jesus is that whatever hell announces, whatever the enemy declares, it cannot stand against the forward movement of the kingdom. The church was never pictured as hiding behind locked doors waiting for things to get easier. It was commissioned, empowered, and sent. A Return and an Accounting The nobleman in the parable does come back. And when he does, he calls his servants to account. Not to punish them for the difficulty of the work. Not to dismiss the challenges they faced. But to ask the only question that ultimately matters: what did you do with what I gave you? The servants who had increased what they were entrusted with were not celebrated because they had matched each other. The one who gained five was not measured against the one who gained ten. Each was evaluated on the basis of his own stewardship, his own faithfulness, his own willingness to engage the assignment. This matters because the comparison trap is real. It is easy to look at someone else's platform, someone else's gifts, someone else's opportunities, and conclude that your own contribution is too small to count. But God is not grading on that curve. He knows what he placed in your hands. He is asking what you did with it. The Assignment Is Not Over The king has not yet returned. And as long as that is true, the assignment remains in force. There is still time to step into what God has called you to do. There is still time to tell your testimony, to pray with someone, to reach outside the comfortable circle of people who already share your faith. There is still time to ask God not what else he might give you, but what he wants you to do with what he has already given. The parable ends with a return. It always does. And when the king comes back, he will be looking for people who were found working, not waiting. Occupying, not hiding. Doing business on behalf of the kingdom, not simply preserving a comfortable seat inside it. The question worth sitting with today is a simple one. What are you doing with what God has placed in your hands?

Centerpointe Apostolic Church

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September 28, 2026 • 6 Minute Read
When Something Stands Between You and God: Reclaiming Clear Vision for Your Family
There is a simple but sobering experiment worth trying. Hold a book directly in front of your face. Nothing about you changes. Nothing about the room changes. But suddenly, your ability to see everything in front of you is gone. Something came between you and your view, and that was enough. That image captures one of the most quietly dangerous realities in the spiritual life. We do not lose our vision of God all at once. We rarely wake up one morning and decide to walk away from faith, abandon our values, or let our family drift. Instead, it happens gradually, almost imperceptibly, through small compromises, misplaced priorities, and subtle distractions that inch their way between us and the God we love. One quiet decision at a time, our vision becomes blurry. The First Commandment Is About Position, Not Rank When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, He said something worth examining very carefully. He did not say, "You shall have no other gods above me." He said, "You shall have no other gods before me." The distinction matters enormously. The issue is not merely about rank or hierarchy. It is about position. Whatever stands in front of God in your life will eventually distort how you see Him. An idol, in the truest biblical sense, is not limited to a golden statue or an ancient pagan deity. An idol is anything that moves between you and God until it begins to shape how you see Him. It could be a career, a relationship, money, or ambition. It could also be something less obvious: the need for approval, the grip of fear, the bitterness of offense, or the comfort of control. None of these things are inherently evil. The danger comes when a good thing moves into God's place. As the saying goes, a blessing becomes an idol the moment it occupies a position that belongs to God alone. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 that the enemy's strategy is not to steal your Bible or silence the gospel. His aim is to blind the mind. If he can distort your vision of who God is and what God can do, he does not have to force your decisions. Your distorted vision will make them for you. A Miracle in Two Stages In Mark chapter 8, Jesus heals a blind man in an unusual way. Rather than restoring the man's sight instantly, He does it in two stages. The man first says he can see people, but they look like trees walking. Jesus touches him again, and then he sees clearly. This has puzzled many readers over the years. Why would Jesus, who is fully capable of instant healing, work in stages? The answer becomes clear when you read the surrounding context. In the same chapter, Jesus asks His disciples who people say He is. Peter gives the remarkable answer: "You are the Christ." It is a moment of genuine revelation. But just a few verses later, when Jesus begins to explain that He must suffer, be rejected, and be killed, Peter pulls Him aside and rebukes Him. Jesus responds with a sharp correction: "Get behind me, Satan, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men." Peter did not lose his faith. He lost his clarity. He had received genuine revelation about who Jesus was, but his personal expectations and ambitions had stepped in front of that truth. He wanted a Messiah who fit the version of victory he had imagined. When Jesus did not match that image, Peter tried to reshape Him. The two-stage healing is not a picture of limited power. It is a picture of the Christian journey. Sanctification is a process. We see in part, we grow, we are corrected, and we see more clearly. The danger comes when we assume that because we have received light in one area, we see everything perfectly. Spiritual maturity is not reaching the place where you have all the answers. It is remaining teachable enough for God to keep correcting your vision. What You Place Before God, Your Children May Place Beside God This is where the conversation becomes deeply personal, especially for families. Exodus 20:5-6 speaks of God visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations. The word translated as "iniquity" carries three literal meanings: bent, twisted, and distorted. Idolatry does not just affect the worshiper. It bends the home, twists the priorities, and distorts the lens through which the next generation learns to see the world. Children are not born believing that success is life's greatest pursuit. They learn it by watching what the adults around them celebrate. They are not born thinking church is optional. They learn that by watching what is made optional. The choices made within a family's sphere of influence have a way of outlasting the people who made them. But here is the extraordinary hope embedded in that same passage. While the consequences of rebellion may reach three or four generations, God's mercy extends to thousands of those who love Him and keep His commandments. His grace is always longer than the reach of sin. The Declaration That Changes Everything In Joshua 24, a 110-year-old man who has fought battles, buried generations, and led a nation to the promised land gathers everyone together for his final message. He does not give a long list of rules. He simply draws a line and makes a declaration: "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua identifies three categories of gods his people were tempted by: the gods of their ancestors, the gods of their past bondage in Egypt, and the gods of the surrounding culture. The progression is familiar. Inherited idols, personal idols, and cultural idols are still the three great temptations facing every family today. His message is not complicated. It comes down to one word: choose. Faithfulness is never an accident. It is always a decision. Your greatest legacy is not what you leave to your children. It is what you leave in them. You can leave them material wealth, but if they never learn how to call on the name of God in a moment of crisis, what was the gain? A heritage of prayer, of worship, of knowing how to seek God in the dark, is worth more than any financial inheritance. Whatever has been broken in your family line is not the final word. Mercy is longer than your history. And today, you can be the generation that draws the line and says: it stops here.

Centerpointe Apostolic Church