Vitals | Week 2 | Full Service

The big idea

Spiritual health is formed when we stay, not stray — remaining connected to Jesus instead of drifting away from Him.

Spiritual health isn't produced by giving God one hour a week; it grows when we stay connected to the real Jesus, stay consistent with Him even when it's boring, and stay committed to Him even when it's painful. Jesus, the true vine, tells His followers that apart from Him they can do nothing — but if they remain, they will bear lasting fruit.

Point 1 of 6

Pastor Rocky tells the story of accidentally ending up in a women's restroom at Zoo Lights after following his impatient six-year-old son through an unlined door. He uses it to show that most unhealthy seasons, spiritual or physical, come from straying away from a process rather than a single bad decision.

Point 2 of 6

Walking through the 168 hours in a week, he subtracts sleep, work, and social media until only 39 hours remain, and shows how easily an hour of church a week becomes the whole of a Christian's spiritual investment. He challenges the assumption that one hour on Sunday is enough to be spiritually satisfied.

Point 3 of 6

Working through John 15, Pastor Rocky explains the 'I am' statement as a theological claim tied back to Exodus 3, and shows how Jesus practiced 'messianic replacement,' taking sacred Jewish symbols and identifying Himself as their fulfillment. He connects the warning about fruitless branches to Judas, who looked connected to Jesus but was not.

Point 4 of 6

Using his kids' trip to Build-A-Bear, where they customized a bear piece by piece, he warns that we do the same with Jesus — keeping the parts we like (forgiveness, love) and discarding the parts we don't (repentance, sexual ethics, financial obedience) — and calls this heresy. He says we connect to the real Jesus through prayer and scripture, not a version we've built ourselves.

Point 5 of 6

He recounts a conversation with a black belt martial artist who told him most people quit before they ever earn a white belt, and applies it to spiritual life: a spiritually healthy person is simply someone who stayed consistent. He also shares his own struggle staying consistent at the gym, concluding that we must fall in love with the process of connecting to Jesus, not just the results.

Point 6 of 6

He distinguishes consistency (staying when it's boring) from commitment (staying when it's painful), and tells the deeply personal story of his brother's addiction, imprisonment, and death, and his own prayer that his brother not be released from jail. He describes wrestling with guilt, anxiety, and God's goodness for months afterward, and says he stayed not because of a dramatic breakthrough but because he simply chose not to leave.

Take it into your week

Pastor Rocky's charge is to remain — staying connected, consistent, and committed to Jesus instead of drifting away from Him.