Speaking Truth in Love

Pastor Nolan Tjaden · Oct 13, 2025

True Christian community is not merely a place to be known and accepted — it is a place where believers are supported and developed into mature disciples of Jesus. Drawing from Ephesians 4:11–16, Pastor Nolan Tjaden argues that the church's mission is to make more and better disciples, that spiritual maturity is defined by unity, growing knowledge of Jesus, and convictional backbone, and that the power to grow comes through speaking truth in love, making Christ the standard, and staying genuinely connected in community.

Pastor Bill Bush · Jun 12, 2023

Drawing from Proverbs 17:14 and Ephesians 4, Pastor Bill argues that conflict is like water pressure behind a dam: manageable when addressed early, catastrophic when ignored until it bursts. Using the metaphor of a controlled release versus a flood, he lays out six practical principles — say it, say it straight, say it soon, say it all, say it supportively, and say it selflessly — to help people pursue resolution in every relationship before conflict escalates into an all-out fight where people stop attacking the problem and start attacking each other.

Pastor Bill Bush · Sep 9, 2018

Because men and women are wired differently — in how their brains process, multitask, and handle conflict — the real problem in most marriages is not the issue being fought over but the breakdown in communication itself. Drawing on Philippians 2 and the example of Jesus entering our world, the sermon calls every spouse to humbly go into their partner's world, learn how they think and speak, replace anger-and-avoidance fight patterns with patient, grace-filled dialogue, and commit to the long hike of speaking truth in love until genuine understanding is reached.

Pastor Tim Beal · Feb 25, 2018

Using the story of Nathan confronting David in 2 Samuel 11–12, Pastor Tim Beale argues that genuine friendship requires the courage to speak truth into a friend's life — but to do so with humility, a desire for their growth, and a goal of pointing them toward God rather than winning an argument. The same qualities that define a great friend — loyalty, selflessness, and grace-filled honesty — are perfectly embodied in Jesus, the friend who sticks closer than a brother and gave His life to buy our freedom.

Pastor Bill Bush · Feb 15, 2018

True friendship, like the bond forged between soldiers in combat, requires the courage to speak honestly into a friend's life — saying what they need to hear, not merely what they want to hear, and not simply what you want to say. Drawing from the story of Joab confronting David in 2 Samuel 19 and wisdom from Proverbs, the sermon argues that staying silent when a friend needs truth is just as harmful as empty flattery. Real war buddies lean into whichever is harder for them — the honest word or the timely encouragement — because both, spoken at the right moment, can become a defining 'statement piece' in a person's life.