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STUDIO

by STUDIO

Christianity Spirituality

Season 5

You've Mourned Long Enough

This week at STUDIO, we welcomed back Nate Edwardson, from The Stirring in Redding, California. He took us into 1 Samuel 16, where God chooses David to be the next king of Israel. At the heart of this story lies a profound truth: before God anoints a new generation, He first heals the spiritual fathers and mothers who will pour into them. The prophet Samuel is stuck in mourning over Saul's failure, unable to move forward until God speaks these transformative words: 'You've mourned long enough.” This passage challenges us to examine whether we're allowing past disappointments to define our future. Nate’s talk reminds us that we cannot anoint what God is doing next while we're still standing over yesterday's graves. God is raising up a generation of people after His own heart, but He needs healed, whole, and oil-filled leaders to recognize and release them. The call is clear: it's time to leave the cave of disappointment, become renewed in His Spirit, and position ourselves to see those who God has already prepared in the next generation. For more info, you can go to our website, check us out on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube. If you would like to support STUDIO financially, you can do so here. Have a great week!

The Three Dimensions of Favor

This past Sunday we continued our conversation on favor and looked at one of the most fascinating verses in the life of Jesus: "And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man." (Luke 2:52) For years I've read that verse and wondered: How does Jesus grow in favor with God if He is already fully loved by the Father? What emerged was a framework that has helped me think about favor in a deeper way. Covenant Favor reminds us who we are to God. We are loved, wanted, welcomed, and accepted. This favor is rooted in God's nature, not our performance. Formational Favor asks what God is doing in us. Throughout Scripture, favor often leads people into seasons of formation. Joseph, David, Moses, Mary, and even Jesus all experienced this reality. Favor didn't remove the process—it worked through it. Entrusted Favor asks what God is inviting us to carry. As we grow in wisdom, maturity, humility, and faithfulness, God entrusts us with greater responsibility, influence, and opportunity. The challenge is that many of us collapse all favor into one category. We assume bigger platforms, greater influence, or more visible success means more favor. But Scripture paints a different picture. The favor of God begins with belonging and often matures into entrustment. My prayer for all of us this week is that we would stay rooted in covenant favor—God's love and delight toward us—while remaining open to the formation and entrustment He has for our lives. For more info, you can go to our website, check us out on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube. If you would like to support STUDIO financially, you can do so here. Have a great week!

The Myth of Favor

This past Sunday we talked about Favor — and how many of us have misunderstood it. We often think favor means success, open doors, influence, or easy circumstances. But Psalm 30:5 reveals something much deeper: favor is first about God’s posture toward us. His face turned toward us with delight, nearness, goodwill, and love. One of the most important ideas from the talk was this: pain can coexist with favor. David says, “weeping may endure for the night…” meaning hardship does not mean God has withdrawn His favor. Favor is not merely about outcomes — it’s about living aware that God is for you, with you, and near you. When we become secure in God’s favor, fear loosens its grip, striving begins to fade, and we stop living like abandoned people. My prayer this week is simple: that you would truly believe God’s face is turned toward you and he delights in you. For more info, you can go to our website, check us out on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube. If you would like to support STUDIO financially, you can do so here. Have a great week!

What My Mom Taught Me

This past Sunday Eric shared a personal message about four things his mom taught him over the course of her life. Four years after her passing, her life still continues to shape his in profound ways. • Create Space for Becoming — She created environments where people could discover who God made them to be instead of pressuring them to become something else. • Always Worship — Worship wasn’t just a Sunday activity to her; it was a lifestyle of continually turning her attention toward God and relinquishing control. • Be Stealthy in Prayer & Generosity — She prayed with joy, gave quietly, and impacted countless people without needing recognition. • Trust in God — At the center of her life was a deep trust in God. It shaped the way she prayed, loved, worshipped, and lived. Our prayer is that we would become people marked by worship, joy, generosity, and trust in God. For more info, you can go to our website, check us out on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube. If you would like to support STUDIO financially, you can do so here. Have a great week!

The "Y" In The Wilderness

This Sunday’s message, “The Y in the Wilderness,” reminded us that wilderness seasons often bring us to a fork in the road—a choice between striving in our own strength or trusting in God’s promise. Through the story in Galatians 4, we saw the contrast between Hagar, representing performance and self-reliance, and Sarah, representing grace and the fulfillment of God’s promises. So often, we feel pressure to earn what only God can give, but His promises were never dependent on our performance. Even in seasons that feel barren, empty, or delayed, God is still at work beneath the surface, bringing life in ways we cannot yet see. The challenge for us is personal: will we trust what we can control, or surrender to what only God can do? As we move forward, may we choose the path of promise—letting go of striving and walking in the freedom of His love, even when it requires trust in the unknown. For more info, you can go to our website, check us out on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube. If you would like to support STUDIO financially, you can do so here. Have a great week!

Why STUDIO

Over the past several weeks, we’ve been walking through Why Church? Why Gather?—and this Sunday we turned the corner and asked a more personal question: Why Studio? We didn’t start Studio because the world needed another church. We started it because we believed something essential was missing—that faith and life were never meant to be separated. Studio is a place where God and people meet, where we don’t just learn about Him, but encounter Him together. It’s a space where faith becomes seamless—where your work, your creativity, your relationships, and your city all matter to God. We’re not trying to escape the world… we’re learning how to engage it and participate in its renewal. At the heart of Studio is a vision to form a people—not just gather a crowd. A people who are alive in God, devoted to Jesus, and curious in their pursuit of Him. A people who carry both conviction and empathy—deeply rooted in holiness, while fully present with humanity. This is who we are. And the invitation is simple: not just to attend, but to belong, to become, and to help build a home where heaven and earth meet. For more info, you can go to our website, check us out on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube. If you would like to support STUDIO financially, you can do so here. Have a great week!

Why Do You Look for The Living Among The Dead?

This week we stepped into the resurrection story in Luke 24 and heard the question that still echoes today: “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” From the very beginning, God’s heart has always been about relationship. In the Garden, He walked with humanity—close, present, near. Sin didn’t just make us guilty, it created distance. But the entire story of Scripture is God relentlessly moving toward His people, refusing to give up on relationship, making a way for restoration. The cross deals with sin—but it was never the end goal. The resurrection reveals what God was after all along: life with Him again. If we reduce the gospel to sins forgiven, we stop at the doorway. But the invitation is deeper—into communion, into nearness, into relationship restored. From the Garden to the empty tomb to the Spirit within us, the story has always been this: God didn’t just want to forgive you—He wanted you back. For more info, you can go to our website, check us out on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube. If you would like to support STUDIO financially, you can do so here. Have a great week and Happy Easter!

Created to Gather

We are on a journey of rediscovering our why: Why Church, Why Gather, Why Studio. As Simon Sinek says, “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe.” We are continuing to dig into Why We Gather because, at a basic level, gathering is a core value and priority for a disciple and follower of Christ, as well as a pathway to life and experiencing God. We weren’t created to do life alone - we were created to gather. If we don’t understand why, we won’t value what. In a world where we have more ways to connect than ever before, many are still experiencing deep loneliness and disconnection. It’s not just a social issue, it’s a human one. We are wired for love, belonging, and connection with God and with one another. But it’s not just about showing up, it’s about how we show up. Because community doesn’t just happen, it’s something we build together. And this is the kind of community we are becoming: a place where people are seen, valued, and connected. For more info, you can go to our website, check us out on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube. If you would like to support STUDIO financially, you can do so here. Have a great week!

Seeing The Face of God in The Bible

This past Sunday we were privileged to hear from Jeremy Gagnon, as he shared his passion for the bible and provoked us to dig into Seeing the Face of God as we read The Word. The Scriptures aren’t just information, but they’re meant to transform us. Often, we come to the Bible with our modern lens, which can be like trying to “bring an iPhone into the Middle Ages.” Instead of letting the text speak, we unintentionally reshape it to fit how we understand the world today. Jeremy challenged us to see the Bible as art - intentional, layered, and deeply connected. God has so much depth and we can find this more and more as we read the bible. And as we slow down, ask better questions, and stay curious… we begin to see something deeper: Our heart is to be a people who know how to bible, encounter God as we read, and to anchor our lives in His truth. This week, take your time in Scripture. Be curious. Ask questions. Pay attention. Be shaped by the living word of God. For more info, you can go to our website, check us out on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube. If you would like to support STUDIO financially, you can do so here. Have a great week!

Coming Together with Intention

As we continued week five of our "Why Church" series, we explored some challenging yet transformative truths about gathering as the body of Christ. This sermon explored the biblical and historical foundations for why we gather on Sundays and how our approach to gathering has shifted from the early church to today. We examined the difference between attending out of obligation versus gathering because Christ is risen, and how the modern era has moved us toward individualized faith rather than embodied community. The implications for our spiritual life are profound—when we understand that following Jesus means constantly pushing past boundaries rather than arriving at a destination, and when we come together with intentional hearts prepared to meet with God and each other, we resist the cultural pull toward isolation and step into the design Jesus intended for His people. As we move forward, I want to encourage you to take one practical step in the weeks to come: before you gather—whether on Sunday, in a home group, or in daily community—take 20 seconds to prepare your heart. Examine what needs to be made right, forgive where needed, and come with intention to meet with God and His people. Remember, this is an invitation to follow Jesus more deeply, not an obligation to fulfill. Let's continue to build a culture marked by humility, quick forgiveness, and reverence for the presence of Jesus among us. For more info, you can go to our website, check us out on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube. If you would like to support STUDIO financially, you can do so here. Have a great week!

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