Antioch Waco

In this powerful testimony message, guest speaker Avaristo Garcia shares his journey from generational addiction and nearly twenty years cycling through juvenile detention, jail and prison in Waco, Texas, to finding freedom, healing and purpose in Jesus Christ. Avaristo shares about growing up watching addiction and absence play out in his own father and brothers, numbing himself to guilt and grief, and accepting incarceration as "normal," before sharing how his life began to change through the steady, patient love of his wife who prayed for him for years, even while he remained distant and resistant to God. His testimony traces his turning point at the altar, a moment of surrender through worship and preaching that led to true transformation, and the restoration that followed as God rebuilt his marriage, restored what addiction and prison had stolen, and gave him back his identity as a husband and father. This message is a powerful reminder of God's redemption, restoration and faithfulness for anyone struggling with addiction, generational cycles, broken relationships or feeling too far gone to change.

Whether you feel confident or unsure about money, your Heavenly Father wants to teach you wisdom in this area, drawn straight from His Word rather than books, family opinions or online advice. From Proverbs, this message highlights that God himself, not a job or the stock market, is our true provider, and that honoring Him with the first fruits of what we earn shapes a heart of gratitude and faith. Jesus does not just want to hand us better financial principles, He wants to meet us personally in this area of life and transform us from the inside out.

A study of Proverbs 6 on diligence vs. laziness (sloth), the sluggard, and biblical wisdom for hard work. This sermon explores the ant as a model of diligence, examines seven diagnostic markers of sloth from Proverbs, and turns to 1 & 2 Thessalonians for three biblical pathways to growth: abiding in Christ, godly community, and God-given assignments. Topics covered: Proverbs 6:6-11, laziness in Scripture, spiritual formation, sanctification, diligence, work ethic, self-examination, and Pauline theology on Christian growth.

In this sermon, Pastor Carl Gulley explores what happens when the fear of the Lord and the love of God are held together, drawing on Isaiah 6, Proverbs 19:23, Psalm 111:10, Psalm 112:1-2, Proverbs 8:13, and Philippians 2:8-11. Using Isaiah's throne room encounter as the central text, Gulley challenges listeners to move beyond two common distortions of God: either treating Him as a distant, wrathful judge or a convenient genie, and calls them into the integrated posture of reverence and friendship that Scripture calls true spiritual freedom. The message is a call to take God seriously, love what He loves, and walk in the wholeness that comes when awe and intimacy meet.

In this Father's Day sermon, Pastor Carl Gully uses the metaphor of natural horsemanship to explore how God pursues relationship with His children through love rather than force. Key themes include God as Father, trust and trauma healing, steadfast love and faithfulness, the character of true authority and the difference between slavery and friendship with God. Drawing from Proverbs 3:3-4, the message teaches that God does not coerce obedience but transforms hearts through patience, gentleness and unconditional love. He covers topics like father wounds, broken models of authority, receiving love after trauma, mental and emotional rewiring and the gospel as the ultimate act of bonded love. This message calls believers to move from performance-based faith to a relationship of oneness with God as a safe and trustworthy Father.

Drawing from Proverbs 24:3-4, Pastor Zach Daniel teaches that the same wisdom, understanding and knowledge God used to create the cosmos is available to every family today, an invitation to bring God to the center of family life. The fear of the Lord becomes the cornerstone that secures a household, marriage is cultivated through both delight and discipline and parents are called to mirror God's love by combining genuine delight with loving correction. God wants to give His church an anointing to restore and strengthen families, bringing redemption into broken histories and wisdom to every season of family life.

In this message from Proverbs 13:20, we are invited to discover what the Bible teaches about choosing good friends and becoming a good friend. Friendship is not passive; it requires intentionality and developed skills. The book of Proverbs offers practical wisdom on how to cultivate godly friendships and become the kind of friend God calls us to be.

In this message from Proverbs, Mick Murray defines the difference between the wise and the fool, noting that it comes down to a posture of listening. Drawing from over a dozen passages in Proverbs, the sermon traces a consistent thread: the wise receive commandments, desire to understand, heed advice and restrain their words, while the foolish talk too much, vent without restraint and dismiss or even reject correction. Wisdom is not merely about having information, but about the skillful application of that information; the fool is simply the absence of wisdom, just as darkness is the absence of light.

Pastor Mick Murray opened our summer series through Proverbs, asking the question, "Where are we spurning wisdom today that might lead to burning the house down in the future?" Drawing from Proverbs 1:1-7, he defined wisdom as hearing God's Word and walking in His ways, a definition that finds its fullest expression in Jesus Christ, whom Paul calls "the wisdom of God." He unpacks what wisdom is, why we need it and how we get it. As followers of Jesus, we are commissioned to bring order out of chaos in our homes, relationships and communities, and walking in God's ways tends to produce righteousness, justice and equity. He also describes how we gain wisdom through three postures: making space to hear God through His Word and Spirit, humbly seeking guidance from trusted people who bear godly fruit and cultivating the fear of the Lord.

Pastor Carl Gulley delivers a Graduation Sunday message rooted in Isaiah 55:11, reminding graduates and the church that while we do not have what it takes in our own strength, the Word of God does. Through stories of his mother faithfully praying Scripture over their family, Jesus using Scripture in the wilderness, and Jason Ramos’ testimony of transformation, Carl called believers to pray God’s Word over their lives, families, struggles, and transitions, trusting that His Word will not return empty but will accomplish His purposes.

Maddie Echols delivered a message rooted in her own profound loss of her son, Houston Blaze, who lived only 30 minutes after being born in October 2024 following a fatal in utero diagnosis. Rather than offering easy comfort, she made the case that Jesus is not a distant God but a Man of Sorrows who enters fully into our pain, and invites us to do the same through the biblical practice of lament.

Pastor Jeremy King revealed that the Armor of God in Ephesians 6 is not just a metaphor but the Father's own armor, the very protection God wore when He fought for His people in Isaiah 59, now given to us as sons and daughters adopted into His family through the blood of Jesus. Yet many believers still struggle to walk in that armor because they are still wearing the armor of their old kingdom, the kingdom of darkness. Using David's refusal of Saul's armor, we must pick up what God has anointed, repent and renounce the old patterns to walk in freedom. Whether addiction, anxiety, generational sin, unforgiveness or shame, it is Christ that has set us free from these things and accomplished what we never could on the cross.

God designed power to flow outward, lifting others rather than securing ourselves. In this message, we redefine power as influence, something every person carries in every relationship, shaping people and environments through words, presence and choices. From the Garden, where humanity was free to help others flourish, to the distortion of power through sin and insecurity, this teaching traces how God’s original design was lost and how it is restored through Christ. In Ephesians 5, we see Paul challenge cultural norms by calling for mutual submission in the home, where husbands love sacrificially, families honor one another and authority is expressed through service. This sermon invites believers to be filled with the Spirit, to use their influence as an act of worship, to steward the spaces God has given them and to pursue forgiveness and reconciliation so that their lives create environments where others can truly flourish.