Messages of the Orchard Church Doug Ellis

When we raise children, we are doing our best to help them become a cooperative and productive member of society, and to interact with our society in such a way that they remain healthy. To raise a child requires more than instruction, for they also need sufficient experience and mentoring to help them live out those instructions.

When it comes to spiritual teachings, however, it seems that we may be satisfied with simply telling stories from the Bible of how God interacted with a people thousands of years ago. If God becomes only a story, then we'll forget him just like Israel did after the entered the Promised Land. So, we need to pursue engaging with God afresh in our current generation, so that we experience our own stories.


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When a person is going through a crisis or stressful situation, it can cause them to become isolated and face the situation alone. Recovery will always begin with looking to God for help, just like Psalm 121 suggests, but God uses a variety of people to help a person get from bad to better.

Will God use you? Even if you aren't naturally the kind of person who can be a comforter, an encourager, a guide, or a motivator, God can turn a weak person into an effective person. You may become the person your friend needs to get better.

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The topic of God and Suffering is vast, and I could never hope to address all the questions and the philosophical points that surround it. Countless are the books, sermons, and seminars.

This message is focused on stress in the midst of suffering, and in particular two words that highlight an attitude God desires His people to discover in these times: perseverance and hope. It isn't easy to turn our attention away from the pain and toward hope, but it is possible. And as you are able, eventually, you will find peace in the midst of the pain.


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There is a shadowy closet that most of us have in our lives. Few know about this closet, because we would feel shame if people discovered it in our lives. Perhaps it is gambling, or compulsive shopping, or pornography, or procrastination, or over-eating, or gaming, or endless social-media. We can't or don't want to stop, and we keep doing it over and over.

These are called behavioral addictions, and though they may not feel as destructive as drug or alcohol addictions, they fill us with stress and do spiritual damage. The good news is that as a Christian, we have power to overcome these cycles of addiction.


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America is wealthy, and the greed and stress that wealth produces is so infectious that it's hard for any of us to escape, even Christians. In this message, we're exploring the condition of the heart that gives rise to greed, coveting, and the love of money. This is bad stress, because it doesn't help us change or improve. And, we'll look at wisdom from the Bible to help us heal from these stressors, and overcome this condition.

As you follow Jesus, you'll discover that rather than being stressed about not having more and more, you'll became stressed that others don't have enough.

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Controversy is a passionate battle between two opposing views, with each side typically unwilling to entertain the other's arguments. The controversy that we mostly encounter in America is stressful, producing quarreling and few solutions. You may see slander, shouting, rage, propaganda, divisiveness, and sometimes violence. It's like an emotion-filled argument where both sides just shout at one another.

There are some very real and important issues that we all face, but there are better ways to approach solutions that are consistent with the mandate of love that God has entrusted to Christians.

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