The Weekly Word from Burns

When You're in the Oil Press: Lessons from Gethsemane

As we begin our Lenten journey toward the cross, we start in a place of profound heaviness and ultimate surrender: the Garden of Gethsemane. But Gethsemane wasn't just a random grove of trees. It is a deeply significant biblical landmark—the exact mountain where King David wept, where Ezekiel watched God’s glory depart, and where Jesus passed the ultimate test that Adam and Eve ...

Over the next six weeks, we’ll be tracing the steps of Jesus all the way from His agonizing prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane to His final moments on the cross.

But before we take that journey, we have to prepare. In this episode, we dive into the intense, 40-day baptism preparations of the early church, explore the true purpose of fasting, and discover how staring at the reality of our own mortality (Memento Mori) might just be ...

Jesus says His sheep know His voice—so why is it so hard for us to hear Him?

This week, we look at the difference between the Good Shepherd and the imposters (the thief and the hireling). Plus, an experiment and a lesson on "body language" from our sign language interpreter.

In this episode:

• The "Blindfold Test" (Live Sermon Illustration)

• The difference between the Shepherd’s voice and the Robber’s voice.

• How to "hear" Je...

Is God’s will a specific dot you have to hit, or a circle you get to live in? Many of us live with a functional theology that God is a micromanager, obsessing over our non-moral choices. But a closer look at Scripture—from the Garden of Eden to the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15—reveals a God who values our freedom and maturity.

This week, we unpack the distinction between God's Moral Will (His commands) and His Permissive Will (o...

If the Devil is the "Father of Lies," then discernment is the Christian's most essential survival skill. But how do you hone it?

In this episode, we move beyond the "don't lie" Sunday School lesson and tackle the harder question: How do we keep from getting duped? Whether you’re evaluating a preacher, a podcast host, or a political candidate, these 10 biblical markers provide a roadmap for finding the truth:

• The Ripple Test: ...

Not everything is as it seems. Whether it’s a $27.50 Magna Carta that turned out to be priceless or a "trustworthy" person who turns out to be false, we are facing a crisis of discernment. Gullibility isn't a spiritual gift. Discernment is! So how do we move beyond naivety and learn to see things as they really are?

This sermon looks at...

• The Harvard Mistake: Why even experts struggle to distinguish the real from the fake.

• ...

Is the picture I'm looking at real or was it generated by AI?

Is this relationship real or is it just superficial and convenient?

Is this leader really looking out for our best interest or is he just charismatic and engaging?

Is my faith real and genuine or is it my parent's faith?

Is this idea really true - or does it just have a veneer of truth?

Those are the questions we're looking at in 2026. The world is facing a crisis of dis...

It feels like we just started 2025, yet here we are at the finish line. Why do we treat life like a test we can cram for the night before? In this final sermon of the year, we explore the danger of "cramming" for spiritual growth and the alternative Jesus offers: the quiet power of "little by little." If you are feeling pressure to make massive changes for the New Year, this message on the miracle of compound faithfulness is for yo...

Plato once said that if you want to change the laws of a state, you first change its music. Every December, our culture instinctively changes its playlist. From Mariah Carey to Bing Crosby, we fill the airwaves with songs that—whether they realize it or not—reveal a deep hunger for the Incarnation.

In this first episode of our new series, Christmas Playlist, we look at a carol written in 1849, a year defined by war, political tensi...

Ezekiel has been a hard road. We've seen wheels within wheels, dry bones, and difficult prophecies. It feels like a book that is miles away from the grace of the New Testament. But what if we told you that Ezekiel is actually full of Jesus?

In the finale of our Strange Faithfulness series, we are connecting the dots between the prophet in exile and the Savior of the world. We explore why they share the title "Son of Man," what the ...

What do you do when you miss your exit in life? Do you keep driving and hope for the best, or do you stop and recalculate?

The word "repentance" often feels intimidating, but the Prophet Ezekiel had a simpler word for it: Turn.

This week we strip away the religious confusion about a "church word" and see repentance as not a punishment or a one-time event, but a radical directional chan...

What is the "Good News" that can feel like "Bad News"?

In this powerful message from Ezekiel 18, Matthew tackles a tough Biblical tension: personal accountability vs. generational sin.

The exiled Israelites had a popular proverb: "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge." They believed they were paying the price for their ancestors' mistakes.

But God says, "No more."

Discover the core truth of E...

Giving bad news is a heavy burden, one that shatters a person's world into a "before and after." But it is sometimes the most essential message we can receive.

This week, we confront the raw, uncomfortable message of the prophet Ezekiel. Empowered by God's Spirit, Ezekiel had to deliver a terrifying, undeniable diagnosis to Israel: their wickedness was the source of their pain, and judgment was at their door.

Join us as we explore ...

What do joining the military, becoming a citizen, and starting a new job all have in common? They all have an "initiation ritual"—a swearing-in ceremony.

Following Jesus is no different. We call it baptism.

While it's easy to get lost in arguments about how, when, or why it's done, this message reminds us of the one thing every Christian group agrees on: it's the powerful, beautiful, and essential step of belonging. Discover how ba...

"How long, O Lord?" From the brokenness of our world to the secret doubts in our own hearts, we all ask this question.

This week, Chuck Ramseurs takes a magnifying glass to Psalm 13 and the confession of a struggling believer: "I am no longer sure I am in Jesus... I just don't know anymore."

By examining Jesus' own struggle in the wilderness (Luke 4) and his controversial praise for the foreign widow and the Syrian general Naaman, ...