Upcoming Events
Beach Baptism
Join us for beach baptism on October 4th at 5:00. We will serve hotdogs and drinks at 5:00 and around 6:00 head to the beach so bring your favorite beach chair!
Staff & Leaders
Our dedicated team of pastors and staff are here to provide spiritual guidance and support - as well as resources to help you on your faith journey.
See What’s Happening
Check out this month's events to find out what's happening and how you can be involved. Explore the full list of upcoming ministries and services.
Connect and Grow
At Church by the Sea, we believe that faith is not meant to be lived out alone. We offer various ministries, small groups, and community events to help you connect with others and grow in your spiritual journey.
Whether it's attending a Bible study, joining a prayer group, or participating in a community service project, there are numerous opportunities for you to deepen your faith and build meaningful relationships.
Messages that Matter
View our library of previous sermons.
Pastoral Devotionals
Jesus Wept: Acceptance First | Devotional Three
I'll never forget when I had a participant complete my workshop : "Recovering from the Losses of Life” She came to meet with me following the class to explain the extent of her Grief. "I'm in the Breakout Sessions, and all these people around me are crying about things that happened so long ago, and I don't feel that intense sadness. Is there something wrong with me?” The ironic thing I’m going to say as a Pastor (who is writing you a devotional to help you in your grief) is: No one gets to tell you how to grieve. Not even me. What I will tell you to do is embrace it as a part of your life. What doesn’t often get mentioned is that Grief & Love coexist as parts of each other. Pushing Grief away because it’s uncomfortable or messy doesn’t do anything for you. And it doesn’t fully acknowledge the great Love for which the loss is so devastating. The methods I’ll share won’t matter much if you haven’t given yourself Permission to grieve. It’s not dissimilar to attending any type of recovery meeting. You have to start by saying “Hi, I’m NAME, and I am bereaved.” The five stages of Grief are : Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, & Acceptance. Acceptance comes at the end, but the other four can occur in any order and sometimes simultaneously. I add that Acceptance isn’t just the last stage of Grief; it’s also the first. There are those reading this who just haven’t had time to grieve because of life circumstances. Others whose loss is a year old, and still others who are still in shock from a loss this year. All are experiencing the same Category of Spiritual and Emotional pain, But in different levels of severity and type. So for example … Jane Doe’s grief Journey may look like this: START: Acceptance of being bereaved -> Anger & Bargaining -> Denial -> Depression -> Anger -> Depression -> Bargaining -> CLOSE: Acceptance of the Loss. Notice how I say CLOSE instead of END. Any of these may be reopened even after the loss is accepted. But post-acceptance, you and that loss have become acquainted. The tears may be involuntary … but you still are in a place of control that you may not have had when the shockwave of losing someone hit you initially. Still, John Doe’s may look more like this: START: Acceptance of being bereaved -> Depression -> Denial -> Depression -> Anger -> Depression -> Bargaining -> CLOSE: Acceptance of the Loss. See the variety? I redirected my Counselees to think of it not in terms of asking whether there is something wrong with you. But asking if you feel whole. Have you done all you needed to do to feel and release the pain? If the answer is no, or I don’t know, then likely we’re still in the thick of it and that’s ok. The alternative question would be … Is the burden finally light enough to carry? The time it takes to achieve that lightening can vary. I do think Christians have a unique hope and advantage. We believe in resurrection. Right after Jesus wept over the dead Lazarus, he proclaimed “Even though a Man shall die, yet shall He live.” For believers who have this baked into the fiber of their being, The pain can be greatly reduced and the process of grief even shortened. In light of Scripture ... a separation is a loss, but it’s not a permanent loss in the Kingdom of God. And don’t hear me wrong ... that I’m just telling you to just have more faith; What I’m saying is what St. Paul said: “We Grieve but not as those who have no hope.” So three Scriptures for you today: (1) First Thessalonians 4:13 “We do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.” (2) Ecclesiastes 3:11 "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end." (3) John 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” → Of the stages, which is the loudest right now? → Or do you feel like you're completely off the map? I’d love hear from you. Pastor Jonny M.Min Biblical Counseling Church by the Sea
Blog
The Obstacle is the Way
One thing we all share is that our hearts and heads are not exactly where we would like them to be. Here are some things that seem to come up over and over again in the counseling environment: - “It feels as though it’s one thing after another.” - “I know I should love myself, but I don’t.” - “It’s easier to care for others than it is to care for myself.” Then there’s the positive. Even as we express these struggles, we're aware of our progress. This is when we recognize how far we have come, even as we still want to grow more. This is a hopeful place but still very much a place of disillusionment. Here’s the long and the short of it... We're each finding ourselves stuck in thinking patterns and ways of being and speaking that we want to change. And I think we’re honing in on that simple question. Could I change my thinking for the better? Could I dare to believe in better things, better days, etc. Marcus Aurelius reiterated something from the book of James about trials. He didn’t know he was espousing Christian values, but he was... specifically when he said “The Obstacle is the way.” (This is in line with James 1:2-4) The first step to getting better is embracing failure and suffering. Sound counterintuitive? Let me explain. Here’s the classic loop: - We want to do better; we try to do better; we do... but imperfectly, and then sometimes we don’t. Add to that unexpected ER visits, the IRS, cancer, natural disasters, hurts, habits, hang-ups... and the odds start to feel stacked against our success. But when “the obstacle is the way,” or as James says, “our trials become all joy,” the odds look better because these things no longer become interruptions to growth, but fertilizer. Now you’re probably following me so far but asking yourself... how? How can I change my brain to think in such a very counterintuitive way? The answer is something I believe I’m closing in on, but the basic concept is awakening to a very cool reality: your youness and your brain are two different things. When God says to love Him with all your heart, mind, and soul, the Hebrew word for soul there is nephesh. It’s essentially your youness. I’m Jonny not because of the neurons firing in my brain; they are physiological byproducts of being part of the human species. And if I can interrupt my thinking long enough for my nephesh to tell my brain it’s not in charge, your brain will actually change, and over time it will become more natural to live from a place of “The Obstacle is the way.” I’m listening to a book right now by Christian neurosurgeon Lee Warren. Cool story about God confirming this book as part of the DNA of Sessions of Hope and Stronger Still Biblical Counseling, but that’s for another time. What I aim to do is pare down his journaling/self-brain surgery resources to make them as turnkey as possible for our context. The context of you and me walking alongside each other to get better and take control of our brains. But start by separating your own failure and the bad stuff that happens to you from what you have to think. Your brain will fill in the gaps based on physiology and fight-or-flight dynamics, but that doesn't have to be the final word. When the brain spits out a story of panic, re-story it into a foe your mission is to vanquish. And please don't mistake this for “the power of positive thinking.” I'll go into more details, but for now just know this framework will be all about neuroscience and Paul’s idea of taking every thought captive. So let's start there. Separate the negative spillover of the pink thing in your skull from you. God made you in His image. The Gospel brings out a deeper you that is better than those knee-jerk thoughts. Bibliography Aurelius, Marcus. Meditations. Translated by Martin Hammond, Penguin Books, 2006. (Regarding the philosophical parallel of reframing obstacles, specifically Book 5, Section 20: "The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.") Warren, Lee. Hope is the First Dose: A Treatment Plan for Recovering from Trauma, Tragedy, and Other Massive Things. WaterBrook, 2023. The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. ESV Bible Systems, 2001 (inclusive of James 1:2–4 regarding counting trials as joy). Family Life Radio // Hope is the First Dose // W. Lee Warren (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI6vRGzruQY) This video provides an insightful discussion with Dr. Lee Warren on applying the principles of neuroplasticity and faith to re-story our minds through trauma and hardship.
Copyright 2026 Church by the Sea
All Rights Reserved.