Watters Road Church of Christ

09/04/2026

Scripture Matters Podcast — S2E10: “Providence Matters”

Was that God—or was it simply coincidence?

Sometimes a door closes that we desperately wanted open. A plan falls apart. Someone enters our life at exactly the right moment. A prayer seems to be answered in a way we never expected. Looking back, the pieces can appear to fit together almost perfectly—but how confidently can we say, “God did that”?

In this week’s episode of the Scripture Matters Podcast, Jonathan Sanford and Cliff Thompson take a thoughtful, practical look at the providence of God and what Scripture actually allows us to say about His working in our lives.

Through Esther’s “Who knows?”, Paul’s “Perhaps” in Philemon, Joseph’s suffering and redemption, and the promise of Romans 8:28, Jonathan and Cliff explore the difference between trusting God’s unseen hand and claiming knowledge He has never revealed.

Along the way, they discuss the difference between providence and miracles, human responsibility, “open doors,” answered prayer, suffering, and why “God caused it” and “God used it” are not always the same statement.

Perhaps one of the most important lessons is this: Providence should increase our trust without increasing our arrogance.

We may not always know why one door opened or another one closed. We may never receive an explanation for every painful circumstance. But faith does not require us to invent an explanation in order to trust God.

God’s providence doesn’t mean we can always see His hand—it means we can trust His hand even when we cannot see it.

Join the conversation for S2E10 — “Providence Matters.”

08/28/2026

Scripture Matters Podcast — S2E9 — Peace Matters

Peace is something everyone wants—but biblical peace is far deeper than a quiet life or the absence of problems.

In Season 2, Episode 9 of the Scripture Matters Podcast, “Peace Matters,” Jonathan Sanford and Cliff Thompson explore three dimensions of peace revealed in Scripture: peace with God, peace with others, and peace within.

Beginning with the truth that sin separates us from God, this conversation considers how genuine peace begins with reconciliation through Jesus Christ. From there, Jonathan and Cliff discuss what it means to pursue peace in our marriages, families, friendships, workplaces, and other relationships—and why Romans 12:18 places responsibility on each of us to examine our own conduct.

Finally, the conversation turns inward. Philippians 4:6–7 and Isaiah 26:3 remind us that God’s peace does not require every circumstance to change first. The bills may still be due. The difficult conversation may still need to happen. Tomorrow may still be uncertain. Biblical peace is Christ in the middle of a noisy life.

What if peace does not require every problem to disappear before we can experience it?

Join us for “Peace Matters.”

08/21/2026

Scripture Matters Podcast — Season 2, Episode 8: “Worship Matters”

We can prepare our clothes, gather the family, grab our Bibles, make it to the building on time—and still arrive without ever preparing our hearts to worship.

In this episode of Scripture Matters, Jonathan Sanford and Cliff Thompson have a deeply personal conversation about what it means to approach Almighty God in worship. Is worship primarily about what we “get out of it,” or have we quietly allowed the worshiper to become the customer? Who determines what honors God—our preferences, our emotions, our traditions, or God Himself? And what responsibility do we have toward our brothers and sisters when the church gathers together?

Jonathan also shares a childhood memory that has taken on greater meaning with age: his mother waking him on Sunday mornings with the words, “We get to go worship this morning.” Those few words become the thread running through a conversation about reverence, preparation, privilege, biblical authority, and why our presence in the assembly matters to more people than just ourselves.

One day, each of us will attend our final earthly assembly—and we probably will not know it is the last. Until then, may worship never become ordinary.

The privilege is ours—but the glory belongs to God.

08/21/2026

We are LIVE @ 3:30PM and I hope you can join us for our conversation: Worship Matters

Scripture Matters Podcast — Season 2, Episode 8: “Worship Matters”...

08/14/2026

We are live, with our newest episode of the Scripture Matters Podcast!

In Season 2, Episode 7 of the Scripture Matters Podcast — “Prayer M...

08/14/2026

Scripture Matters Podcast — S2E7 — Prayer Matters

In Season 2, Episode 7 of the Scripture Matters Podcast — “Prayer Matters,” Jonathan Sanford and Cliff Thompson step into the difficult space between “Amen” and the answer.

What does Scripture teach us about prayer when we cannot see God working? Why do some prayers appear to remain unanswered? Does persistence mean we lack faith—or can continuing to pray actually be an expression of faith? And what happens when God’s answer is different from the one we requested?

We’ll look at Jesus in Gethsemane, Paul’s thorn in the flesh, persistent prayer, God’s will, the peace that guards us when circumstances remain unchanged, and the difficult reality that sometimes prayer changes us before anything changes around us.

But the conversation ultimately reaches an even deeper question:

If the only time I talk to God is when I need Him to change something, am I treating prayer more like an emergency number than a relationship?

Prayer is more than presenting requests. It is surrender. Dependence. Trust. Thanksgiving. Confession. Communion. It continually brings us back into the conscious presence of the God who hears us, knows us, and cares for us—even in the silence after “Amen.”

If you have ever prayed for something for weeks, months, or even years and wondered whether God was listening, this conversation is for you.

Season 2, Episode 7 — Prayer Matters

08/11/2026

Over the course of thirteen lessons, we have followed the remarkable history that unfolded between the closing years of the Old Testament and the opening of the New Testament. In this final lesson, we turn our attention to the religious climate of first-century Judea—the world into which John the Baptizer and Jesus began to preach.

We will look at the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Samaritans, and the growing revolutionary and messianic expectations of the period. We will consider the debates surrounding Scripture, tradition, resurrection, purity, worship, the Temple, Roman authority, and the hope that God would act on behalf of His people. Understanding these realities helps us see that when Jesus spoke about the Sabbath, resurrection, the Temple, the Messiah, taxes, or the Kingdom of God, He was speaking into a world already filled with deeply rooted convictions, conflicts, and expectations.

Most importantly, we will step back and see the larger picture. The centuries between the Testaments were not an empty period in which nothing was happening. Kingdoms rose and fell, borders changed, synagogues spread, Jewish communities grew throughout the Mediterranean world, and expectations of deliverance intensified. Then, as Paul writes in Galatians 4:4, “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son.”

This final lesson is really the culmination of the entire study: God was working through history, preparing the world for the arrival of the Messiah and the proclamation of His Kingdom.

08/07/2026

Can you be a faithful Christian and simply decide you don’t need the church?

In Season 2, Episode 6 of the Scripture Matters Podcast — “The Church Matters,” Jonathan Sanford and Cliff Thompson move beyond the familiar definitions and ask a much deeper question: Why does the church matter so much to Jesus Christ?

This conversation gets personal as Jonathan shares a painful childhood memory of repeatedly asking his father to come worship, only to hear, “I’m not going to worship with a bunch of hypocrites.” How should we respond when hypocrisy, disappointment, conflict, or the failures of Christians cause people to distance themselves from the church?

Jonathan and Cliff also examine a truth that changes the entire conversation: the church does not belong to us. It belongs to Christ. He purchased it with His blood, He alone is its Head, and His authority—not culture, personalities, human traditions, or religious organizations—must determine its identity, worship, doctrine, and mission.

The church is filled with imperfect people, but it belongs to a perfect Savior.

Before we dismiss the church because of what people have done to it, perhaps we need to strip away the layers we have added and see again the beauty of what Jesus purchased, Jesus loves, and Jesus still leads.

Because in 2026, perhaps more than ever...

The Church Matters.

08/07/2026

Season 2, Episode 6 of the Scripture Matters Podcast, entitled: Church Matters, is LIVE now!

📺 YouTube:

Can you be a faithful Christian and simply decide you don’t need th...

08/05/2026

If you’ve not watched Lesson #12 of “Between The Testaments”, this is a great opportunity to open your eyes to the world that existed during the time of the Gospels.

In Lesson 12 of Between The Testaments, we examine the Herodian rulers who governed the land from approximately 4 BC to AD 40 and discover how their territories, rivalries, political alliances, and dependence upon Rome shaped the world of the Gospels. After the death of Herod the Great, Augustus divided his kingdom among Archelaus, Herod Antipas, and Philip, creating separate regions with different rulers, courts, policies, and relationships with Rome.

We will explore how Archelaus’ violent and unsuccessful rule led to Judea being placed under direct Roman administration, eventually explaining the presence of governors such as Pontius Pilate. We will then follow Herod Antipas through his long reign over Galilee and Perea, his unlawful marriage to Herodias, the imprisonment and ex*****on of John the Baptizer, his encounters with Jesus, and his eventual removal from power. Philip’s quieter reign will help us understand important Gospel locations such as Caesarea Philippi and Bethsaida, while the rise of Agrippa I carries the Herodian story into the opening chapters of Acts.

This lesson provides the political map behind the New Testament and helps us distinguish the different rulers called “Herod.” Above all, it reminds us that emperors could divide kingdoms, rulers could imprison prophets, and governments could attempt to control events—but none of them could prevent the Word of God or the saving purpose of Christ from advancing.

In Lesson 12 of Between The Testaments, we examine the Herodian rul...