Crossing Church

Rock bottom isn't the end of the story. Swipe through this week's message on Jonah, and the truth that God does some of His best work in our hardest seasons.

In week two of the "Pursuit" series, Pastor Chris Bowlby picks up where Jonah left off: thrown overboard and swallowed by a great fish. Through humor, Scripture, and honest pastoral reflection, Chris shows that even our lowest moments are places where God does some of His best work. He begins with the truth that there is nowhere to run from God's presence or His love, drawing on Psalm 139, Romans 8, and the parable of the prodigal son. From there he reminds us that Jonah did not deserve rescue, and neither do we. We are saved by grace, not by being good, and the longer we follow Jesus, the more we need to remember what God has brought us out of.

Chris then explores the "cosmic timeout" of Jonah's three days in the fish, suggesting that hardship lasts as long as it takes for us to come to our senses and submit to God. He touches on the "dark night of the soul" and reminds listeners that God is not afraid of our wrestling, pointing to Jesus praying in the garden, "not my will, but yours be done." The message closes with three reflection questions: What are your "but, God" moments? What might God be doing in your current season of pain? And is there something He has asked of you that you are running from?

In this standalone message, Pastor Chris Bowlby steps outside his usual pattern of avoiding cultural headlines to address something he believes has crossed the threshold into a discipleship issue: artificial intelligence. Framing his approach through Psalm 20:7 ("some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God"), Chris makes clear this isn't an alarmist take or a simple pro/con verdict, but an invitation to be sober minded about what we're outsourcing. Drawing a parallel to how the automobile quietly outsourced our bodies (and our health along with it), he argues AI is the first widely available tool aimed at outsourcing our minds, the very faculties that make us human: thinking, discerning, relating, and creating. He walks through four specific areas of concern: outsourced thinking (losing the "incidental learning" that forms wisdom through effort), outsourced discernment (using AI instead of the Holy Spirit for life's biggest decisions), outsourced relationship (the rise of AI companionship and its very real dangers, including a sobering real-world case involving a teenager), and outsourced craft (what's lost when art and creativity get automated). A personal, moving illustration, an imperfect table built and rebuilt three times by his wife's late grandfather, anchors his point that flaws and effort are where beauty and love actually live. He closes not with a verdict on AI itself, but with a challenge: examine what your use of it is costing you, and don't let any technology take the place God alone should hold in your life.