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What do you do with what God hands you: wrap it up safe, or risk it for more? Craig Smith and Colin McFarland talk through the parable of the minas from Luke 19, and Craig admits something he hadn't fully named until Colin asked him live on air: for a few years after COVID, Mission Hills Church shifted from taking new ground to protecting what it already had. The conversation gets personal fast. Craig shares how, as a student pastor, he used to give far more unpaid time to the church than he was getting paid for, but still felt tense every summer when $25 mission trip letters came in from his students. They talk through why 'generous' might be the wrong word for a lot of what we call generosity, why 'faithful' is often more honest, and how the disciples' outrage over the woman anointing Jesus with a year's wages of perfume reveals how easy it is to be generous with someone else's money while avoiding our own discomfort. 👉 f you've wondered whether you're protecting what God gave you instead of investing it, your time, your money, your church, your gifts, this conversation gives you language for it.  🎧 Listen to this weekend's full sermon first, then come back here to go deeper. New episodes drop midweek. Subscribe so you never miss a conversation.  Like, share, and comment if this episode hit home. As always, shoot us your questions at [email protected] and enjoy today's episode. Also, check out our YouTube Channel and the Playlist titled "Questions with Craig" for more resources. Or submit your PRAYER REQUESTS for our care team. ============================= Continuing The Conversation: Feed Credits ============================= HOST:: Colin McFarland, Craig Smith  PRODUCTION + MIXING:: Zac Anderson  CREATIVE DIRECTOR:: Colin McFarland  VIDEO + SEO DIRECTORS:: Zac Anderson, Colin McFarland A Product of The Mission Hills Podcast Network in Littleton, CO. © Mission Hills Church - All Rights Reserved

Craig Smith teaches from Luke 19:11-27, the parable of the ten minas, and asks a question that hits close to home: Is the line between a faithful follower of Jesus and a hypocrite thinner than we think? This message breaks down why the king in the story is the most generous character in the Bible, and why your faithfulness with money, not your results, is what unleashes that generosity in your own life.

Craig Smith admits the 80/20 rule- twenty percent of people doing eighty percent of the work- made him bitter for years before it made him grateful. He and Kelly talk about why comparison is mostly an environmental problem, why he hasn't opened TikTok since summer, and a three-word filter (content, pattern, relationship) for confronting someone without making a mountain out of a molehill. Plus the word Luke actually uses for Martha, which sounds less like distraction and more like a donkey dragging a load. 👉 If you've ever felt stuck in pain that's become your whole perspective on life, this conversation is for you.  🎧 Listen to this weekend's full sermon first, then come back here to go deeper. New episodes drop midweek. Subscribe so you never miss a conversation.  Like, share, and comment if this episode hit home. As always, shoot us your questions at [email protected] and enjoy today's episode. Also, check out our YouTube Channel and the Playlist titled "Questions with Craig" for more resources. Or submit your PRAYER REQUESTS for our care team. ============================= Continuing The Conversation: Feed Credits ============================= HOST:: Kelly McSparran, Craig Smith  PRODUCTION + MIXING:: Zac Anderson  CREATIVE DIRECTOR:: Colin McFarland  VIDEO + SEO DIRECTORS:: Zac Anderson, Colin McFarland A Product of The Mission Hills Podcast Network in Littleton, CO. © Mission Hills Church - All Rights Reserved

What if the difficult person in your life is more than the problem you can see? In Luke 10, Martha's frustration with her sister quickly spills over into resentment toward Jesus. But instead of treating Martha like a problem to fix, Jesus looks beyond her behavior and responds to her with both compassion and truth. He shows us that the problems we see in people can sometimes be the product of pain we don't see—and that our own pain can shape how we see others. In this message, Craig Smith explores how to approach difficult relationships without excusing harmful behavior, why our response is our responsibility, and what it looks like to combine compassion with clear boundaries. Jesus sees people to be loved, not problems to be solved. Discover how that truth can change the way you see others—and yourself. Watch or listen, reflect, and consider one relationship where God may be inviting you to respond differently this week.

Most of us have a complicated relationship with work — we pray for it, then complain about it. Pastor Craig Smith opens Genesis 1 to make a case that work isn't a curse; it's the first thing God ever called us to. When you see your job as joining God in creating, caring, organizing, and ruling, everything looks different.

In 2 Samuel 9, King David goes searching for someone — anyone — left from the house of his fallen friend Jonathan, just so he can show them kindness. What he finds is Mephibosheth: lame, hiding in a place called Lo-debar (which literally means 'nothing'), convinced the king is coming to destroy him. What David does next is one of the most stunning pictures of grace in the entire Bible. This message from Scott Ridout unpacks the Hebrew word hesed — the unconditional, action-oriented, asymmetrical love of God — and why the table is where that love has always shown up.

You had the best intentions. You picked your words carefully. So why did it still go sideways? In this episode of Continuing the Conversation, Craig Smith and Colin McFarland dig into one of the most practically useful ideas from Sunday's message in the Proverbs series — the difference between knowing a truth and knowing when and how to speak it. They unpack a framework of three Ms: motive, manner, and moment. Get one wrong and even the most important truth can land like a grenade. Craig shares a real and surprisingly difficult example — what should a pastor's wife say when her husband genuinely isn't a strong preacher? — to show just how layered these situations get in real life. Colin pushes back with a great observation: most of us check one or two boxes and convince ourselves that's enough. It's not. All three have to be in place. This episode also goes behind the scenes of sermon prep — including the rare week Craig had to trash a nearly finished message and start over days before Sunday, and why single-verse preaching makes him more anxious than almost anything else.  👉 Whether you're navigating a tough conversation at work, at home, or in your small group, this one gives you a practical grid for thinking it through before you open your mouth.  🎧 Listen to this weekend's full sermon first, then come back here to go deeper. New episodes drop midweek. Subscribe so you never miss a conversation.  Like, share, and comment if this episode hit home. As always, shoot us your questions at [email protected] and enjoy today's episode. Also, check out our YouTube Channel and the Playlist titled "Questions with Craig" for more resources. Or submit your PRAYER REQUESTS for our care team. ============================= Continuing The Conversation: Feed Credits ============================= HOST:: Colin McFarland, Craig Smith  PRODUCTION + MIXING:: Zac Anderson  CREATIVE DIRECTOR:: Colin McFarland  VIDEO + SEO DIRECTORS:: Zac Anderson, Colin McFarland A Product of The Mission Hills Podcast Network in Littleton, CO. © Mission Hills Church - All Rights Reserved

You meant well. So why did that conversation make everything worse? Pastor Craig Smith unpacks Proverbs 27:14 — a proverb about a guy who loudly blesses his neighbor at sunrise and gets cursed for it — to reveal three things that determine whether a hard conversation heals a relationship or damages it: motive, manner, and moment. If you have a conversation you've been dreading, or one you regret, this message is for you.

Bitterness doesn't usually announce itself. It grows quietly, often dressed up in the language of boundaries, self-protection, or just being realistic about people. But what happens when it's already taken root — and what if some of the things we think are helping are actually keeping us stuck? In this episode of Continuing the Conversation, host Kelly McSpearin and Lead Pastor Craig Smith dig into what guarding your heart actually requires — and it's more than just clearing out the bad stuff. Craig walks through why loving God and loving people isn't just a spiritual posture; it's an act of guarding your heart by keeping it full. They also get honest about why echo chambers — from social media algorithms to therapy that only validates — can quietly deepen bitterness without us noticing. Craig shares a personal story about being called out by his own team, and why his first reaction wasn't defensiveness but gratitude. That kind of accountability doesn't come from a program — it comes from friendships built over years where the truth can actually land. 👉 If you've ever felt stuck in pain that's become your whole perspective on life, this conversation is for you.  🎧 Listen to this weekend's full sermon first, then come back here to go deeper. New episodes drop midweek. Subscribe so you never miss a conversation.  Like, share, and comment if this episode hit home. As always, shoot us your questions at [email protected] and enjoy today's episode. Also, check out our YouTube Channel and the Playlist titled "Questions with Craig" for more resources. Or submit your PRAYER REQUESTS for our care team. ============================= Continuing The Conversation: Feed Credits ============================= HOST:: Kelly McSparran, Craig Smith  PRODUCTION + MIXING:: Zac Anderson  CREATIVE DIRECTOR:: Colin McFarland  VIDEO + SEO DIRECTORS:: Zac Anderson, Colin McFarland A Product of The Mission Hills Podcast Network in Littleton, CO. © Mission Hills Church - All Rights Reserved

You've probably said it before: 'I don't know what came over me.' But what if that's not actually true? In this episode, Pastor Craig Smith unpacks Proverbs 4:23 — 'Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it' — and makes the case that the words you say, the choices you make, and the conflict in your relationships all trace back to one place: your heart. The filter you put in place (or don't) shapes your future more than you realize.

Who's in your corner — and are they the right people for where you're headed? In this episode of Continuing the Conversation, Lead Pastor Craig Smith and Marketing Director Colin McFarland dig into week two of the It's Complicated series: Find Your People. And it gets personal fast. Craig opens up about the moment he realized he needed more than instructors — he needed actual mentors. That moment came when he stepped into something way bigger than he'd ever led before and had to ask himself, honestly, am I surrounding myself with the right people? They talk through what it looks like to have people ahead of you on the road, friends walking beside you in the same season, and people behind you that you're pouring into. And they land on something worth sitting with: your people aren't always who you'd expect. Life stage connects us more than age. Shared experience opens doors that shared demographics never could. You'll also get a peek behind the curtain at how Craig builds his own learning diet — from theology to quantum mechanics to color theory (yes, really) — and why he thinks the voices you let in shape far more than your mood. They shape your future. If you've been in a season where relationships feel thin, complicated, or hard to find — this one's for you. 👉 Listen now and discover why God's grace is often working long before we recognize it. 🎧 Listen to this weekend's full sermon first, then come back here to go deeper. New episodes drop midweek. Subscribe so you never miss a conversation.  Like, share, and comment if this episode hit home. As always, shoot us your questions at [email protected] and enjoy today's episode. Also, check out our YouTube Channel and the Playlist titled "Questions with Craig" for more resources. Or submit your PRAYER REQUESTS for our care team. ============================= Continuing The Conversation: Feed Credits ============================= HOST:: Colin McFarland, Craig Smith  PRODUCTION + MIXING:: Zac Anderson  CREATIVE DIRECTOR:: Colin McFarland  VIDEO + SEO DIRECTORS:: Zac Anderson, Colin McFarland A Product of The Mission Hills Podcast Network in Littleton, CO. © Mission Hills Church - All Rights Reserved

The people around you are shaping you—whether you realize it or not. In Proverbs 13:20, we're told to "walk with the wise and become wise." But what does wisdom actually look like, and how do you find people who can help you navigate a complicated life? In this message from our It's Complicated series, Craig Smith explores why the relationships we invest in have such a powerful influence on who we become. You'll discover five biblical qualities to look for in wise people and why you need relationships with people who are before you, beside you, and behind you. This week, consider doing a relationship audit: How are your relationships shaping you? Where do you need wisdom, and what will you do to find it? God often provides the wisdom we need through relationships. Watch the message, reflect on who you're doing life with, and consider your next step toward wise community.

What if the key to real rest isn't less fear — it's the right one? In this episode of Continuing the Conversation, Lead Pastor Craig Smith and Life Center Director Micah Harrison dig into Sunday's message on the fear of the Lord and what Proverbs means when it says that fear leads to life — and rest. Spoiler: it's not the kind of fear that tightens your chest. It's the kind that lets you finally exhale. They wrestle with the honest tension most of us feel: if I'm really walking with God, why does my life still hurt? Craig offers a distinction that sticks — the difference between being unaffected by pain and being unscarred by it. And then both of them do something rare: they get specific about the fears that are actually driving their own lives right now. Craig's fear of disappointing people. Micah's jealousy. Neither one is dressed up or explained away.  There's also a childhood backseat analogy that might be the clearest picture of spiritual rest you've heard in a while. If you've ever laid awake at 1 AM wondering why your brain won't stop — this one's for you. The fear of the Lord and genuine contentment aren't opposites. They might be the same road.  👉 Listen now and discover why God's grace is often working long before we recognize it. 🎧 Listen to this weekend's full sermon first, then come back here to go deeper. New episodes drop midweek. Subscribe so you never miss a conversation.  Like, share, and comment if this episode hit home. As always, shoot us your questions at [email protected] and enjoy today's episode. Also, check out our YouTube Channel and the Playlist titled "Questions with Craig" for more resources. Or submit your PRAYER REQUESTS for our care team. ============================= Continuing The Conversation: Feed Credits ============================= HOST:: Micah Harrison, Craig Smith  PRODUCTION + MIXING:: Zac Anderson, Laina Ludwig  CREATIVE DIRECTOR:: Colin McFarland  VIDEO + SEO DIRECTORS:: Zac Anderson, Colin McFarland A Product of The Mission Hills Podcast Network in Littleton, CO. © Mission Hills Church - All Rights Reserved

Relationships stir up real fear. Rejection, betrayal, getting hurt again. But the fear itself isn't the enemy, it's what we do with it. This week we'll open Proverbs 19:23 to discover a fear that doesn't shrink your life, it leads to it.

Jacob's life is marked by God's grace. This is true of all believers. Like Jacob, we are more than just recipients of God's grace, we are invited to be ambassadors of God's grace. In this message we will learn three practices to live as ambassadors of God's amazing grace.