Formation Takes Times

Here's what we don't do at Pilgrim.

We don't have the youth programs of the churches down the road with the coffee bar and the stage lights. We don't bounce from sermon series to sermon series to keep things feeling relevant. Our worship isn't designed to give you an emotional experience. And when you visit other churches—or hear your coworkers talk about theirs—I understand the pull toward something that looks like that's where God is really working.

But look at God's model in Deuteronomy 6:6-7:

And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

Constant teaching in ordinary moments. That's it. That's the pattern.

That's what Deuteronomy looks like at Pilgrim. We teach through books of the Bible slowly—verse by verse, chapter by chapter—because we're not trying to manufacture a spiritual high that's gone by Wednesday morning. We're trying to get Scripture so deep in you that it shapes how you think about marriage and parenting and money and the decisions you'll be making for the next forty years.

Churches built around novelty feel more alive. I get it. But you can't build deep faith on what's exciting this month. Steady Bible teaching feels quieter—sometimes boring—but it's what grows roots that actually hold when life gets hard.

You won't see the difference immediately. You'll see it years later when you're facing real suffering. When your 25-year-old still loves Christ. When you're still walking with God and the feelings dried up a decade ago.