Ninth Avenue Church of Christ

Create in Me a Clean Heart: When God Transforms What Behavior Can’t

Why does real change feel so difficult—even when our intentions are good?

In this sermon, Matthew Balentine reflects on Psalm 51 and David’s prayer for renewal after failure. Rather than focusing on surface-level behavior or temporary fixes, this message calls listeners to examine the heart—the place where lasting transformation begins.

Through David’s confession, surrender, and plea for restoration, we are reminded that God does not simply manage our symptoms; He creates something new within us. This episode explores the danger of relying on success instead of surrender, the weight of unconfessed sin, and the joy that returns when the heart is made clean.

If you’ve ever felt spiritually stuck, weary of self-improvement, or longing for deeper joy in your walk with God, this sermon invites you to pray the words David prayed:

“Create in me a clean heart, O God.”

📖 Scripture Focus: Psalm 51:10–12

🎙️ Speaker: Matthew Balentine

🏛️ Church: Ninth Avenue Church of Christ

God Is Leverage: Why Keeping God Close Changes Everything

What if the issue isn’t that God lacks power—but that we’ve kept Him at a distance?

In this sermon, we explore a life-shaping truth: God is leverage. While many believers affirm Scripture, respect it, and defend it, too often God’s Word remains distant from daily life. When that happens, we end up carrying burdens—fear, anxiety, regret, shame, and sin—that we were never meant to carry alone.

Drawing from passages like Hebrews 4:12, Psalm 119:105, Joshua 1:8, and John 15:5, this message challenges listeners to rethink their relationship with Scripture—not as information to consume, but as a foundation to build upon.

When God is close, His Word becomes active.

When Scripture is embedded, spiritual power follows.

And when God is within reach, nothing else gets the final say.

This episode is especially meaningful for anyone entering a new season while still carrying weight from the past—and for believers who want more than a Sunday-only faith.

When Doing the Right Thing Costs You

Doing the right thing is easy—until it costs you something.

In this sermon from Matthew 1:18–25, we take a closer look at the quiet, courageous obedience of Joseph and what his story teaches us about true righteousness. Faced with fear, uncertainty, and potential shame, Joseph chose compassion over self-protection and obedience over convenience.

This message challenges common assumptions about righteousness and invites us into a faith that protects the vulnerable, makes room for others, and reflects the heart of Jesus—even when it comes at a personal cost.

In this episode, you’ll explore:

• Why righteousness is more than rule-keeping

• How obedience often requires personal sacrifice

• What Joseph teaches us about protecting others

• How “God with us” transforms strangers into family

• Why the church is called to restore gently, not shame publicly

Whether you’re wrestling with a difficult decision or seeking to live out your faith more faithfully, this sermon offers encouragement and clarity for following God when the path is hard.

Scripture Reading: Matthew 1:18–25

Episode Timestamps

00:00 – Introduction: Making Room for God’s People

03:20 – When Doing Right Starts to Cost You

07:30 – Rethinking Righteousness

11:45 – Scripture Reading: Matthew 1:18–25

14:00 – Righteousness Protects the Vulnerable

19:30 – Quiet Obedience and Costly Compassion

24:10 – Costly Obedience Makes Room for Others

29:00 – Fear, Calling, and Trusting God

33:40 – Obedience Means Taking Responsibility

38:30 – God With Us Turns Strangers into Family

43:00 – The Church as Family, Not a Crowd

48:20 – Application: Claim Someone This Week

52:10 – Restoring Gently, Not Shaming Publicly

56:00 – Final Challenge and Closing Prayer

 

Make Room for God: Preparing Your Heart for What Comes Next

Are you busy—but not spiritually full?

In this powerful sermon, Matthew Balentine invites us to examine our hearts and ask the simple but life-changing question: Is there room for God in my life?

Drawing from Luke 1 and Mary’s unexpected calling, this message explores what it truly means to be available to God—even when life feels overcrowded, overwhelming, and out of control. Through practical insights and heartfelt challenge, Matthew reminds us that:

• God chooses availability over ability

• His interruptions carry greater purpose

• Fear says “I can’t”, but faith says “I am the Lord’s servant”

• The Holy Spirit fills whatever space we give Him

• Spiritual renewal begins not with the church as a whole—but with you

If you’re longing for a deeper relationship with God or sensing that He is preparing you for “what’s next,” this message will encourage, confront, and inspire you to start making room for Him today.

✨ Key Scripture: Luke 1:26–38

✨ Theme: Preparing your heart for God’s next work

✨ Church: Ninth Avenue Church of Christ

Unkink the Hose: How to Restore the Flow of God’s Blessings

In this week’s message, Matthew Balentine explores one of the most misunderstood passages in Scripture — Malachi 3:6–12 — and reveals a powerful truth about why God’s blessings sometimes stop flowing in our lives.

Using the memorable illustration of a kinked garden hose, Matthew explains how believers can unintentionally “block” the spiritual abundance God desires for them. This sermon challenges us to examine our hearts, return to faithful living, and experience the overflow God promises when His people trust Him fully.

You’ll learn:

• Why God never changes, even when we feel distant

• How spiritual “kinks” form in the life of a believer

• What it really means to “rob God”

• Why God invites us to test Him in Malachi 3

• How obedience, generosity, and trust reopen the flow of blessing

• What it looks like to walk again in God’s daily provision and presence

Whether you’re feeling spiritually dry, disconnected, or simply hungry for deeper blessing, this message offers a clear path back into the flow of God’s goodness.

Scripture: Malachi 3:6–12

Speaker: Matthew Balentine

Church: Ninth Avenue Church of Christ, Haleyville, AL

Why Giving Matters: A Biblical Call to Gratitude

In this message from our Blessed series, Matthew Ballentine explores the deeper meaning of Christian giving and why it is far more than a financial act. Rooted in 2 Corinthians 9, this sermon examines how true generosity flows from a heart shaped by gratitude and trust.

Matthew walks through the biblical foundations of blessing, stewardship, and intentional giving—challenging us to evaluate whether our giving reflects honor, purpose, and faith. Rather than pressure or obligation, giving becomes a joyful response to the goodness of God.

If you’ve ever wondered how much to give, why giving matters, or what God desires from your heart, this message will encourage and challenge you to grow spiritually in meaningful, practical ways.

Don’t Bury God’s Blessings

In this week’s message, Matthew Balentine explores Jesus’ Parable of the Talents from Matthew 25:14–30, reminding us that everything we have—our time, our talents, and our treasures—belongs to God.

Through this story, we learn that God entrusts each of us with different resources, not equally but intentionally. The question isn’t what we’ve been given—it’s what we’re doing with what we’ve been given.

Matthew challenges us to examine whether we’re investing our blessings for God’s glory or burying them in fear and excuses. True faithfulness isn’t about quantity or comparison—it’s about obedience, gratitude, and action.

🔑 Key Themes:

• Everything we manage belongs to God.

• God values faithfulness more than results.

• Fear can cause us to bury our blessings.

• Stewardship means using God’s gifts for His glory.

📖 Scripture Reference: Matthew 25:14–30

🎙️ Speaker: Matthew Balentine

🏛️ Series: Blessed — Because He Gave, We Give

📍 Church: Ninth Avenue Church of Christ

From the Valley of Denial to the Peak of Restoration How Jesus Meets Us in Our Lowest Moments and Restores Our Purpose

In this heartfelt message, Matthew Balentine shares the powerful story of Peter’s journey from denying Jesus to being fully restored on the shores of Galilee. Through John 21, we see how Jesus meets us right where we are—broken, tired, and uncertain—and gently calls us back into fellowship and purpose.

This sermon reminds us that grace doesn’t push us away; it draws us close. Jesus not only forgives us but invites us back to the table and sends us out again with renewed purpose.

If you’ve ever felt like your failure disqualified you from God’s plan, this message will speak hope into your heart.

📖 Scripture: John 21:1–19

🎙️ Speaker: Matthew Balentine

🏠 Church: Ninth Avenue Church of Christ

 

#ChristianPodcast #Faith #Grace #Forgiveness #Restoration #Jesus #Peter #Sermon #BibleTeaching #Hope

The Night Faith Collapsed: Peter’s Denial and Jesus’ Restoration

When Peter swore he’d never deny Jesus, his confidence was sky-high—but within hours, it crumbled. In this message from Luke 22, Matthew Balentine walks through Peter’s valley of failure and Jesus’ look of restoration. Learn how disappointment can become denial, and how grace transforms regret into renewal.

Key Takeaways:

• Why emotion without devotion leads to spiritual collapse

• The danger of “following at a distance”

• How Jesus’ compassion restores the fallen

• Finding strength when your confidence breaks

Scripture: Luke 22

Speaker: Matthew Balentine

Series: Peaks & Valleys — God in Every Season

Location: Ninth Avenue Church of Christ

Tags / Keywords

faith, failure, restoration, Peter, Luke 22, Jesus, discipleship, redemption, Ninth Avenue Church of Christ, Matthew Balentine, Christian sermon, Peaks and Valleys, church podcast, spiritual growth, grace, hope, Bible teaching

Show Notes

• Main Passage: Luke 22:31–62

• Theme: Faith that collapses can rise again through grace.

• Quote: “It’s a short distance from confidence to collapse when our faith rests on emotion instead of devotion.”

• Action Step: Look toward Jesus—even through your tears—and let His gaze restore you.

Find Purpose In Your Valley

Even in life’s lowest valleys, God’s purpose still stands.

In this powerful message from our Peaks and Valleys series, Matthew Balentine reminds us that the presence of struggle does not mean the absence of God. Drawing from 1 Samuel 16, we see how Samuel, Jesse, and David each faced moments of uncertainty, pride, and obscurity—but God was working through it all.

This sermon invites you to trust that even when you feel overlooked or misunderstood, God is shaping something far greater beneath the surface. When you walk with the King, your valley can become a place of transformation and purpose.

 

🔹 Key Scripture: 1 Samuel 16

🔹 Series: Peaks and Valleys

🔹 Speaker: Matthew Balentine

🔹 Theme: Purpose, Trust, Faith in Difficult Seasons