Firm Foundation with Bryan Hudson

1 Corinthians 15:9, For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

2 Corinthians 2:14–15, “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.”

Matters of the Heart: Let Peace Be Your Umpire teaches that the condition of the heart shapes the direction of our lives. Rather than allowing hurt, fear, disappointment, or other emotions to make the final call, believers are called to let the peace of God rule—like an umpire—guiding our thoughts, decisions, and responses through the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.
Sermon Summary: 
Colossians 3:15, And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 
In Matters of the Heart, Pastor Bryan Hudson teaches that what happens in the heart ultimately manifests in our lives. The heart is the center from which thoughts, attitudes, words, decisions, and actions flow. During seasons of change and challenge, life often forces us to narrow our focus and return to what matters most—especially the condition of our hearts and the peace of God. 
The central Scripture is Colossians 3:15: “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts.” The word rule carries the idea of an umpire—one who decides, determines, and makes the call. Just as an umpire determines whether a pitch is a ball or strike, believers must allow the peace of God to determine how they respond to situations, emotions, relationships, and difficult circumstances. 
The message emphasizes that difficult feelings should not simply be denied. Anxiety, hurt, fear, and other troubling emotions can function like a warning light, physical pain, or an unusual sound in a car: they indicate that something deserves attention. Faith does not deny reality; faith allows God to address reality at a deeper level. The symptom is not always the problem—it may be pointing us toward a deeper matter of the heart. 
Pastor Hudson explains that spiritual understanding requires going beyond what can be seen or reasoned through naturally. Hebrews 11:3 teaches that what is visible came from what is unseen. Likewise, the outward circumstances of life may have roots in unseen matters of the heart. Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman illustrates this principle: while she initially focused on natural water and religious traditions, Jesus led her toward the deeper reality of living water, spirit, and truth. 
The sermon further defines the heart as involving the spirit and soul together. The believer's born-again spirit is the stable foundation of life in God, while the soul—our mind, will, and emotions—requires renewal, transformation, training, and sanctification. Therefore, much of the work of spiritual growth involves allowing what God has placed in our spirit to influence and govern our soul. 
Peace is not merely a pleasant emotion; peace is a governing influence. Hurt, betrayal, trauma, disappointment, envy, unforgiveness, bitterness, resentment, and entitlement may all be real, but they must not be allowed to become the umpire of our lives. Instead of acting primarily from what we feel, we should become quiet before God, listen to His Spirit and His Word, receive wise help when needed, and allow His peace to make the final call. 
Jesus promised in John 14:27, “My peace I give to you.” God provides the peace, but the words “let the peace of God rule” imply our cooperation. We must yield to His peace rather than allowing the noise, pressures, emotions, and distractions of life to govern us. 
The message concludes with a decision of faith: choose peace over everything else. Rather than allowing real emotions and painful experiences to dictate our decisions, we go to the “heart level,” where the Holy Spirit and the Word of God can bring clarity, transformation, and victory. Peace becomes the foundation from which we can properly address the challenges before us. 
Central message: Let the peace of God be your umpire. When emotions, circumstances, and competing voices are making their calls, allow God’s peace to make the final decision.
Closing Confession of Faith
I will allow the peace of God to rule my heart. Peace will be my umpire. Peace will decide what I will do or not do
When I am facing a challenge, I won't try to reason my way around it without the help of the Holy Spirit and Scripture. As a matter of the heart, I will go to the heart level to address things that I don't fully understand.
God is Spirit, so I must worship and live through him in spirit and in truth. 
According to 1 Thessalonians 5:23, I will allow the God of peace to sanctify me completely so that my whole spirit, soul, and body will be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I will live, according to the order of spirit, soul, body. Not the reverse order of body, soul, spirit.
Peace will govern my heart and mind, not mindsets and emotions such as hurt, trauma, disappointment, things that have not worked as I expected, envy, unforgiveness, bitterness, resentment, and entitlement.
Jesus Gives the Peace That Umpires my life
I agree with what He said in John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you" 
 

Psalm 119:93, I will never forget Your precepts, For by them You have given me life.

Pilgrim or Traveler: How to Go From Strength to Strength
Pastor Bryan Hudson, D.Min.
WATCH TRIBUTE VIDEO FOR REV. HORACE BRYAN HUDSON
 
Psalms 84:5-7, Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a spring; The rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength, each one appears before God in Zion.
Based on Psalm 84:5–7, this message challenges believers to consider whether they are merely travelers moving through life for personal satisfaction or pilgrims moving with God-given purpose. The central text declares, “Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimage… They go from strength to strength.”
The sermon was also dedicated to Dr. Hudson’s father on the eve of his 90th birthday, connecting the message of pilgrimage, legacy, faith, and strength with the influence of previous generations.
Faith Requires Hope
Faith cannot function properly without hope. Drawing from Hebrews 11, the message defines hope as the picture of an expected outcome and faith as the substance that gives reality to that hope. Strong faith therefore requires strong, clear hope rooted in Scripture, God’s promises, purpose, and the testimony of what God has done in previous generations.
Remembering history and legacy helps create those pictures of hope. Just as Israel carried stones from the Jordan River as a memorial of God’s faithfulness, believers should preserve testimonies of what God has done so future generations can develop hope and faith for themselves.
Our Strength Is in God
Psalm 84 teaches two essential truths: our strength is in God rather than ourselves, and our hearts should be set on pilgrimage rather than mere travel. Skills, knowledge, experience, and accomplishments must never cause believers to forget the One who supplied their strength.
A pilgrimage is a journey with purpose. For the believer, pilgrimage is no longer primarily about traveling to a sacred geographical location. Because believers are complete in Christ, the pilgrimage is toward places of purpose, service, communion, and fulfillment of the will of God, and it is lived within covenant community.
Pilgrim Versus Traveler
The sermon presents an important contrast:
The traveler seeks satisfaction in the moment; the pilgrim seeks purpose for a lifetime.
Travelers primarily consume experiences for themselves; pilgrims move with purpose and look for opportunities to serve.
Pilgrimage is not merely reaching a destination—it is living an entire journey according to God’s purpose.
Dr. Hudson illustrates this through his six trips to Africa. Most were mission journeys focused on preaching, encouraging, feeding, helping, and strengthening people rather than sightseeing. The difference was purpose: he was there as a pilgrim, not simply as a traveler.
Passing Through the Valley of Baca
The Valley of Baca represents the difficult, dry, sorrowful, and sometimes tearful portions of a pilgrim’s journey. The sermon emphasizes that hardship is a normal part of purposeful living, but believers should distinguish between suffering encountered while following God and difficulties created through their own mistakes—what the sermon calls a “non-Baca valley.”
When believers encounter a true Valley of Baca while pursuing God’s purpose, they do not simply endure it. Through God’s grace, they transform the difficult place into a spring. God may not have caused the hardship, but He can sustain His people through it and bring something beneficial from it.
Turning Difficulty Into a Resource
One of the sermon’s strongest pictures comes from pilgrims traveling through dry places. They would dig wells or shallow cisterns to capture groundwater, rain, or moisture. The water sustained them, but when they continued their journey, the resource remained for whoever came behind them.
This becomes the deeper meaning of “strength to strength.” It is not simply:
I received strength, and now I receive even more strength for myself.
Rather:
God gives me strength, and I use what He has given me to add strength to someone else.
A pilgrim asks, “What can I do in this hard place that will become a spring for somebody coming behind me?”
From Strength to Strength Means Blessing Others
Going from strength to strength therefore has a generational and communal dimension. The believer's resources, experiences, lessons, victories, and even hardships can become resources that strengthen others. Rather than thinking only individually, believers are called to think about family, community, posterity, and the Kingdom of God.
Dr. Hudson connects this principle with caregiving, observing what others had done for their parents and later applying lessons from those examples while caring for his own father. He also gives the contemporary example of New Covenant Church making space available to Mindful Pieces Behavioral Therapy, demonstrating that even while personally traveling through a difficult season, it is still possible to create a resource that blesses someone else.
Pilgrimage Produces Legacy
The ultimate goal of pilgrimage is not simply personal achievement but legacy. The sermon makes this important distinction:
“An inheritance is what we leave to people. A legacy is what we leave within people.”
A pilgrim therefore moves through life asking not only, “What can I receive?” but, “What can I leave behind that will strengthen somebody else?”
The message closes with a confession of faith declaring:
I am a pilgrim, not merely a traveler. My heart is set on pilgrimage. I move with purpose toward service, communion, and fulfillment of God’s will. When I pass through a Valley of Baca, God helps me transform difficulty into a resource for others. By His grace, I go from strength to strength—not merely gaining strength for myself, but creating springs and pools that add strength to others.
Central Message
A traveler passes through life consuming experiences. A pilgrim passes through life with purpose, allowing God to turn even difficult places into resources that bless others. Going “from strength to strength” means receiving strength from God and then using that strength to strengthen the people and generations coming behind us.
And the supreme example of this purposeful pilgrimage is Jesus Christ, through whom every good thing is made possible.
CONFESSION OF FAITH
I am a Pilgrim, not only a traveler. My heart is set on pilgrimage, moving with purpose to places of purpose, service, communion, and fulfillment of the will of God.  I do not travel alone, but within covenant community.
I am not a traveler who seeks satisfaction in the moment. I am a pilgrim whose heart seeks purpose for a lifetime.  Pilgrimage is a long journey of purpose. It is not only a destination, but a journey.
When moving through a valley of Baca, God helps me transform the difficulty into a resource for others.
By the grace of God, I go from strength to strength, not only gaining more strength for myself, but creating springs and pools as resources that add strength to others.
As a pilgrim, I move with purpose to leave a legacy. Legacy is more than inheritance. An inheritance is what we leave to people. A legacy is what we leave within people.
My example is the pilgrimage of the Lord Jesus Christ, Who makes every good thing possible.
 

All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being. (1 Corinthians 10:23-24)
 
Paul was writing to the Corinthian church, which struggled with issues of liberty, idolatry, and community life. In 1 Corinthians 8, he addressed the question of eating food sacrificed to idols, showing that Christian freedom must be exercised with regard for others’ consciences.
Believers were using their freedom in Christ as justification for behaviors without considering consequences. Just because we CAN do something does not mean we SHOULD. Personal privilege and liberty must be balanced with considering others.
 
“Not all things are helpful” (or “expedient”). The Greek word used here means “profitable, beneficial, advantageous.” Freedom must be weighed against whether it produces spiritual or moral good.
 
This is a key phrase for Christ-followers who are not self-centered: "Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being." We should be about edifying others. The Greek word means “to build up, strengthen, promote growth.”
 
This should be our aim and culture—not "me," "myself," and "I."

“For with God nothing will be impossible.”  ~ Luke 1:37
“Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” ~ Luke 1:38

Psalm 37:23-24, The steps of a goodman are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way. 24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the Lord upholds him with His hand.

2 Timothy 2:3 You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier

2 Corinthians 5:15, And He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.”
 
AN AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
 
I am living the Legacy of Love provided by almighty God and His Son, Jesus Christ 
What I have received from God is not only with me, what I have received from God is within me.
I am moving away from lesser motivations to greater motivations.
The greatest motivator is the God kind of love.
The Love of Christ compels me, controls me, and motivates me.
When Jesus died, the old me died. When Jesus died, my lesser motivations died.
Jesus died so that I no longer have to live for myself, but for him who died for me and rose from the dead for me to experience new life.
God's legacy of love for me is my GPS. My direction, and re-direction comes from the Lord. God's love motivates me to live beyond what I want, what benefits me, how others see me, what makes me comfortable, or trying to control everything
"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."