April 21, 2020
Rejoice Always
In a recent conversation with a sister in Christ, she told me, “Pastor, I find it incredibly hard to be happy in days like this. When I can’t know what God is doing and why he is doing it, I…
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April 3, 2020
Discipling Our Kids at Home
When I moved to Los Angeles, I never thought I would have over two months of parenting that looked so much like Swiss Family Robinson and Little House on the Prairie. But, here we are. We’re working at home, eating…
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March 31, 2020
What’s the Point of the Resurrection?
We're about to embark on perhaps the strangest and best Easter of our lives. It will be an Easter without large brunches, egg hunts, and large worship services. In fact, it will be an Easter of sheltering in place, rising…
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March 24, 2020
The Power of Waiting and Remembering
There’s a time to create content and build a resource. And then there’s a time to stop, wait, feel, listen, and pray. As a team at Saturate, we’ve felt the need to go slow and not rush. We believe we…
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November 21, 2019
Our Father Comforts
The Soma Family of Churches lost a leader, friend, brother, husband, and devoted father last week. Randy Sheets’ impact for Jesus’s kingdom will never be fully known until we are together again in the new heavens and new earth.…
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September 23, 2019
Adopted Child of God
This post is an excerpt from a leader preparation article in Gospel Basics for Kids. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we…
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January 15, 2019
He is Always Calling Us Back
Read Part One Here. In no way is this meant to be a voice of condemnation, for I am the worst of us! However, I have personally come to a place of seeing my deep need for Jesus through…
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January 8, 2019
Enduring Trials Well
Measuring Suffering The aching desire for a spouse, the pain of losing a friend, the uncertainty of finding a job...these things all produce pain. Why is it, though, that we tend to compare our suffering to the next person,…
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December 11, 2018
Sent Where the Sin Is
As we at Saturate seek to commission disciple-makers of students (or anyone for that matter), we are confronted with circumstances and beliefs that seems to be stopping many from starting a new work or shifting their current ministry functions. There…
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December 4, 2018
We Need “Good Shepherd” Theology
During our family meal last week, my five-year-old son Caleb perched attentively on the arm of the padded chair in which I sat––my Bible sprawled open on the coffee table in front of us. “What does it mean for…
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November 29, 2018
What to Expect from People in DNA Groups
Expectations for being in a DNA Group Deep discipleship and transformation doesn’t happen in isolation. Rather, deep growth occurs in the soil of trusting relationships, where we can be known and loved, challenged and encouraged. This is the purpose…
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November 27, 2018
The Whole Gospel
This is an excerpt from the Adult Leader's Preparation for the first lesson of Gospel Basics for Kids. Each week of Gospel Basics has reflections and readings to help the teacher prepare to engage kids on the same topic.…
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November 22, 2018
Why Teach the Basics of the Gospel to Kids?
Why should we teach the basics of the Gospel to our kids? For no other reason than we are in a battle: For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against…
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November 21, 2018
New Resource Now Available!
We have a new resource for kids, families, communities, and churches. I'm very excited about it. This children's resource began as a simple guide for missional communities at Bread&Wine, a Soma Church in Portland, Oregon in 2009, during my first year…
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November 20, 2018
Speaking the Gospel with Children
Sometimes I think she understands, and I always wonder how amazed she will be when she fully comprehends the depth of the justice and righteousness Jesus brings to our lives, both here and in eternity. We are on the…
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November 16, 2018
Give Them Jesus
The apostle Paul, in his letter to the church in Ephesus, states: “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body…
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November 6, 2018
From One Generation to the Next
A Shaky Foundation Several years into my career as a youth pastor I had a crisis of purpose. I loved what I was doing and believed developing people and programs to support teenagers in their faith journey was one…
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October 23, 2018
It Must Be Connected
If you haven’t read the prior articles in this series, it might be helpful to review to give you some context. This is a continuation flushing out the E.P.I.C. generation acronym. (Experiential, Participatory, Image-rich, Connected). The goal is to…
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October 4, 2018
The Disciple and Trauma
As Americans watch the unfolding drama of the Supreme Court hearings, you can almost hear the nation collectively sigh in frustration, sadness, and disbelief. In many ways, these hearings are a culmination of many cultural currents: partisan politics, Trump…
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September 27, 2018
Gospel Parenting
Train up a Child Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it. PROVERBS 22:6 This verse could be literally translated as “Train a child according to his…
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September 25, 2018
All of Life is Worship
We were made to worship. We were made to adore, to long for, to delight in, to desire. We were made to have the deepest longings of our hearts met by someone or something outside of ourselves. Always Worshiping…
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September 13, 2018
Teenagers Are Not The Future of The Church
If the kingdom of heaven belongs to children and adolescents, then the church must believe and behave as if their presence matters. Regrettable Words When I was in full-time youth ministry I felt part of my job was to…
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August 23, 2018
Saturating our College Campuses
Saturate's vision is to see a gospel saturation movement happen in North America and beyond. We want to partner with God, like-minded churches, organizations, and individuals as He brings about the vision of seeing every man, woman, and child…
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August 21, 2018
Discipling Each Other
The most meaningful relationships in life are symbiotic: the people involved mutually benefit, encourage, and foster growth in each other. Growing as a disciple requires this kind of relationship by the power of the Holy Spirit and through the…
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July 24, 2018
It Must Be Image Rich
If you haven’t read the prior articles in this series, it might be helpful to review to give you some context. This is a continuation flushing out the E.P.I.C. generation acronym. (Experiential, Participatory, Image-rich, Connected). The goal is to…
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June 1, 2018
It Must Be Participatory
If you haven’t read the first or second part of this series, it might be helpful to review to give you some context of this series. This is a continuation diving into the E.P.I.C. acronym. (Experiential, Participatory, Image-rich, Connected). …
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May 28, 2018
Top 3 Resources to Maximize Your Summer
It's officially summer! School is wrapping up, the days are getting longer, and your days and weekends are likely getting packed with exciting events, projects, camps, and vacations. While many of your summer days might already be spoken for, the…
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May 2, 2018
Episode 043: Engaging Grief as a Community
In this episode of the Saturate Podcast, Brad Watson talks with Mirela Watson about their experience with grief, and how missional communities can love one another through loss.
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April 26, 2018
Resting In Jesus
He wants me to rest in Him and invites me into what He is doing for His glory. That doesn’t sound like a burden that sounds like freedom. I remember it well. I was sitting in my dining room…
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April 17, 2018
This is War!
Under Attack You’re dealing with health issues again. Someone you thought was committed to doing life with you has disappeared. Someone else is saying things about you that aren’t true. A magnetic individual in your community seems to be…
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March 29, 2018
It Must Be Experiential
If you haven’t read the first part of this series, it might be helpful to check it out first to give you some context of where I’m going with the rest of this series. The next 4 articles will unpack…
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March 8, 2018
Training Our Children to Pray
Recently, as I was leading our family devotional time at the dinner table, I decided to use the four questions I often train on: Who is God? What has He Done? Who are we? What do we do? As…
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February 13, 2018
The Ministry of Showing Up
It’s not just a student thing though, it’s an everyone in the church thing. We all need mentors, we need to be discipled, we need role models, we need counselors, advisors, guides. Last night I sat in the living…
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February 1, 2018
Making Space
Do you know what’s most important in life? Do you feel too busy to make time for those things? This study gleans wisdom from the Book of Proverbs and from the example of Jesus to show you how to…
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January 25, 2018
On Mission with Us
While I do want to fully treasure these years I have with my children, more than anything I want them to know without a doubt who I treasure and to come to treasure Him themselves. Last night, my eight-year-old…
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January 18, 2018
Proactive Mission to Vulnerable Kids and Families
Our longing should be for vulnerable kids to encounter the love of the Father through our community, for parents and kids who have been separated to get a picture of the reconciliation that comes through Jesus, and for those…
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