This midweek service on Wednesday, April 29, 2026 set aside the regular preaching for a special Ask The Pastor night, where Pastor Devon Ortiz answered questions submitted ahead of time by the church and asked live from the congregation. Pastor Ortiz explained that he had paused the format for a couple of months so the questions could reset rather than circling the same few topics, and he returned to it with a fresh set covering ministry, parenting, the new birth, and how a believer is meant to respond to God's Word.

If I am not called to the ministry, am I still supposed to serve in the church? Pastor Ortiz answered with an emphatic yes, turning to Ephesians 4. He pointed to the unity Paul describes, one body, one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and then to verse 11, where Christ gives apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. The key, Pastor Ortiz said, is the difference between the title and the work: a believer may not hold the title of apostle or prophet, but is still called to the work, to evangelize, to shepherd, and to teach. Men are to pastor their homes, young people are to watch over one another, and every Christian is called to the Great Commission. Verse 12 ties it together, that the gifted leaders are given "for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry." The moment a person is saved, Pastor Ortiz said, they are in the ministry. Those called vocationally treat it as their career and calling; every other believer still shares the work.

Do honoring and obeying parents stop once children are grown and out of the home? Staying in Ephesians, Pastor Ortiz pointed to chapter 6: "Children, obey your parents in the Lord," carrying the promise that it may be well with them and they may live long on the earth. He drew a careful line between obedience and honor. We are never meant to live without authority, he said, walking through the layers of accountability from infancy to school to coaches to college. Obedience to parents ends only when a child leaves to establish their own home, which biblically meant at marriage. Honor, however, never ends. A grown believer still answers to authority, and ultimately to the heavenly Father.

Does that command to honor still apply when it comes to a parent's guidance about a future spouse? Pastor Ortiz reaffirmed that honor stays in place for life while obedience ends at marriage. A grown child can decline a request from a parent without dishonoring them, for example saying "I cannot do that today, but let me see about tomorrow," because honor seeks to care for and respect the parent rather than simply obey every instruction. We honor, he said, by taking what we learned from our parents and carrying it into our own lives, just as we are commanded to honor our heavenly Father always.

How do I draw the line between being too tough and too soft as a parent? The question itself poses the problem, Pastor Ortiz said: the Bible does not give a line, it gives a target. Trying to be a buddy makes a parent too soft and forfeits respect; treating children as seen and not heard breeds resentment and loses relationship. The end goal is not a particular career but to raise children for Christ, and when that is the aim, discipline becomes clear. We discipline so children learn right from wrong, not out of anger or frustration. He cited "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it," explaining it does not guarantee a child never strays, but that they will always know when they have. He also urged parents to raise children to be released rather than to hover, giving them age-appropriate chances to make choices, from the nursery onward, so they learn to fall under authority and govern themselves.

What did Jesus mean by being "born of water and of the Spirit" in John 3? Pastor Ortiz set the scene with Nicodemus, a religious Pharisee who came to Jesus by night. When Jesus said no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again, Nicodemus took it literally and asked how a man could re-enter his mother's womb. Jesus answered that a man must be born of water and of the Spirit. The water, Pastor Ortiz explained, points to natural birth, the water that breaks when a child is delivered, our earthly, physical birth. The Spirit points to spiritual birth: when a person confesses their sin, recognizes they deserve hell, trusts that Christ paid the price, and is forgiven and made a new creature. Both births are required to enter the kingdom of God.

I take careful notes and listen closely in church, but I do not think it is changing my life. Why? Pastor Ortiz turned to James 1:22-25 and commended the book of James for its practical, hard-hitting teaching on living the Christian life. "Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." The hearer-only, James writes, is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror, then walks away and forgets what he looks like. Hearing without doing exposes one of three problems, Pastor Ortiz said: not caring to change, not willing to put in the effort, or outright rebellion. The blessing is promised to the doer of the work. He gave a concrete pattern: when a message convicts you, for instance about telling the truth, map out specific steps to obey, refusing to prop yourself up with lies, staying humble enough to look bad in order to be honest, and catching yourself mid-lie to correct it. Notes and recordings, he said, are tools, but obedience is a command, and the believer's responsibility is to do something with what he has heard.

Pastor Ortiz closed by thanking the church for its faithfulness to the midweek service, reminding them that genuine devotion to God's house often costs convenience, and praying that each member would honor their parents, honor the Lord, and walk faithfully in the ministry God has called every believer to share.