Informed Not Inflamed: Guarding Our Witness In A Divided World

In a world that never stops shouting, we're challenged to examine whether we're being informed or inflamed by the constant noise around us. In this message from Wednesday, January 28th 2026 Pastor Matt Cottrill draws from Romans 12:2, where we're reminded that awareness and conformity are vastly different—we can observe the world without absorbing its spirit. The powerful imagery of thermostats versus thermometers reveals our true calling: we're not meant to merely reflect the temperature of our culture's outrage and fear, but to set the spiritual temperature of every room we enter. The sobering truth emerges that what we consume repeatedly becomes what we believe, and when we allow news cycles to disciple us more than God's Word, fear replaces faith and outrage replaces intercession. Through scriptures like James 1:19-20 and Proverbs 15:1, we're confronted with the reality that our public expressions—especially on social media—can either draw searching souls toward Christ or become stumbling blocks that quietly close hearts. The message isn't about ignoring current events, but about filtering everything through the lens of one eternal question: Will this help someone find Jesus? When we choose grace alongside truth, kindness over sarcasm, and love over being right, we become the light that doesn't argue with darkness but simply transforms it by existing.