Emerge Berkeley

Do you have to turn off your brain to believe in God? In this message from our ASKING FOR A FRIEND series, Dr. Garfield O. Harvey gives two kinds of answers. First, evidence anyone can check: the story of Francis Collins, who led the Human Genome Project and went from atheist to Christian, and the question Einstein called the eternal mystery of the world. Then what the Bible says about looking, asking, and testing, from Psalm 19.

If God is good, why is there so much pain? In this message from our ASKING FOR A FRIEND series, Dr. Garfield O. Harvey takes the question seriously, including the strongest argument against God, and looks at John 11, where two sisters tell Jesus, “If You had been here, my brother would not have died,” and Jesus weeps. The message asks what an honest answer to suffering has to do: let you be angry, come close, and tell you how it ends. It closes with a short prayer for anyone who is hurting.

How would I know any of this isn't made up? In the first message of our ASKING FOR A FRIEND series, Dr. Garfield O. Harvey takes on the question underneath all the others: Is the Bible reliable? Instead of asking you to take his word for it, he asks what you would need to believe it, then checks the Bible against four standards anyone would use on any claim. Drawing on Luke 1:1-4, Paul's earliest list of witnesses in 1 Corinthians 15, and the manuscript evidence, the message follows the evidence to the real question it leaves you with: Did Jesus rise? Bring your own questions. Curious and unconvinced are welcome here.

Why do most people sleepwalk through life? In this message, to close our WHO IS JESUS? series on Mark 13:32-37, Dr. Garfield Harvey unpacks what it means to be genuinely awake and attentive, rather than anxious or distracted, in a world that makes distraction easy.

Some people read good books, follow strong voices, and genuinely grow, yet still feel stuck. In this message from our Who Is Jesus? series, Dr. Garfield O. Harvey looks at Mark 6:34, where Jesus sees a crowd like sheep without a shepherd and is moved with compassion before He teaches a single word. Drawing on Ezekiel 34's ancient indictment of failed shepherds and Jesus's teaching on the difference between a shepherd and a hireling, this message names a real, common gap between being discipled and being shepherded, and what it costs to close it.

What if everything you've been taught about power and success is backwards? In this message on Mark 10:35-45, Dr. Garfield O. Harvey unpacks how Jesus redefines greatness as service, and authority as sacrifice, completely inverting the way this world measures significance.

Is following Jesus about agreeing with Him, or actually following Him? In this message on Mark 8:27-38, Dr. Garfield O. Harvey unpacks the difference between ideological agreement and the costly, whole-life reorientation Jesus actually calls disciples toward.

Why did Jesus keep eating with the people religious leaders avoided? In this message on Mark 2:13-17, Dr. Mimi Harvey explores how grace consistently disrupts our categories of who belongs, and what it looks like for a church to embody that same disruptive welcome today.

What if your brokenness isn't what disqualifies you from God, but exactly what He moves toward? In this message on Mark 1:40-45, Dr. Garfield O. Harvey unpacks the story of Jesus touching a man everyone else was taught to avoid, and what that means for anyone who feels unclean, unworthy, or unseen.

There's a difference between agreeing with Jesus and actually letting Him speak into your life. In this message on Mark 1:21-28, Dr. Garfield O. Harvey unpacks the authority of Jesus's teaching, and what it costs to move from polite distance to real encounter.