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Mark Batterson
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Oct 3, 2025
About
Mark Batterson serves as lead pastor of National Community Church www.theaterchurch.com in Washington, DC. One church with seven locations. NCC is focused on reaching emerging generations and meets in theaters throughout the DC metro area. NCC also owns and operates the largest coffeehouse on Capitol Hill. Mark holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Regent University and is the New York Times bestselling author of 11 books, including The Circle Maker, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, Wild Goose Chase and the two most recent, The Grave Robber and Jack Staples and the Ring of Time.
Mark is married to Lora and they live on Capitol Hill with their three children: Parker, Summer, and Josiah. - See more at www.markbatterson.com
Posts (40)
Nov 14, 2025 ∙ 17 min
The Art of Living Unoffended
On August 22nd, 1851, the New York Yacht Club won the inaugural America’s Cup. It was a 53-mile regatta around the Isle of Wright. That New York Yacht club successfully defended their title 26 times. They held the title for 132 years. It was the longest winning streak in international sports history until 1983, when the Australia two finally broke that streak. How did they do it? Well, a wing keel designed by Dutch engineers did not hurt. But when you haven’t won a race in 132 years, the...
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Jul 21, 2025 ∙ 2 min
Get Away and Get Off the Grid
“But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.” -Luke 5:16 (NLT) The word retreat means “to move back.” The irony? That’s how you make forward progress. It’s as counterintuitive as the law of diminishing returns—less is more. If you want to make or break a habit, it’s a lot like learning a new dance. My repertoire is pretty limited, but I can floss and churn the butter , and I do a pretty mean running man . How did I learn those dance moves? I had to break it down and slow it...
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Jun 14, 2025 ∙ 22 min
The Homing Instinct
NATIONAL COMMUNITY CHURCH Straight From The Heart: The Homing Instinct Mark Batterson A few months ago, I was speaking to a group of guys, about 500 men in the room and I asked the question, how many of you were intentionally discipled by your dad? Three hands went up. Houston, we have a problem. That is .06 percent. We have biological fathers who have never learned what it means to be a spiritual father and then we wonder why marriages and families are falling apart. But we have a bigger...
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Apr 27, 2025 ∙ 17 min
How to Live the "Unoffended" Life
On August 22nd, 1851, the New York Yacht Club won the inaugural America’s Cup. It was a 53-mile regatta around the Isle of Wright. That New York Yacht club successfully defended their title 26 times. They held the title for 132 years. It was the longest winning streak in international sports history until 1983, when the Australia two finally broke that streak. How did they do it? Well, a wing keel designed by Dutch engineers did not hurt. But when you haven’t won a race in 132 years, the...
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Mar 25, 2025 ∙ 18 min
The Genius of Jesus
On June 16th, 1991, the Chicago Bulls were playing the New York Knicks. I grew up in the Chicago area, I think I watched every game that Jordan played, because it would be a sin of omission not to. But I didn’t just watch those games, after those games I would go out on my driveway and I would try to imitate and replicate every move that Jordan made. The ball fake, didn’t work real well. The head fake, right? The crossover dribble, the fade away jumper, and I would even go out and duplicate...
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Nov 19, 2024 ∙ 18 min
The Attitude of Gratitude
The will of God is a lot less circumstantial and a lot more attitudinal than we imagine. The circumstances we are asking God to change may be the circumstances God is using to change us. How do you cultivate the attitude of gratitude? 1.) Whatever you don’t turn into PRAISE turns into PRIDE. 2.) Your FOCUS determines your reality. 3.) Don’t let what’s WRONG WITH YOU keep you from worshipping what’s RIGHT WITH GOD. When I was a kid, one of my early memories is playing a game called Hide the...
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May 24, 2024 ∙ 2 min
Sidewalk Through the Sea
Word: Sidewalk Thru the Sea April 14, 2024 Speaker: Pastor Mark Batterson Scripture: Exodus 14, Revelation 3:7-9, Isaiah 22:22 Sermon Overview:Intheir exodus from Egypt, the Israelites found themselves between a rock and a hard place: the Pharaoh and his army pursuing them and the Red Sea preventing their escape. But Moses told the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord,” (Ex. 14:13). Moses was asking the people to stand on God’s promise to save them. And true...
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May 20, 2024 ∙ 17 min
Follow the Ark: Seek God's Presence
In 1931, America was in the depths of the Great Depression. A businessman by the name of Conrad Hilton was staring foreclosure in the face because people weren't traveling and his hotels were struggling. Hilton was actually borrowing money from a bellhop to make ends meet. That year, 1931, Conrad Hilton came across a photograph of the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. It was the most famous hotel in the world at the time. It had six kitchens, 200 chefs, 500 waiters, 2,000 rooms. It even had...
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Feb 3, 2024 ∙ 3 min
The Shame Game
Shame is a story you tell yourself about yourself. Like a news ticker that runs in the background of our minds, we have shame scripts that say: “I am unworthy, I am unlovable, I am not enough, I am a mistake.” God says you are His workmanship, fearfully and wonderfully made, the apple of His eye, more than a conqueror. If you want to change your life, you have to change your story! You are who God says you are. To believe anything else is false humility. UNASHAMED: The Shame Game August 13,...
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