Follow Jesus. Lead the church. Change the world.
From the beginning of our spiritual heritage, we’ve been taught to put God first. In fact, that’s how the Ten Commandments begin: “I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from slavery in Egypt. “Do not worship any other gods besides me…” (Exodus 20). And, Deuteronomy 6.4-6, which we’ve been lifting up, instructs us … Read more
Matthew 5.1-12-The Beatitudes Seeking my father’s approvalI played on the newly formed girl’s volleyball team when I was in high school. Being a new team we weren’t that great. We sure didn’t have a winning season. But I had a pretty mean serve. My dad didn’t go to a lot of my school functions, but … Read more
As long as I’ve been following Jesus, I have been interested in spiritual growth and transformation. I’ve been interested in the ways that Christ-followers grow. This series is something of an outgrowth of this interest. My goal is to be a spiritual leader (like the abbot in a monastic community) whose job it is to … Read more
Deuteronomy 8.1-6, 15-16Matthew 4.1-11 (The Temptation of Christ) Have you ever felt like you were going in circles? Have you ever been lost? Randy and I, not too long after we moved here, went to Greenwood Furnace and hiked up to the fire tower. On the way back we had the bright idea that when … Read more
Deuteronomy 6.1–9 “We are at this moment as close to God as we really choose to be. True, there are times when we would like to know a deeper intimacy, but when it comes to the point, we are not prepared to pay the price involved.” (J. Oswald Sanders) I’ve been looking forward to this … Read more
Job 1.13-22; 2.7-10 Matthew 5.1-12 – The Beatitudes A college student wrote the following note home: Dear Mom and Dad: I’m sorry to be so long in writing. Unfortunately, all my stationery was destroyed the night our dorm was set on fire by the demonstrators. I’m out of the hospital now, and the doctors say … Read more
In today’s worship time, we conducted John Wesley’s Covenant Service. It was a special time where Christ followers committed (and/or re-committed) their lives to God! We experienced God’s presence in a special way, and I pray that it was indeed a defining moment for each of us personally, and for us a community of faith. … Read more