Sunday, June 16: Baptism The other day, my daughter screeched at me, “DAD! You haven’t been listening to a word I have been saying!!!!” What a strange way to start a conversation. Be thinking of your favorite dad jokes and make sure there is propane in the barbecue, because this Sunday is Father’s Day! It’s […]
Sunday, June 9: Moses Deuteronomy 31–34 If you knew that you were coming to the end of your life, and you had one last chance to share a word of wisdom with your family, what would you say? How would you summarize your life in one lesson? Would you share a mistake you made that you […]
Sunday, May 26: Moses Numbers 20:1–13 Have you ever wondered if the decisions you make in your life actually matter? If you grew up with “Choose your own adventure” books you might remember the drastic consequences that a single wrong decision could make. Turn to page 23, and oh! Quicksand. Life or death at the […]
Sunday, May 19: Moses Numbers 16 We all have a rebellious streak resident within us. The only difference is the size of the stripe. The problem of rebellion against authority is as age old as Adam and Eve sinning in the garden. From then on, rebellion became a part of the human condition. If you […]
Sunday, May 5: Moses Numbers 13–14 Many of us are familiar with the story of Israel sending the twelve spies into the Promised Land in Numbers 13–14. When ten of the spies (all but Joshua and Caleb) report back that there is no hope for defeating the giants who live in the land, Israel loses heart […]
Sunday, April 7: Moses Exodus 17:1–7 At the start of Exodus 17 the Israelites have come a long way. God had prepared and sent them a deliverer in the person of Moses to help them escape from Egypt. Then when their backs were against the wall, with the Egyptian army behind them and the Red […]
Sunday, March 31: Moses Exodus 16 The Israelites still don’t trust God? Even after the plagues? Even after the Red Sea being split? Actually, this week in Exodus 16 we see the patient provision of a loving God. When the Israelites still grumbled, God chose to give them ‘manna’ from heaven. But they would soon […]
Sunday, March 24: Moses Exodus 13–15 Having been freed from slavery in Egypt, the Israelite people find themselves setting off in a new direction. For the first time since they were enslaved the Israelites are confronted with the immensity of the question, “What now?” Now that we don’t have to make bricks everyday, now that […]
Sunday, March 17: Moses Exodus 11–12 As God continues to make himself known to Pharaoh, Moses, and everybody in Egypt really, the ever-more dangerous plagues finally reach their crescendo in chapters 11 and 12. In the tenth plague we see the final consequences of a life lived in opposition to God, death. While the death […]
Sunday, February 10: Moses Exodus 5–11 Last week, Gary shared a quote from A.W. Tozer: “What we think about when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” There is truth to this. Your thoughts about God affect much of your life and behavior. If you think God is judgmental, you’re going […]
Sunday, March 3: Moses Exodus 3–4 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Exodus 3:14) Last week we left Moses in bare feet, standing in front of a shrub burning with the presence of God, when the Lord […]
Sunday, February 17: Moses Exodus 2:1–10 If you were to make a Mount Rushmore of Old Testament figures, who would you put on it? (One rule: you can’t say “Jesus.”)You’d probably put Abraham on it. After all, the three major western religions all trace their origins to Abraham. You might put Jacob on it. The […]
Sunday, February 3: Lord of All Acts 19:1–20 “And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” Acts 19:2 As the gospel message spreads, Paul and his crew reach a wider and wider audience, pick […]
Sunday, January 27: Lord of All Acts 18:1–28 “After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.” Acts 18:1 We spent last Sunday with the Apostle Paul in Athens where he delivered his famous Mars Hill message. This Sunday we pick things up in the city of Corinth as he begins the last leg of […]
Sunday, January 20: Lord of All Acts 17:16–34 God is not far from each of us. Acts 17:26 This week we come to one of the most well-known scenes in the story of Acts: The Message of Paul on Mars Hill.In the middle of Acts 17 the Apostle becomes separated from his traveling companions and […]
Sunday, January 13: Lord of All Acts 17:1–15 What do we mean when we say “Jesus is Lord”? What is He lord of? A country? A people? An idea? And what about other so-called “lords”? What are they lords of? Last week’s message on Acts 16 ended with Paul leaving the Roman colony Philippi in relative peace […]
Sunday, January 6: Lord of All Acts 16:16–40 What must I do to be saved? That’s the question posed to Paul in Acts 16:16-40. It’s asked by a Philippian jailer who had no familiarity with God or with the Bible. The jailer was just a regular guy working a regular job for Rome. He guarded all kinds of […]
Sunday, December 30: Lord of All Acts 15:36–16-15 Following the clarification given by the Jerusalem council in Chapter 15, Paul sets out to strengthen and encourage the churches that he, and his missionary team, planted earlier on. The message they have is important, especially for the Gentiles who are still a little unsure of their […]
Sunday, December 9: Lord of All Acts 14:1–28 Three times in the New Testament Paul describes his life before Jesus. In each of his accounts, he uses the same word to describe his demeanor—zeal. Paul had intense passion for God and for his people, Israel.So, when he is set apart for missionary service, Paul is […]
Sunday, December 2: Lord of All Acts 13:13–52 “And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you.’” Acts 13:32-33 One of […]
Sunday, November 25: Lord of All Acts 13:1–13 Acts 13 opens with the Spirit of God and the church at Antioch setting apart and sending out Paul and Barnabus for what will become their first missionary journey. Together, along with an intern named John Mark, they sail to the Island of Cyprus to tell people about […]
Sunday, November 18: Lord of All Acts 12:1–24 Christmas is still a few weeks away, but I thought it might be nice to have an early Christmas message this year. It’s the story of Mary and a miracle. It’s a story where an Angel appears with a message of hope. There is a star and […]
Sunday, November 4: Lord of All Acts 10:1–48 This week we are going to look at a guy who wanted to worship God but couldn’t because he was unclean.This guy had quite a story. First, he was a slave. Somehow, he ended up in the Roman infantry, and then he so distinguished himself that he […]
Sunday, October 14: Lord of All Acts 9:1–19 Last summer we did a study based on the questions of Jesus. At the start of the series, we looked at the first recorded question of Jesus in Luke 2. As a young boy he had been left behind by Joseph and Mary in Jerusalem, and when […]
Sunday, October 7: Lord of All Acts 8:4–40 I hope you are looking forward to Sunday as much as I am. There is something special about gathering together with God’s people in corporate worship. We encounter God in many ways during the week, but corporate worship remains a category of its own. This week, we […]
Sunday, August 26: Questions of Jesus John 7:53–8:11 This week we are going to look at a fascinating story about Jesus. In John 8:1-11, a woman is caught in the act of adultery and brought to Jesus for judgment. All is not as it seems, though. John tells us that she was brought to Jesus […]
Sunday, August 19: Questions of Jesus Luke 7:36–50 In our text this week Jesus tells a little story that closes with a question. It’s a real simple story. Two people owe someone money but one person owes ten times as much as the other. When neither person can pay it back, however, both are forgiven of […]
Sunday, August 12: Questions of Jesus Mark 4:35–41 Do you remember the feeling of being afraid of the dark? As a child, if you heard the tiniest sound you knew for certain a stranger was pushing open a basement window and would be coming up the stairs any minute to kidnap you. Or, you might […]
Sunday, August 5: Questions of Jesus Luke 10:25–37 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers? Luke 10:36 One of the ways that Jesus taught during his earthly ministry was with a beautifully-formed question. The sort of questions that made his listeners pause […]
Sunday, July 29: Questions of Jesus Mark 10:17–22 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” Mark 10:17-18 […]
Sunday, July 22: Questions of Jesus John 6:1–71 One of the many things I appreciate about Jesus is that he always told people the truth, even if it hurt.This week we come to a scene where Jesus needs to tell some folks the truth about themselves and it is not very pretty. In fact, rather […]
Sunday, July 15: Questions of Jesus Luke 8:43–48 And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.” Luke 8:45 What does it mean […]
Sunday, July 8: Questions of Jesus John 11 The Jewish historian Josephus tells the story of a first-century shepherd who rose up to become king of the Jews. There was nothing remarkable about this shepherd. He wasn’t wealthy. He wasn’t educated. He wasn’t powerful. The shepherd was humble and unassuming, but he had passion for […]
Sunday, July 1: Questions of Jesus Matthew 16:13–17 Imagine what it must have been like for the first followers of Jesus to see him in action. Healing the sick. Casting out demons. Multiplying bread and fish. Calming storms. Walking on water. Raising the dead. What would it have been like to see those things live? […]
Sunday, June 17: Baptism Happy Father’s Day! I don’t know if you have any Father’s Day traditions, but we do at church! On Father’s Day, we like to celebrate new life in Christ with baptisms. This week we are going to baptize a number of people who want to make their faith in Jesus known. […]
Baby Dedication – May 13th 2018 Today we celebrate mothers across the world for their tireless efforts in raising their beloved babies to the people they have become. Thanks for everything you’ve done and continue to do for us, we love you!
Sunday, May 6: Witness Acts 4:1–22 The first three chapters of Acts are pretty good for the church. They receive the Spirit, they speak in tongues, they heal people, and they live in peace and harmony. It’s miracles and salvations all around! Well, that all changes in chapter 4 when the church experiences its first […]
Sunday, April 29: Witness Acts 3:1–26 Imagine for a second that you have been wheelchair-bound your whole life.You have never been able to walk. Now, imagine one day that you are instantly and miraculously healed so that you have full use of your legs. What would be the first thing you would do? This was […]
Sunday, April 15: Witness Acts 1:12–26 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Acts 1:8 In some of his final words to the Apostles before he left, Jesus […]
Sunday, April 8: Witness Acts 1:1–11 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Acts 1:8 Last Sunday we celebrated Easter. This week we’re launching a new study series called Witness, based […]
Sunday, February 11: Joseph Genesis 42:1–38 When we think of the faithfulness of God, it’s easy to think of the Bible’s “Main Characters.” The big names of the Bible get their own cartoon movies: Moses and Joseph, or even Dave and the Giant Pickle, if you prefer Veggie Tales. We understand how God was faithful […]
Sunday, February 4: Joseph Genesis 41:1–57 What God does in us while we wait is as important as what we are waiting for. Ben Patterson I don’t know about your Bible, but in mine there is about an inch of white space between Genesis chapters 40 and 41. It doesn’t look like much on paper […]
Sunday, January 28: Joseph Genesis 40:1–23 It was only when I lay there on rotting prison straw that I sensed within myself the first stirring of good. Gradually, it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either, but right through […]
Sunday, January 21: Joseph Genesis 39:1–23 Last week, we continued our study of the life of Joseph and saw him sold into slavery by his brothers. Our passage ended with Joseph on the slave train to Egypt.This week, we pick up the story in Genesis 39. Joseph is in Egypt and he finds himself a […]
Sunday, January 14: Joseph Genesis 37:12–36 How do we keep our faith when times are hard?That is going to be our question over the next two weeks as we continue our study of the life of Joseph. Last week, Gary introduced the story. We saw that years of favoritism had created a rift between Jacob’s […]
Sunday, December 17: Champs & Misfits Hebrews 13:1–25 If you have never read The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis you really should get around to it. It’s an imaginary story centered on a group of children who encounter Christ – except in the fictional world of Narnia, Jesus is represented by a huge lion, named Aslan.In […]
Sunday, November 26: Champs & Misfits Hebrews 11:32–12:2 “You do not have to sit outside in the dark. If, however, you want to look at stars you will find darkness is required.” Annie Dillard God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Is that true? The first part is, of course. God […]
Sunday, November 19: Champs & Misfits Hebrews 11:23–31 In Matthew 13, Jesus tells this story about a guy considering a piece of property. He goes out to inspect the land and decide whether or not it’s worth the asking price. While he’s poking around in the dirt, he notices something shiny. Curious, he digs around […]
Sunday, November 5: Champs & Misfits Hebrews 11:4–7 In Hebrews 11, the writer introduces us to a long list of people who lived “by faith.” At the same time, these same people, were considered weird, if not crazy, by the world around them.Noah’s neighbors no doubt believed he was certifiable when he began building a […]
Sunday, October 29: Champs & Misfits Hebrews 11:1–3 There are a lot of ideas floating around about what faith is. Some are metaphorical: “Faith is the heart of the soul.” (Anonymous) Some are theological: “Faith is to believe, on the Word of God, what we do not see and its reward is to see and enjoy what […]
In Luke 12:35-46, Jesus tells this story about a guy who goes off to a wedding and leaves some servants in charge of his house. Jesus said that foolish servants would take advantage of their master’s extended vacation and think, “party time!” After all, if the master returned to a scene from Animal House, things […]
Sunday, October 15: Champs & Misfits Hebrews 10:19–25 In 2 Samuel 6, David is transporting the ark of the covenant from Kiriath-jearim to Jerusalem on an oxen-drawn cart. When one of the oxen stumbles along the way, a guy named Uzzah reaches his hand out to touch the ark, and God strikes him down for […]
Sunday, February 5: Jacob Genesis 30:25–43 We have been journeying through the life of Jacob for a few weeks now. From his angel-heralded birth, to his deception of Esau and Isaac, to his vision of God, Jacob’s life has been full of drama. Now we’ve know from the beginning that Jacob would inherit the blessing […]
Sunday, December 11: One Ephesians 6:10–24 “Now, I want you to remember that no [one] ever won a war by dying for his country. . . .”“Brothers, what we do in life echoes in eternity.” “ . . . [T]hey may take our lives, but they will never take OUR FREEDOM!” I considered painting my […]
Sunday, November 6: One Ephesians 3:14–21 What do you want to be when you grow up? No, I don’t mean what kind of job you want when you get out of school—I mean what kind of person do you want to be as you grow older? Do you want to be more joyful? More content? […]
Sunday, October 30: One Ephesians 3:1–13 What are you worried about right now?Job? Family? Money? Health? The elec—no, we’re not going there. I bet there’s something on your mind. There’s a lot to stress about in life, and if we lose sight of the big picture, it’s easy to freak out. But it doesn’t have […]
Sunday, October 23: One Ephesians 2:11–22 We are just a couple of weeks away from the Presidential election. Is everybody excited about this? One thing that came up early on in the debates was the idea of building a wall on the border between the U.S and Mexico. It’s an idea that has been both […]
Sunday, October 16: One Ephesians 2:1–10 Ephesians 2:1–10 is one of the most famous passages ever penned by Paul. In it, the apostle succinctly explains God’s work in our lives through the death and resurrection of Jesus. It’s a familiar passage to many of us (and for good reason!).But, like the ideas of many familiar […]
Sunday, July 24: Plowshares & Pruning Hooks Zephaniah Have you noticed that all these guys are starting to sound alike? If I read different passages of each prophet to you, I suspect you would be hard pressed to know which one was which. You start to wonder, did they all sit together in class and copy […]
Sunday, June 19: Baptism & Father’s Day G.K. Chesterton wrote, “Christianity is a sacramental religion, that is, a religion of the flesh.” That’s true! While much of God’s work is done in our hearts, He has left us with signs of His work that remind us that our faith involves our flesh. Baptism is one of […]
Sunday, June 12: Plowshares & Pruning Hooks Joel When was the last time you heard a sermon on the wrath of God? It’s not on the list of “felt needs” that you typically hear addressed in church. In fact, I get a little uncomfortable thinking about it. I bet you do, too. Regardless of how […]
Sunday, May 22: Steadfast Nehemiah 10–12 What’s your problem? Those are the words that opened our Steadfast series. Nehemiah certainly had a problem: the walls of Jerusalem were torn down and the city was a laughing stock to all of its neighbors. His problem was big and it seemed impossible to solve. This week we are going […]