This week we're in the miracles of Jesus. Last week I told you that the parables are often miracles in story form. Well, often the miracles are parables in action. And we have something of that in our text this week, Mark 4:35-41, the well-known story of Jesus calming the storm. Now, Jesus has already done a lot in front of the disciples. He's taught, He's healed people, ...

This week we're in the parables of Jesus. The parables basically tell us that we're doing everything wrong. And we have a hard time with that. Most of the time, we're trying (very hard) to do everything right! Okay, not everyone, but surely you are! And now Jesus is sharing parables to help us see that the ways of the Kingdom are not the ways of the world. Things are backw...

Happy Reformation Day! If you're reading this on what most of America celebrates as Halloween, you're actually reading it on the 502nd anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany. While the Reformation was much bigger than Luther, and the 95 Theses didn't address everything that the Reformation stood for, it was a hug...

This week we'll see how Jesus answers those who question what He's doing. Our passage for this week, Mark 3:20-35, begins with Jesus' family showing up and wanting to take Him home so He'll stop embarrassing everyone with all of this sensationalistic, miraculous, healing stuff that He was doing And right in the middle of this family mess, another group shows up and questi...

I hope you were blessed by last Sunday's celebration of our 25th Anniversary. Many thanks to Cici Palm and Dave Dorst for all their hard work (BTW, the link to the slide show is now posted on Realm and in our Facebook group). I was greatly appreciative that Ligon Duncan made time in his super busy schedule to be with us. And every time I think back to Mark Phoebe Rist's r...

Well, we've finally made it. This Sunday we celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Potomac Hills. What an amazing milestone. We have an exciting day lined up. In the morning, one of the leading Reformed thinkers in the world today, Dr. Ligon Duncan, Chancellor of Reformed Theological Seminary, will be with us. He will speak to a combined Teen / Adult Sunday School class at 9:30...

In preaching, some of the best advice is to keep the main point of the passage as the main point of the sermon. This is great advice because there so such a depth to the Scriptures. There are books galore that go into meticulous and interesting detail about each verse, or even word, of the text. It’s easy to miss the forest for the trees when preparing for a sermon. And ...

Have you ever tried to do the right thing and had people criticize you for it? And so you changed what you were doing and did it the way you thought they wanted it done and you still got criticized for it. And by the same people! If you do it this way, they get mad and if you do it that way, they get mad. No matter what you try to do they get mad and you can't win. And...

Have you ever gotten really, really hurt? I hope not, because getting hurt is well, painful. No one likes getting hurt. I speak from experience. I've broken multiple bones, torn multiple tendons and ligaments, have had multiple surgeries and probably need a few more. Another pastor once wrote me (after yet another surgery) that "scars are God's way of reminding you that y...

If your family is like our family, lots of things have been starting lately. School is back, classes are underway, kids sports have had a couple games, college and pro football have had their first clashes on the field. It's all very exciting and there's a lot more to come. Our sermon series in Mark is underway, as well. What we've covered in Mark in one chapter takes a...