I was just reading through some news articles this week and I'm continually amazed, especially in this election season, how easily we make ourselves out to be far better than we are. We rate ourselves as above-average drivers, wise investors, and productive employees, even though math dictates that can't be true for all of us. We also tend to believe we are less likely tha...

We are continuing our series on Jeremiah this Sunday, and we've come to Jeremiah 7:1-29. And over the past couple of months, as Jeremiah confronted the people of God with their sin, we also were confronted with ours. And this Sunday is no different. To be honest, this week has been difficult to prepare because it's telling me something that I don't want to hear. Jeremiah ...

After traveling last week to Georgia and Florida, it was good to come back home. I like returning to what's familiar, to what's comfortable, to all those things (and people) that make home ... home. But sometimes that can backfire on us too. We get so used to the comfortable and familiar we're no longer able to see how that can sometimes harm us as well. We become blind ...

This Sunday, we're continuing our trek through the book of Jeremiah. It's been kind of a depressing journey thus far. We have been treated to a tapestry of horrors just in the first 3 chapters of Jeremiah. The faithlessness and sin of God's people is stunning. And here in chapter 4:5-31, we begin to see the consequences of their wicked behavior. The judgment that we expec...

Have you ever been disappointed? I'm sure you have. Perhaps when you were a kid Christmas morning came and you didn't get that one present you really wanted. Or when you were a teen you didn't get that prom date you set your heart on. Or maybe you picked out the perfect college ... until you got that letter. Then you entered the work force, and got that first job intervie...

Have you ever gotten lost? Just driving around with absolutely no idea where you are or how to get where you're supposed to be going? That happens a lot less than it used to with the advent of GPS devices and map apps on our phones. But it's enormously frustrating when it does happen. And it still happens sometimes (usually when your phone dies and you forgot your car char...

Have you ever seen someone make a complete train wreck of their lives? Maybe you saw it from a distance? Or perhaps it was up close and personal? Sadly, it's common enough that most of us have, or will, suffer through watching such a personal disaster. And sometimes it's made even more difficult because you see it coming before it happens. You're watching people make bad...

Have you ever had something happen to you that you couldn't figure out? Perhaps it was some illness or injury or accident? Maybe it was a relational failure of some sort? Or even a missed opportunity at work? But some event or circumstance has taken place in your life, and as hard as you try to understand it, you can't come up with why this is happening to you. Maybe you...

There are things I love and don't love about starting the new school year. I don't like to see summer come to a close -- there's a relaxation to summer that I don't feel any other time of year and I don't look forward to the hecticness of the fall. And yet, at the same time, there's an excitement about starting new things - and at Potomac Hills we're starting a number of...

The Book of James is extremely practical. It goes over very specific, very concrete aspects of practical Christian living. This Sunday, we'll be finishing our series on James, entitled "We Walk in Wisdom." And we'll be looking at James 5:13-20 on having "Wisdom in Prayer." It tells us two things. It tells us about the power of prayer in general, and then it tells us abou...