Have you ever gone back to your hometown after being away for a few years? Sometimes those visits are wonderful, but often they can be disappointing or even painful. Perhaps you expect people to be very glad to see you, but then your interactions don't quite live up to that. Maybe you're just reminded of how glad you are that you left and have made a new life somewhere els...
Keep ReadingHappy New Year to you all! I hope that this holiday season has been a blessed one for all of you. I also hope that those of you that have been sick are on the mend! As we look forward to a big 2020, I think it's fitting that we talk about our passage for this week. We've finished our series in the Psalms for Advent, and we're hopping back into our series on Mark this week....
Keep ReadingMerry Christmas from the church staff and leadership!We hope that everyone had a wonderful day yesterday and that you've got some good family time scheduled during these last few days of 2019.We always enjoy a more low-key worship service the Sunday after Christmas, and it's fun to see parents, grandparents, and extended family that are in town visiting our members.We have...
Keep ReadingHello Church Family, this is normally where I'd be talking about the upcoming Scripture text (Psalm 110) that we'll be looking at this morning.It's a great text, the most frequently quoted OT text in the NT.It'll be a great time of worship this Sunday and then the Christmas Eve service two nights later (who have you invited to that service?).But I want to take this space t...
Keep ReadingThis week we're continuing our Advent series on "Christmas in the Psalms." We're looking at a few Messianic Psalms that foretell some aspect of the coming of the Messiah. This Sunday, we'll be looking at Psalm 72 which will tell us something very comforting about "Christ the Lord" (After last week, we need something comforting)! It's a unique Psalm in that it addresses the...
Keep ReadingThis week we're continuing our Advent series on "Christmas in the Psalms." We're looking at five Messianic Psalms in December that foretell some aspect of the coming of the Messiah, each of which is among the most quoted Psalms in the New Testament. This Sunday, we'll be looking at Psalm 69 which will tell us something very different about "Christ the Messiah." It's a uniq...
Keep ReadingThis week we're leaving the Gospel of Mark for a season as we'll be starting our Advent series on "Christmas in the Psalms." But we won't be leaving "The King and His Cross" as we'll be looking at five Messianic Psalms over the next five weeks which foretell some aspect of the coming of the Messiah. The Psalms we'll be looking at are Psalm 2, 69, 72, 110, and 118 (in case ...
Keep ReadingBlack and white. Us and Them. We live in an increasingly polarized world. On just about anything, we're asked to pick sides. The contrasts in camps of people are becoming increasingly stark. But contrasts aren't just about segregating into groups. Contrasts often provide color and depth to our understand our world and experience. For instance, contrasts can help throw into...
Keep ReadingThis 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, ...
Keep ReadingThis 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...
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