HOPE

Part of Pastor Mark’s sermon this past Sunday focused on the hope of God’s servants, as found in the last chapter of Revelation 22.  As a side note, and to clarify the difference between wishing and hoping – wishing grows out of our earthly desires; hope grows out of our faith.  Hope is oriented toward…

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INSIGNIFICANCE

The Bible is chock-full of stories of God making much of those society does not. Many “heroes” in the Bible had humble beginnings, such as David or Gideon, and their society did not make much of them. But God did. And when He did, amazing things happened. Now let’s turn our attention to the directives…

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THE PURPOSE OF CHRISTMAS

December is a time when we focus on giving and receiving gifts.  Sometimes to the point that we allow the commercialization of Christmas to distort what should be a spiritual celebration into a negative experience with lots of stress. While showing our love to others through giving is important, it is secondary to the real…

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THE WEIGHT OF GLORY

I’d like to do something a little different for this blog post. The writings of C.S. Lewis have made an incredible difference in my life and as you may know by now, I often quote him. I’d love to just share a sample of his writing today. It perfectly ties in with Pastor Mark’s sermon…

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IN CHRIST ALONE

Philippians 1:6 And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (ESV) In Pastor Harry’s sermon this past Sunday, he used a graphic that illustrated where we start as Christ-followers, at the point where by faith we accept Christ’s death…

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MORE THAN JUSTIFIED

There’s nothing quite like justification. The more you meditate on what Jesus has done, the more mind-blowing it is. There is NO condemnation for those who are in Christ.  We have the FREE gift of grace and everlasting life. We have the peace of the Holy Spirit NOW. Even if nothing else in the world…

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PLANNING FOR OUR DESTINATION

In his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey instructs the reader to begin with the end in mind.  While his point-of-view in the book is one solely about this temporary physical life, the principle is nonetheless valid for us as Christ-followers in that our end (our destination), as Pastor Lawrence preached this…

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GIVING CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE

It is probably not hyperbole to say that the Apostle Paul has given us some of the most beloved passages in Scripture, some of which Pastor Mark touched on this past Sunday as he covered the Scarlet Thread through the epistles. These passages have given many Christians courage and strength when they discovered they had…

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DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES?

In February of 1980, the Cold War between the US and Russia was not only cold, it was icy. The US was in a bad emotional place with long gas lines but also depressed by the hostages taken by Iran in 1979 still being held (and the ill-fated rescue mission yet to take place). The…

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INNARDS

One of the exhortations that we see over and over throughout Scripture, from the Old Testament through the New, is to bear fruit. Jesus said we would be KNOWN by it. In our consumerist culture, however, we are often confused about what that means. In business, it means profits, production, etc. In politics, it means…

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