Dear Family of Christ,Saturday of Holy Week is a bit strange in the scriptures. Nothing happens in the Gospels. Jesus is laid in the tomb before sundown on Friday and nobody goes to the tomb on the Sabbath day of Saturday. The day in the Old Testament started at sundown and went until the next sundown. It is not until Sunday morning when...
Read MoreDear Family of Christ, Maundy Thursday They went to a place called Gethsemane. Jesus knew Judas and the guards were on their way to arrest him. Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. "My soul is overwhelmed with...
Read MoreDear Family of Christ,During this Holy Week, one of the more unusual days for this week is today which I have heard called Spy Wednesday. It has been called this at differing times in the history of the Church. It is because on this day Judas made an agreement with the chief priests to betray Jesus and looked for an opportunity...
Read MoreDear Family of Christ, It was great yesterday to see a few more faces in Church as we celebrated Palm Sunday. This week has reminded me of last year when everything was shut and services only virtual. It is great to see so many people who have had the vaccine and things returning a little closer to normal. We always need to...
Read MoreDear Family of Christ,Today is known as the Ides of March (March 15). It was known in the Roman world as a sacred day and this day was known as a day to settle all debts. In 44 BC the Emperor Julius Caesar was assassinated in the Roman Senate. It was a power struggle between the collective group of the Senate and the...
Read MoreDear Family of Christ, This morning I was able to speak about the eternal blessings of Jesus as we laid into the ground the fleshly remains of one of our members Martha Clark. Martha loved to sing and has blessed us with her voice throughout the years. I mentioned this morning that she was brought into an incredible choir in...
Read MoreDear Family of Christ Member,This past week we were thankful for the blessings that have been bestowed upon us all during 2020. Thanksgiving is the theme of the month of November which allows us time to reflect on the past year and celebrate with those we cherish the most - family and friends! The year has been the most unique...
Read MoreDear Family of Christ, It is Black Friday morning and there are no lines in the stores, except maybe in the checkout lines at Amazon and on-line. This weekend starts the season of Advent, the four weeks leading up to Christmas. It is a season of waiting. That message may one that is a familiar theme for 2020. We are...
Read MoreDear Family of Christ, I pray all of you have a blessed Thanksgiving. As I talked about Sunday, in my sermon, this year is bittersweet since we are not going to see my parents in Arizona due to the virus. The corona virus has altered the whole year and our lives in so many ways. I was intrigued by one...
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6 I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer. 7 Show me the wonders of your great love, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes. 8 Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow...
Read MoreHearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and...
Read MorePastor's Blog 3/19“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear.” March 19, 2020 People are afraid. Yesterday I went to Publix to buy a few things and the one thing I could not get was bread. I figured that there was a rush on that in the mornings so I went this morning at 8am, when...
Read MoreCOMING SOON IN 2020 !A 40-Day Life-Changing Discipleship Challenge through Lent that the whole church will be involved in. By putting the Words of Jesus into practice, you will find the life you were made for.
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But Jacob replied, “I will not let go unless you bless me.” Genesis 32:26 Have you ever been at a fork in the road of life? Jacob was, and he was going home and wondering if his brother could forgive him. He had done the wrong thing far too many times before and had left home because his brother was...
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Chronicles 1:10. “Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?” Solomon here is asked by God, what he would like to have among all things in this world? Anything? What would you ask for if you were told by God to ask for anything you desire? For...
Read MoreAsh Wednesday 2019 March 6 40 Days of Prayer and Service One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished one of his disciples said to him. Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples. (Luke 11:1) Forty days is a sacred amount of time in the scriptures. Jesus fasted and prayed in the...
Read MoreReadings for the weekend of October 13 & 14, 2018. OLD TESTAMENT Jeremiah 11:18-20 18 Because the Lord revealed their plot to me, I knew it, for at that time he showed me what they were doing. 19 I had been like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter; I did not realize that they had plotted against me, saying, “Let us destroy the tree and its...
Read MoreReadings for the weekend of October 6 & 7, 2018. OLD TESTAMENT Isaiah 50:4-10 4 The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed. 5 The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears; I have not been rebellious, I have not turned away. 6 I...
Read MoreI remember when my daughter Kaylee was 6 and our family was going zip-lining. She wasn't so sure about it. In fact, it took some convincing to get her to do it and even then she would only go if she could do it tethered to Melissa. Once she did it, though, it was a different story. Not only was...
Read MoreScripture reading for the weekend of April 21 and 22, 2018. OLD TESTAMENT Acts 4: 1-12 (Peter and John proclaim the message of Jesus crucified and rising from the dead.) The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. They were greatly disturbed because...
Read More"But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely...
Read MoreAnd if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised.For if the dead are not raised,...
Read MoreHe Is Risen!! "Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” " John 20:27-28 I watched the movie, Jumanji - Welcome to the Jungle, the other night. If you aren't familiar with the Jumanji movies, the...
Read MoreMark, Luke, and John have no accounts of anything happening on the day after Good Friday. This would be expected because it is the Sabbath day and they would be expected to be doing nothing. However, in Matthew, we have what some of the Pharisees did on this day after Good Friday.The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the...
Read MoreHave a blessed Good Friday. Today is a day that is filled with the greatest tragedy of human history becoming the greatest blessing ever given humanity. The Gospels are full of everything that happened with the trial of Jesus going on throughout the night. The interrogations by Pilate and Herod are surrounded by the denials of Peter even knowing Jesus....
Read MoreToday is Maundy Thursday. I am often asked, What does Maundy mean? It comes from the new command in Latin (novum mandatum) to love just as Jesus has loved us."My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am...
Read MoreToday is Wednesday of Holy week and this is the calm day before everything happens in the next few days. Jesus taught in the temple during the week and each night returned to Bethany and spent time with friends like Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. They would often stop in the garden of Gethsemane to pray and rest in the journey...
Read MoreYesterday in our school chapel, we talked about Thoughtfulness. The book of Philippians talks about thoughtfulness like this:"Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." - Philippians 2:4Thoughtfulness is a combination of thinking of others and making their needs and interests important to you. Both of these things can be...
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