“Making and Maturing Disciples of Jesus Christ”
It’s hard to believe that 1 year has passed since our lock- down. As I write this, we have just completed the Vacation Bible School that should have been offered to our families and our community last summer. This year, we gathered without masks. Last summer, we barely saw each other unless it was via
Read More“Everybody’s talking and no one says a word,” began John Lennon’s song Nobody Told Me from the mid-70s. At the end of the previous decade, the movie Midnight Cowboy featured the song Everybody’s Talkin’ with the lines, Everybody’s talkin’ at me I don’t hear a word they’re sayin’ Only the echoes of my mind. Both songs captured the notion that we
Read MoreTitle: Choosing God’s WayTheme: How to choose a godly leaderObject: a baseball batScripture: And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. Acts 1:26 Good morning, kids! Did you ever play a pick-up game of baseball? That was always a lot of fun
Read MoreThis year, Pentecost falls on May 23rd. To me, part of this season in which we find ourselves is akin to the time before the first Pentecost. We are waiting expectantly for a better day that sets farther on up the road, but we do not know exactly where, and we don’t know when we
Read MoreTitle: Is It Worth It?Theme: How do we rightly earn money.Objects: a dollar billScripture: …so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark… Revelation 13:17a Good morning, kids. Today, I have a dollar bill with me. Now, if I crumple that dollar bill up, is it still worth a dollar?
Read MoreTitle: Dare to RiseTheme: Always allow God to help you to standObjects: a picture of a small child who has just fallen.Scripture: Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. Micah 7:8 Good morning, kids. What
Read MoreThere’s an old joke from Punxsutawney, PA about a Sun- day School teacher who thought she wasn’t reaching the children. The kids could name every secular holiday, but knew nothing about the church and its faith. She asked them about Easter. After comments about eggs and bunnies and chocolate, she asked if anyone knew what
Read MoreIn Lent, we are called back to the basics of our faith. It is a season to give up those things that prevent us from following the Lord fully. It is also a time to pick up those practices that focus our lives on the Lord and doing His will. One of those practices is
Read MoreTitle: It’s That Away Theme: We need to know the truth—and the absolute truth! Objects: a picture of the Scarecrow from The Wizard of OZ Scripture: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?” Matthew 11:7b Good morning! Sometimes, we don’t like rules. We want to stay
Read MoreMuch has been made about the psychological toll of the pandemic. With increased isolation, mental health markers have deteriorated while stress levels increased. When looking at people’s face swathed in bands of cloth, we have lost the ability to see one an- other’s full humanity and their complete responses to our presence. A lot of
Read MoreTitle: But I Want Cupcakes Theme: Sometimes, we should take what we need not what we want Objects: none needed Scripture: 17“‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’” Matthew 11:16-19 Good morning! I know we talked about food last week, but I’m
Read MoreCall to Worship/Lighting the Advent Wreath 12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all
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