One of keys to going deeper in our faith is a commitment to press into God. The concept of pressing in is often hard to fully understand and can sound like just another piece of Christian jargon. Once understood, however, it becomes a powerful tool in creating a robust Christian life. So, what exactly does it mean to press into God? Is it reading more […]
Last week was our denomination’s Annual Conference. It is always great to see friends, experience great teaching and worship, and do the business of the church. In preparation for the event, each of us receives a journal with all of the necessary information, including all of the action items for our time of business, details of the budget, and general information about our time together. […]
This morning, I am preaching from a couple of verses from the prophet Habakkuk. This is the first sermon in a New Year’s series on vision. For many of us, Habakkuk is not the first place we turn in the Bible, but his words are a powerful challenge at the beginning of 2015. “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a […]
Bridges, trains, and the acrid smell of industry; rivers marked with barges of coal, these and many more are the images of home. I am a Pittsburgh boy, and, truthfully, that never leaves you. There is something about the city and the region that captures a piece of your heart forever. It is part of what makes our sports fans so annoying to others. We […]
How did you spend New Year’s Day? We spent it together as family, enjoying some of our traditions and taking time to appreciate one another. Most of what we did would be considered boring by many people, but the day was filled with a sense of meaning and family, even the nap I took to catch up on the sleep I lost watching the ball […]
Happy New Year! Does anything say new beginnings better than a birth? Even our cultural celebration of New Year’s Eve and Day represents the New Year in the form of a baby taking over for the aging Father Time. I, for one, am profoundly struck by the celebration of beginnings right in the middle of the Christmas season. It there is a new beginning worth […]
Waiting goes hand-in-hand with pondering and, though not always easy to do, the results are certainly worth the effort. The story of Jesus unfolds one day at a time, just as our lives do. There was no button Jesus or his family could press that would leap them forward in the story. They had to walk out the plans of God in their lives like […]
We are half-way there! Today is the sixth day of Christmas, the one with the six geese a laying. Our culture has been selling Christmas so long this season that it already feels like it should be over. In fact, most of the stores I’ve been in have already shifted their merchandise and sales to Valentines Day. It is easy to feel like there has […]
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” – John1:14 Sometimes, the greatest gifts come in the smallest packages. They often seem common, and their value may only be captured by those who truly realize what they have. I feel this way about this […]
“But to all who did receive him, who believed on his name, he gave the right to become the children of God.” – John 1:12 The impact of Christmas is both cosmic, and personal. Jesus was born for all of creation, and he was born for me and for you. In this holy child, God was beginning the greatest work of redemption and healing. This […]