Thank you for your generosity Sunday in giving to the Thanksgiving Offering. Because of your efforts, we received $191,152. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. This weekend, we collect shoeboxes for Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child. Bring your shoeboxes to the Sanctuary, and place them on the platform as we dedicate these to the […]
Read More »“He is able to bring low those who walk in pride.” The mystic Catherine of Genoa once remarked that pride is like gazing at the sun too long. Just as staring at the sun’s rays can cause permanent blindness, so does someone who gazes at his own life too much. By looking to our own […]
Read More »Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. We have come to the end of our “Think, Act, Be” devotions. Thank you for reading and reflecting with me throughout this series. I’ve […]
Read More »Carl and Brenda Forbes have had a rough year. These proud grandparents have been married for 21 years. Carl coaches rec football in Wakulla County and works at Wal-Mart. Brenda worked at Sam’s until March. A stroke changed her life and theirs. She’s been undergoing rehab from her home ever since. Now walking with a […]
Read More »“You will never wash my feet.” Only slaves washed feet in the ancient world. So when Jesus started washing his disciples’ feet, Peter was embarrassed, ashamed, and worried about his reputation. The last person Peter ever imagined he would be following is a slave. Rarely do slaves ever become monarchs. But Jesus became a servant […]
Read More »But we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children. The stereotype of Paul is that of the finger-waving apostle chastising a church. Not so in Thessalonica. He’s a tender, vulnerable missionary pleading for help. What he faced in Thessalonica, he had never faced before. He’s in the uncharted territory, […]
Read More »In your light we see light. When the Pilgrims set sail from Holland on the Mayflower, John Robinson offered a farewell speech. He encouraged them to seek more light from the Word of God by reminding them of their church covenant: “Whereby wee promise and covenant with God and one with another, to receive whatsoever […]
Read More »Write them on the tablet of your heart. Scribes in the ancient world wrote on wax tablets to preserve the message. Many people thought the human heart was also made of wax to preserve memories. That same metaphor is used here in this passage. In order to keep our commitments, Proverbs tells us to engrave […]
Read More »The humble, poor, and disabled can teach us so much about grace. Jesus calls us to sit in the cheap seats and to invite people to our parties with no ability to return the favor. Why? So we can learn what it’s like to simply enjoy the party with people who couldn’t earn or buy […]
Read More »Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. In autumn, falling leaves remind us of the hope for loved ones who have died in Jesus. They are like seeds planted in the ground […]
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