Have you ever written a letter to someone you’d never met before? Why did you do it? How did it go? The longest letter in the New Testament is a letter written by someone to a group of people he’d never met before. Paul wrote to the church in Rome to introduce himself, to share…
I knew this past week would be a challenging week for me so that’s why I chose the subject, Why Being Thankful Matters. Of course, all challenges are relative. I’m not a Christian in Egypt, the West Bank, or any other of a long list of countries where it is dangerous to be a Christ…
What are you passionate about? What do you care deeply about? Do you think other people know what you’re passionate about? How can they tell? With the football playoffs, you can see what people who are passionate about football are willing to do: they buy their team’s jackets, jersey’s, shirts, and hats so everyone knows…
We all know that some people make resolutions around New Year’s often involving exercise, losing weight, and even sometimes around their spiritual life. How many of us made a resolution? In one Peanuts cartoon Charlie Brown says about his New Year’s resolution, “You know how I always dread the whole year? Well, this time I’m…
Did I ever tell you about how I came to be a Christian? The story of what happened in my life that took me from the place of doubt to the place of belief? In one 24 hour period, Jesus set me free from bondage to a way of life that I could not escape…
Today at the 11:00 service we dedicated little Aiden Keith Ballantine. If you were to ask his mom and dad and grandparents, they would happily tell you how his birth has changed their lives. A friend of mine, Eric, and his wife, Bridget, had their first baby this week. It’s been so sweet to watch…
At this time of the year, a lot of people are looking forward to something. What are you looking forward to in the coming weeks? Time off from school, visits from loved ones, family members going back where they came from, parties, concerts, snow, worship services, presents, celebrating the birth of Jesus – there are…
This past week one of the great advocates for justice, peace, equality and freedom – Nelson Mandela, the father of the modern South Africa, died at the age of 95. Leaders like Nelson Mandela are rare. After 27 years in prison, Mandela worked to help all South Africans see themselves as one people, one family,…