From the Pastor's Desk

Small White Envelope

 I came across this story almost 20 years ago. There is more joy in giving…than there is in receiving. 

 It's just a small white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification. No inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past ten years.

 It all began because my husband Mike said he hated Christmas -- oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it - the overspending, t

From the Pastor's Desk

A Grateful Heart [Lk 17:1-6] …has an attitude of unending gratitude towards its Master. 

 In the beginning of chapter 17 of his Gospel, Luke shares the following statement made by Jesus – It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come. This was another teaching time that Jesus had with those closest to Him. There were many of those and there would be many more. Jesus was always trying to teach those whom HE had called to follow Him. This

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A Final Farewell to Hear [Php 4:20-23]  

 If we are in Christ, His grace is in us.

 I grew up a Star Trek fan. My brother and I watched every episode…multiple times. As I repeat the title of this article in my mind, I can hear the words – A Final Frontier. That’s how the beginning of each Star Trek episode starts. And this is how the very end of Paul’s letter to the Philippians ends. For Paul, it would be a final frontier…at least according to this definition -- 

 The extreme

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The Shepherd or the Thief [John 10:10]  

 The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy. I have come that you may have life – abundantly!

 The thief has a threefold attack plan when it comes to us – 1) Steal…2) Kill…3) Destroy. 

Our Good Shepherd has just one plan when it comes to us – give us Life...abundantly!

 What does the thief try to steal from us? 

The context is mostly about how he tries to steal sheep out of the Shepherds' pin. But individually, we can look at it lik

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In Php 4:14-20, Paul moves from having A Mindset of Contentment to having A Heart Set on Contentment. In verse 19, Paul states again his overall manifesto, but this time it’s personal. He says – “my” God will supply all your needs. Does that preach to you? It does to me. Paul is telling us – I’ve learned to fully trust Christ to supply all that I need in order to live this life which He has given to me so that I may accomplish all that He has purposed me to. Here’s how one

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We spent the past two Sundays discussing the Keys to Living a Life of Contentment. Paul wants to make sure that we put feet to our faith and learn how to be and remain content in this life. Contentment is something that we can and must learn ourselves. It’s personal. Paul explains how contentment is first borne in our minds. We must proactively choose to give God credit for all that is good. While we may accomplish a number of things on this earth, it is our Creator who em

From the Pastor's Desk

What do you want the most out of this life...here on earth? What do you want the most from your relationships…your job…your retirement? What do you want the most from God? This was the beginning of this Sunday’s sermon. But I have to be honest – What happened over the weekend really does change things a bit. Parts of northern and western NC were hit with one of the worst hurricanes on record. This morning I looked at a few videos of before and after Hurricane Helene brough

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Maintaining Harmony [Php 4:2-3]

 In this we have come to know what love is: that He (Jesus) laid down His life for us. And we ourselves ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. [1Jn 3:16]

 A good friend helped me to adopt a better understanding of what love is…according to God. He explained to me how Jesus proved His love by allowing those spikes to be driven through His wrists and His ankles. And as he was passionately explaining even more, 1Jn 3:16 came to my mind. Wh

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Standing Together in The Lord [Php 4:1]

I shared last Sunday how we are in desperate need of heroes – those we can and should emulate because of their longing to imitate our Savior and Lord. The Apostle Paul is my greatest hero of the faith. I remember an incident over 15 years ago when I was at seminary – in New Testament class. Dr. Bookman decided to have a class discussion on the kind of person Paul was. And he creatively tried to lure us into his trap as he shared certa

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The Jesus in Us longs for us to testify of The Jesus HE is. This is Paul’s challenge to us in Php 3:17-21.

 In order to be faithful witnesses, we are to share Christ with those who are lost. Yet, Paul wants it to be known that first we must show Christ to them. Do those who know you see Christ in you? Do they hear Christ from you? Does your life and attitude reveal to others who Jesus says that He is? Paul begins with where we’re to find our inspiration – make sure that you

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Pressing On to Perfection [Philippians 3:12-16] 

As believers, we are called by God to strive to become more like Christ.

I’ve been a sport’s nut most of my life. I’m thinking - Paul must’ve been one, too. Throughout his letters, he uses a number of sport’s analogies. In Php 3:12-16, Paul uses the example of an athlete running a marathon; and he connects this to how we are to now live our lives in Christ. Like long distant runners, we are to continue to press on to that fin

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Putting Christ First  - From Neglect to Priority

 A Study in the book of Haggai [beginning Sep 4]

We will be starting back up our midweek study on Sept 4. The book we will be studying is Haggai. The overall challenge for us as a church…as a family…and as individuals is – Putting Christ First. The apostle John challenged the church in Ephesus to 'turn back' to Jesus being their first love…and to keep Him there. 

Many times, in life, we need The Spirit's spurring us so that He