Brothers and Sisters, Reality check. Are we really loving one another? I didn't ask do we love one another, but are we loving one another? Are we actively engaged in extending or expressing love for one another? This is a command from our God that we find all over the New Testament. Just consider a few passages. Our love for one another is important because loving one an...

Dear Brothers and Sisters, For those of you who have been through a membership interview with me you'll recall that I conclude the membership interview with "7 things we tell each incoming member." One of those things is that I encourage each incoming member to pray regularly, even daily, for their fellow church members. I encourage you to pray God's Word for your fellow ...

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Back in January I offered 16 resolutions for our church in 2016 with the hopes of offering further reflections on many of those resolutions throughout the year. Having already offered a reflection on resolution #1 (remember, rejoice, and rest in the whole obedience of Jesus Christ), that leaves 15 more to go! In God's kindness I was able to prev...

One of the things that I prize and hold as incredibly important in the life of our church is fellowship. Fellowship, as I am sure many of you are aware, was one of the things that the early church was committed to. In Acts 2:42 we read, "And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers." The early church devoted...

It is a new year and sometimes new things happen in a new year. Lord willing, at least one new thing will happen this year at our church. This new thing isn't really all that new; in fact, it's really quite old. I'll explain what I mean by that in just a minute. So what is this old thing that we'll be doing anew in the new year? Well, once a quarter in 2015 our congregatio...

Over the last couple of weeks I've been doing some reading on various matters related to the church. In the midst of that reading, I came across an article entitled "Duties of Church Members," by John Angell James. James was the Pastor of Carrs Lane Church in Birmingham, England for 54 years. He began at Carrs Lane as the pastor when he was only 20 and remained there until...

This past Tuesday, I unintentionally delivered something of a state of the church address in the middle of the Men's Bible Study. We took the entire evening to talk about Acts 9:31 where Luke tells us, So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it m...

Many today think little of the Church (universal and local), but the New Testament and theologians throughout church history have spoken of the Church in some of the most elevated terms. In Acts 20:28, Luke exhorts pastors to care for the flock entrusted to them because the church has been purchased by God "with his own blood." Paul teaches in Ephesians 3:10 that it is thr...

As part of my sermon preparation each week, I try to think of questions that Christians and non-Christians might have about the passage. For example, John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." Perhaps you remember this verse from when you memorized it in Sunday school many years ...

In 1539 Martin Luther wrote, "God's Word cannot be without God's people, and conversely, God's people cannot be without God's Word." It is a beautiful statement. It is a profound statement. And it is a convicting statement. It is beautiful because it is well put. It is profound because it affirms the biblical truth that God's Word creates God's people. Faith comes by heari...