Reflections & Commentary Beyond the Sunday Sermon
Among the groups/activities RCC will be engaging over the next 6 months, I mentioned in my last blog post the introduction of something we’re calling “Mission Groups.” The organizing principle of these groups is that people with common interests will get together once a month to engage in their common interests, whether it be knitting, hiking, working on cars, baking – the possibilities are nearly limitless.
Read MoreWhenever a New Year approaches, we typically start hatching plans for what our year will look like. Looking towards 2021, we’re understandably chastened after seeing our plans get shot down in 2020. Who knows what the next year will look like? Truly, only God knows. Even so, as your pastor for the next 6 months, I thought it would be good to sketch out for you RCC’s strategy for growing closer to God and to one another over the next 6 months.
Read MoreIn a previous post, I considered what might be the cause standing behind our experience of devotions as drudgery. Boiled down, I proposed that the problem stems from asking the wrong questions when it comes to devotional practice. When we consider Scripture reading and prayer, our minds tend towards a question like “How long?” rather than the more basic question, “Why?”
Read MoreMy devotional life is a work in progress. It’s not what I want it to be. I’m easily and willfully distracted – slowing down to do devotions brings me face to face with worries and situations I’d much rather avoid. But, boy, do I need that time with God.
Read MoreThis past Sunday’s reading of Isaiah 29 has brought to mind a point of reflection that has often come upon me. This reflection is particularly prompted by verse 13 of Isaiah 29 wherein the Lord says, "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.”
Read MoreSometimes, Scripture just grabs you. I’m thankful that when God revealed himself through the written Word that he wielded all the gifts of verbal artistry given to the human writers. Certain parts of Scripture require great attention and perseverance in seeking understanding. Others are so clear, so familiar, that they can knock us upside the head straightaway.
Read MoreI love it when the biblical text takes my sermon to the struggle of trusting God. My love for this topic springs from my own personal struggle in this area.
Read Moret's a question that none of us can answer, but one that is/should be of concern to us all. It should be of concern even to those of us without children in the home, because in a very real, though different, sense the children in our church are our children.
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