In what ways do we begin with faith and falter mid-step?
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As I was driving in my car last week, I was struck by how much we take for granted. We have built a world of fabricated materials all around us.
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I have to admit - sometimes I get a bit nervous encouraging people to be brave in speaking the truth. While some of us hesitate to speak up, others of us don’t have much of a problem speaking our mind – if you need an opinion, we’ve got one!
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You’re just the “Little Guy” - what could God possibly do with you?
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Do we really care more for the Kingdom of God?
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Jesus states clearly that the field is the world and in my sermon I treated the presence of ‘weeds’ primarily from the outlook of the continued presence of evil in the world as a whole. That said, some commentators have viewed this parable as primarily explaining the presence of evil in the Church.
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It’s an immense privilege to be included in God’s work of rescue and restoration. If we’re honest, it can also feel a tad overwhelming. Even while we may admit this work relies completely on the power of God, the breadth of the task and our commission make this easy to forget.
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If you didn’t notice, we’re a small church…
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To most of us, the language of family is not new when describing the church. However, I’ll be the first to say that it’s easy to relegate this reality to mere words with little action standing behind them. Sometimes it’s difficult for us to imagine how church life might look substantially different when we’ve known nothing else but the status quo. It’s difficult to see the problem if things have always been like this.
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By referring to Jesus as “the last Adam”, Paul is telling us that Jesus has concretely altered the course of human history. Are we communicating that?
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By referring to Jesus as “the last Adam”, Paul is telling us that Jesus has concretely altered the course of human history. Are we communicating that?
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“Is there any meaning to my life?” Certainly, the question has crept up on you before. Amidst running your kids to soccer practice, waking up on Monday to go to work again, brewing in the latest headlines, and the shock of a sudden death, the words of Macbeth bubble to the surface…
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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.
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Whenever 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.
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Tomorrow is election day. Tomorrow is the day that stirs up within you both hope and fear.
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I’m tired of the virus, you’re tired of the virus - WE’RE ALL TIRED OF THE VIRUS. We’ve been twisted, over and over, like the rubber band engine of a balsa wood plane – we want to be let loose! I certainly wish I could overturn all the rules and go back to living life as it was. But the reality of the virus is inescapable and our responsibility in the face of it unavoidable.
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I remember how tense the classroom felt that first day. I had chosen this class to help fill out my degree program in Ethics & Society at Gordon-Conwell. I had chosen it with a great deal of apprehension, knowing how uncomfortable it might make me. Nevertheless, I believed I should take it.
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They were afraid. The disciples were afraid. They had just witnessed the best man they had ever known be dragged before the authorities and nailed to a cross. Whose to say they wouldn’t be next? And if they were next, what would their deaths amount to? They were mere Jewish peasants. They were nobodies. When asked about their cause of death, their family and friends would say that foolishness was the cause. They would say that their leader proved to be nothing more than the king of a cross – they would say their end was sealed with his.
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With last week behind me, I have gotten closer to adjusting to the present situation. I have gotten past the disbelief, accepted that this virus has forced us into a muddy ditch, and that our wheels are presently spinning. The good news is that we will get out of this, a tow truck is on its way. The bad news, of course, is that it might take a while.
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When I was boy in grade-school, we would begin every school-day by singing the song, “Onward, Christian Soldiers.” Even as we pledged our allegiance to the country, we would pledge our allegiance to the cause of Christ and follow it up with the first stanza:..
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