All In

Scripture:  Luke 14:25-33 Led by the star power of Hulk Hogan and then further bolstered by wrestling legends like Macho Man Randy Savage, Andre the Giant, and the Ultimate Warrior professional wrestling entered an era of heightened popularity in the late 80’ and early 90s.   When Hulkamania rolled in I was in 3rd grade, and … [Read more…]

Losers Welcomed Here

Scripture:  Luke: 14:1,7-14 Back in 2013 one of the groups that I led was called IGGY.  No one actually knew why it was called that, but it was the youth group for 5th and 6th graders.   I distinctly remember during one of the devotions for this group I asked the kids to share what they … [Read more…]

Make a Difference Anyway

Scripture:  Luke 13:10-17 A couple of weeks ago, I ran across an Internet challenge that stuck with me.  I saw it on Twitter, and the challenge was to share an unpopular opinion about something you like.   Often on social media when someone makes a post that begins with sharing an unpopular opinion they then go … [Read more…]

Pastor’s September 2019 Article

For many Americans, September hosts a day they have been anxiously awaiting for seven long months.   On September 5th the new NFL season kicks off, as the teams return to the gridiron.   The most dedicated sports fans are almost fanatical in their devotion to their team.  They have a passion for their team and that … [Read more…]

26.2

Scripture:  Hebrews 11:29-12:2 I really like history because often life is stranger than fiction, and history is full of quirky little things to discover.  I can vividly remember when I uncovered one of these quirky facts in college.  I was taking a Greek History class, and the assigned reading covered the battle of Marathon.  After … [Read more…]

The Audacity of Prayer

Scripture:  Luke 11:1-13 I imagine we did what a lot of people do when they find out they are going to be parents for the first time.  We went out and bought a lot of books about being a parent.  You know, those books make it all sound so easy.  Those books do not tell … [Read more…]

How Far I’ll Go

One of my favorite things to do in ministry is church camp.  Camp is an incredible opportunity for young people to be part of an experience that is intentionally focused on faith development.  I have been part of a camp director team now for nine consecutive years, and I have a lot of great memories … [Read more…]

The Christian Abides

Scripture:  Luke 10:38-42 So one of the things you should probably learn about me is that I like Star Wars.  That is probably not stating it strong enough.  I really, really love Star Wars.  Growing up, I watched the first movie so much that I wore out the VHS tape, so we bought another one.  … [Read more…]

Won’t You Be My Neighbor

Luke 10:25-37 There is a decent chance that many of you are not familiar with the social media platform Twitch.   The best way to explain this platform is that it is like YouTube for live videos.  The videos on Twitch are all live streamed.  A lot of the content creators for twitch are video gamers, … [Read more…]

Pastor’s July 2019 Article

FROM OUR NEW PASTOR SEAN JOHNSON:   For ten years I served on a few different church staffs as a youth minister.  These were all Methodist churches, and that meant inevitably while I was at the church there was a pastoral transition.   I remember those times when we were all waiting for the new pastor … [Read more…]