Knowing God With Heart and Mind

God's Favorite Place on Earth: Introduction

It's St. Valentine's Day and it's the beginning of a new series of messages for the season of Lent. "God's Favorite Place on Earth" will be devoted to falling in love with our Savior and making a home to share with Him. As we move toward the remembrance of His passion we will learn about His most passionate followers. A simple family in a village called Bethany welcomed Jesus with open arms and, more importantly, open hearts. We will explore the many reasons  Jesus kept returning to Bethany, especially during the most challenging of times.

A Season for Everything: The Way of Wisdom

When wisdom and contentment converge, there is peace of mind. Or is there more? Solomon possessed great wisdom, but he wasn’t content? It appears that wisdom is incomplete without contentment. However, some people seem to be content, but they lack wisdom. What's the missing element? How does one attain wisdom and achieve contentment? How can we avoid Solomon's mistakes? 

For Everything a Season: Death Comes to All

In Ecclesiastes 9, Solomon reminds us that difficulty and death come to all people. He urges us to resist assuming that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. Solomon would have us realize that God does not operate that way. Therefore, Christian Believers cannot equate their life's trials and blessings with God's favor. Some troubles are common to all persons in a fallen world and some blessings are common too. The sun rises on the wicked and the righteous; the seasons change for all people so those warm summer days are balanced by a dreary winter's cold. Let's consider these truths and more together.

For Everything a Season: Vanity Insanity

In this week's message from Ecclesiastes, Solomon teaches us that vanity insanity will lead to the dissolution of sacred relationships and end with dissatisfaction and self-destruction. We will discuss this and consider its remedy as we dedicate ourselves to worship, prayer, learning, and service. It turns out that Solomon would have done much more of that if he'd had it to do over again. What about you?

For Everything a Season: A Time for Everything

This time we will continue with our study of the book of Ecclesiastes. We'll read Solomon's well-known "For everything there is a season" passage. Solomon's list reminds us that we must not be surprised by our encounters with life's trials since they are natural to humankind. We will contend with these realities and discuss our relationship with God under such circumstances. We'll find that Solomon made some harsh statements about God even as he demonstrated extraordinary faith in God.

For Everything a Season: Introduction

In the book of Ecclesiastes Solomon reveals life's true purpose and the follies of human pride. In this series, we will learn from his wisdom and raw humanity. 

The Love of God

The entire bible is a love story. Christmas reminds us that God so loved His creation that He did everything He can do to redeem it. 

Adventus: The Same But Different

Christmas is an easy time to think too much about the times gone by, especially this year when so much has changed so fast. Subtle majesty underlies the birth story of Jesus and his gentle, desperate parent’s attempt to find shelter for his birth when we think of the star that lighted their way and the multitude of angels who attended them unseen. Unseen until they spoke to the shepherds and then sang the LORD’s glory. Those plain shepherds saw the first glimpse of what Jesus’ glorious return will be like when the barrier between Heaven and Earth opened before them like curtains. When Christ returns it will be like his birth in some ways and very different in others. 

Adventus: The Kingdom is at Hand

The Apostle Paul says in his letter to the Philippians that “the Lord is at hand.” The dictionary definition of the term, “at hand” breaks it down in three ways: a.)Nearby; physically within one's reach b)Currently in need of addressing c)Impending or imminent. An examination of Paul’s declaration in light of this definition suggests that the Lord is physically present, must be attended to, and also imminent (definitely expected). What does this mean and how does it impact our lives?

Adventus: Sooner Than You Think

These days we all know what it's like to look forward to something that we can only imagine. We want to see an end to the pandemic and its consequences but we can't know for sure when that will be and what exactly it will look like. Some have died while awaiting the cure and return to prosperity. Their hope was not in vain, it just wasn't time yet. That's what it is like as Christian Believers await the return of Christ.