July 17, 2020 “Contingency plan," government and businesses all seem to have one today.  A contingency plan is a plan devised during times of crisis and are often developed to explore and prepare for any event that, though unlikely, would have catastrophic consequences.  I believe that as followers of Christ we are called to have a contingency plan against temptation and evil.  Submitting to tempt...  Read More

July 10, 2020 Hey Church Family:  Do you struggle with sin?  As believers we will continue to struggle with sin until the day we leave this earth which means that we are people who live in the need of forgiveness every moment of every day.  We cannot go one day without needing God to forgive us and at the same time us needing to forgive someone or seeking to ask for forgiveness from those whom we ...  Read More

July 3, 2020 Father, please give us this day our daily bread.  Church family, this is such a simple prayer that we can speak quickly throughout the day without stopping and realizing that we are absolutely totally dependent upon God’s provision for everything in our lives.  And you know, we love some food, specific foods.  So much so, our American food culture has made us really picky.  Did you kn...  Read More

June 26, 2020 Your will be done, Father, on this earth and in my life today.  Church, please stop and think about all of the implications that come when praying that prayer.  This is third petition in the Lord’s prayer.  Each petition is building on the previous petition.  Each petition is focusing more intensely on the heart of man.  Whose will is naturally carried out in my kingdom?  My will.  M...  Read More

June 19, 2020 Father!  Your Kingdom Come on earth as it is in heaven!  Yes, this is a prayer about the return of Christ, but that is not the only point of this great petition.  This prayer can be realized today!  This is the good news of the gospel.  The Father's Kingdom can be experienced in our hearts and the hearts of others today.  This prayer can create absolute change today in all areas of o...  Read More

June 12, 2020 Hey Church:  Have you used the word “hallowed” recently?  “Hallowed” is one of those ancient words that has for the most part dropped from our modern vocabulary and really has not been replaced with any other word like it.  “Hallowed” means to make holy or to set apart as holy.  Have you ever set apart something in your life as holy?  For example, when I set apart my mouth as holy, I...  Read More

June 5, 2020 Hey there Church Family:When Jesus teaches us to pray by giving us the Lord’s Prayer there becomes some very clear elements of the prayer that are glaringly obvious.  Jesus teaches His disciples and us to pray by immediately beginning with a pronoun that is to direct our heart during prayer.  The pronoun that He begins with is also the only pronoun used throughout the entire prayer, “...  Read More

May 29, 2020 Hello Church Family:  When you think about prayer do you think about it as some abstract practice that Christians are just supposed to do?  And then one day you think, “I need to get better at praying, how can I get better at praying?”  And then you come up with certain techniques on how to have a better prayer life.  OK, stop, let me be clear… that is not what this summer series on p...  Read More

May 22, 2020 Church family:  Every generation since Jesus Christ has been taught how to pray by Jesus through His model prayer.  That is such an amazing thought to me.  That means that if I could take a time capsule back to any period of time in the last two thousand years, in whatever time period I would end up, the believers would have the same model of prayer that we would together be engaging ...  Read More

May 15, 2020 Hello Church Family: Have you ever noticed how quickly our delightful duty in the Lord can turn into bitter frustration with Him?  In Luke 10, Martha shows us that life-altering frustrated self-pity can happen in about the time it takes to prepare and cook a meal.  Can you imagine the Son of God physically coming to your home?  What would you do?  What would you think Jesus, Himself, ...  Read More

May 8, 2020 Hello Church Family:Throughout Scripture, we as believers are called to love our neighbors.  In fact, Jesus says that the entire Law and the Prophets can be summed up in two commandments, love God and love your neighbor (Matthew 22:37-40).  Then in Luke 10, Jesus was asked by an Old Testament lawyer, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?”  What was Jesus’ answer?  “You shall love t...  Read More

May 1, 2020 Hey Church Family:Do you rejoice in what YOU DO or who YOU ARE?  Followers of Christ, your name is already written in heaven!  In Luke 10:17, the 72 disciples come back from an amazing time of being used by god to declare that King Jesus has come.  They announced in many villages and towns that The King is near and He is coming to their town.  They announced that the Son of God put on ...  Read More

April 24, 2020 Hey there Church Family:  Can you imagine getting a letter from Jesus saying, “Hey, I know that you think that you are following Me, but you really are not following Me, this is what I need you to do to be My follower, one of My Disciples, fit for the Kingdom of God.”  Would you listen?  Would you make changes to be fit for the Kingdom of God?  This is exactly what happens to severa...  Read More

April 17, 2020 Hello Church Family:  If God said that the only way this pandemic would end and get things back to “normal” would be through prayer, how much effort would you make to pray with frequency and fervency?  How is your prayer life during these days of pandemic?  Have you found yourself coming to the Lord more frequently and fervently or have you become dull and delayed in prayer?  Or has...  Read More

April 10, 2020 Church Family:  We can feel conflicted about calling the day of Christ’s crucifixion, “good.”  The fact that there had to be a day when Jesus Christ would take the judgment for our sin is not good at all.  But the wonderful reality that our Lord Jesus Christ would freely, fully, and gladly give Himself for us on the cross, is never-to-be-surpassed in goodness. It is exemplary, unpar...  Read More

April 3, 2020 Hello Church Family:  During these days of pandemic and hardships are you looking for God today?  Do you wake up in the morning seeking to discover the glory of God?  The “Glory of God” can be something that is hard to wrap your mind around.  But simply speaking, the Glory of God is a visible, tangible showing of Himself in power, strength, care, grace, mercy and love.  There are man...  Read More

March 27, 2020 Hey Church family:  Living in these chaotic times can lead to lives that are obsessed with self and survival.  Generally, in the USA we are obsessed with surviving and yet Jesus still calls us to "deny ourselves, take up your cross and follow Me (Luke 9:23)."  Does Jesus’ command for us to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow Him still pertain to times of world hardshi...  Read More

March 24, 2020 Hello Church:  Starting Wednesday evening and going through Thursday evening, let us join together as a church in a time of prayer and fasting.  Let us come together praying fervently combined with a fast that is motivated by a deep desire to see God’s hand move stopping this COVID-19 virus.   We will fast because we want the spread of COVID-19 to stop more than food or more than wh...  Read More

March 19, 2020 Church Family: In the midst of a global crisis the church can make an eternal difference during this pandemic.  We are not powerless!  In fact James 5:16, tells us that, The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.Church, let us be powerfully united in prayer.  As we are physically separated during this time of quarantine, let us come together prayerfully and c...  Read More

March 18, 2020 Church: If you find yourself besieged and maybe overwhelmed by COVID19 and its affects on people, governmental systems, the world economy and human institutions take a moment and be encouraged by enjoying God in His creation.  Remember, God has given us His amazing creation to remind us of who He is and that He is in caring control.Have you noticed the pink azaleas blooming?  Have y...  Read More

March 13, 2020 Happy Friday Church Family:  Well, things have escalated pretty quickly in the USA including our small, somewhat rural Pender County.  As believers, we have the opportunity to live in fear and panic or to engage our faith that has been given to us by the King of this Kingdom, Jesus Christ.  Recall the last several weeks as we have exposited Luke 7-8.  Jesus shows us that He is the G...  Read More

March 12, 2020 Church Family:  As I am sure that you are aware, COVID-19 (coronavirus) continues to spread across the globe and now across the USA.  The World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday has now declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.  In situations like this, it is very easy to panic and live in fear of the headlines and the unknowns.  Let us not be a people who live in fear but instead in f...  Read More

March 6, 2020 Wonderful Church:  Here is some great news.  Jesus heals.  Jesus healed one person after another during the New Testament times.  Jesus healed “many people of many diseases, and plagues and evil spirits and He bestowed sight to the blind” (Luke 7:21).  Jesus was all about healing people.  In Luke 8:40-56, we see Jesus heal a woman who had a twelve year old uterine hemorrhage.  She ha...  Read More

February 28, 2020 Hey Church family:  You know the story in Luke 8, about the man with the demon problem?  Have you ever thought, why did the demons even exist for the man to have the demon problem?   I think most of us would agree that Satan and his demons exist.  They are real.  They fight against God and His purposes.  They are murderers, liars, and thieves as scripture tells us.  Throughout sc...  Read More