Early on Sunday morning while many of us were asleep a tragedy struck a nightclub in Orlando. You’ve undoubtedly heard of the happenings so we won’t dwell on that too much. You’ve also most assuredly heard the spin that’s happening in the news media and all over social networks. The big question people are asking is who’s to blame? Continue reading
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A cornerstone is a key part of any building structure. It’s said that the building rests on that particular stone to gain its maximum strength. If this is true, the cornerstone is critical. You don’t want a cornerstone made out of a soft material. You don’t want a cornerstone for your building made from a material that is ever-changing. You want a cornerstone that is solid, planted firmly, and never moving. Continue reading
Sometimes in life we go through struggles. Times get difficult and we are overcome by the challenges all around us. Loved ones die, illness hits too close to home, job loss, friends leave us, marital problems, children choose a path that is unhealthy – these all cause the storms of life to seem at times, insurmountable! But what happens if we knew that Jesus brought calm in the midst of our storm filled lives? Listen as Pastor Derrick shares the words of calm from Jesus.
It’s true that Jesus is the savior of the world. It’s true that his death and resurrection are critical for us to preach and teach. But there’s more. Jesus not only came to secure our future salvation but he came to impact our present as well. Listen this week as Pastor Derrick shares a little about how Jesus’ life impacts your life today too.
This world has enough trouble to make even the strongest person cower in fear. From the political unrest to the economic ebbs and flows that bring financial concerns to just about everyone – there is no rest for the weary. It seems that everywhere we turn there’s another reason for us to be afraid. Just click on the news and you’ll hear of another child abducted into trafficking rings, a senseless murder, arson takes a home and all its possessions from a family, a training accident goes horribly wrong and claims the lives of innocents, wild fires sweep through the country and devastate residents. Continue reading
Throughout our lives we’re tempted with prideful thoughts and actions. We think we deserve better than we have received. We pat ourselves on the back when we’ve accomplished something great. It’s way too easy to think we are the best or that we’re having good things withheld from us unjustly. Listen as Pastor Derrick shares the challenges of pride and how a humble attitude and God’s word can bring true healing.
It’s easy at times in our lives to be discouraged but there’s a great reason for hope in this life. There are all kinds of statistics that cause great fear in the lives of the people of the church. In North America roughly 4000 churches close each and every year, while only 1000 new ones start. That’s a crazy statistic that appears as if the church is failing miserably in the world today. Continue reading
We’ve all heard the word and undoubtedly we have some image in our minds when we hear this word. Some of us think a large church building on a Sunday morning typically around 10am that meets for an hour. We hear a wonderful pipe organ. We’re sitting in hard wooden pews that are anything but comfortable. While others of us see more of an empty warehouse of sorts with stackable chairs that can be used for many different things. We hear loud music that is played on guitars and drums. Either way that’s really not the point of worship. Continue reading
Trying to understand the Trinity is a pretty deep topic. If we try to get it, we’ll likely at best mess it up and at worst say something pretty heretical. We try to draw word pictures and find great illustrations but they all fall short somewhere. This week Pastor Derrick shows the importance of the trinity in the person of Jesus. What can Jesus teach us about the Trinity?
It seems like our lives are getting busier and busier. No matter how fast you move, it’s just hard to keep up much less get ahead at all. It’s coming up on vacation season and you know what that means right? You have to work twice as hard to prepare to be gone. Then you’ll have to work double again when you return just to catch up. End of school programs are filling the calendar. Sports leagues are gearing up for summer play. Dance recitals, play practice, summer programs at church. And these are all of the extras! None of this has anything to do with getting dinner on the table at night, keeping up with household chores, getting things done around the outside of your house so you can enjoy the backyard. Then you start feeling guilty because you didn’t find time the last few days to get in that run or workout. Time just seems to be slipping by you and you can’t do a thing about it!
Ok. Now that your heart is racing and you feel like you are in way over your head. STOP! Just breathe. I know that sounds like a super simple thing to do. But humor me for a minute and just sit still for 2 minutes and focus on your breathing. Breathing is an extremely easy way to reset the body’s anxiety meter. When we’re stressed and just running like crazy, breathing can help us regain focus.
So often in our lives we completely forget to breathe. Don’t get me wrong here, we breathe. The point is we just don’t focus on that breathing. It just happens. Thank goodness! If I had to think about my breathing all the time, I’m pretty sure I’d be a lifeless ball of dust! Breathing was the one thing that God did to bring us to life. When God breathed into us, we came alive. Again in the New Testament Jesus breathed on his disciples after his resurrection. The point of this breathing was pretty significant if you know the history.
You see in the original languages of the bible, the word for breath is the same as the word for wind and spirit. So when Jesus breathed on them, he blew his spirit on them. Same thing happened in creation when God knelt down in the dust of the Garden of Eden and breathed (spirited) humanity. One more time we see this happen in the bible. In the book of Acts is record of an event call Pentecost. Pentecost was when God breathed, spirited on Jesus’ disciples and in turn on us as well.
When we take a moment and pause to just breathe, we allow ourselves to regain focus. When we focus on our breathing, we focus on the times when God has gone out of his way to make sure we had everything we needed for our daily lives. Listen to the song, slow your breathing, calm yourself, and trust that God has it all in his control.
