Ok, I know I’m getting ahead of myself. Its not even Thanksgiving yet! But…Advent begins just three days after Thanksgiving. So I find myself in the Christmas spirit already. This Sunday, December 1, is the first Sunday in the season of Advent. The term advent comes from a Latin word that means arrival or coming....
“This is how God showed his love for us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.” -1 John 4:9 This verse captures the essence of the Christmas message. I want to emphasize three words. Love. Sent. Life. Love: Why did God choose to be born as...
A couple of weeks ago the middle and high school students participated in Dash & Go. This annual event is a favorite of our youth program. The youth have the task of purchasing groceries and delivering them to families in need. We loaded up several cars and traveled to Publix. As you can see in...
This Sunday our Stewardship season comes to a close. We hope to collect all of our Estimate of Giving cards by this Sunday. This will allow us to accurately prepare our 2020 budget. If you have not yet had the opportunity to turn in an estimate, you can do so at www.unitypres.org/connect/giving I’ve been reflecting...
We are approaching one of my favorite Sundays of the year: Visioning Sunday. On October 20, 2019 we will be asking one central question during our worship services: “What is God calling us to do in 2020?” Or to put it another way, “What is our 2020 Vision?” As I reflect on this past...
Last week I was in Atlanta for a Pastor’s Conference. This is the third year in a row that this particular group of pastors have met. I led worship for the conference alongside Rev. Steible from Rushmore, Indiana. Here are my observations about the conference: 1. Atlanta is HOT! It was a record high of...
Are you worthy of love? Without hesitating, most of us would say, “Yes, of course!” And that is true. You are worthy of love. Yet how often do we subconsciously add the ever dangerous word if to the end of that sentence? I am worthy of love if… Our society often regards love as conditional...
Wisdom wizdəm noun – The quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment; the quality of being wise. – Oxford Dictionary Did you know that the Bible has a whole section of books classified as Wisdom Literature? The biblical authors cared deeply about gaining wisdom and making wise choices. The books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs,...
God makes me lie down in green pastures. Psalm 23:2 Baaa!! I have never raised sheep before. My guess is that in our modern world, many of us have not spent a ton of time around sheep. During the period of the Old and New Testament, most people lived in a agricultural society. Therefore, the...
This week we begin a brand new series- The Seven I AM Statements of Jesus. On Sunday we discussed how God reveals his divine name (I AM/YHWH) to Moses in Exodus 3. In the Gospel of John, Jesus uses the divine name seven times in order to describe God in relatable terms. If you’ve ever...
