Preacher of Habit

Rebuilding the Walls                         Feb. 17 and 18 Nehemiah 2: 1-6, 11-19 Today we hit a milestone on our journey through The Story. This is the last message in the Old Testament. Go ahead and cheer! I know what some of you are probably saying and praying under you’re breath and celebrating, because it’s been a long 21 weeks. The Old Testament isn’t easy. It’s filled with names and histories and details that don’t seem to be important to God’s upper story. So I hope along the way you’ve learned something, and I hope you haven’t given up on this journey, because the end of the story is approaching, and it’s good ! Nehemiah, where we’ll spend our time today, isn’t the last book of the Old Testament, but it is an appropriate book that helps us understand a big shift happening in the Upper Story. God is preparing to do a new thing! God is going to take the mess that we’ve made and rebuild His kingdom in a new way, a way that will lead to renewed spiritual life and a

Feb 24 and 25            The Birth of the King Matthew 3: 1-12             Today we continue our journey through The Story, and something truly beautiful is taking place. For the past 20 plus weeks, we’ve watched God engage with His people from a distance, and in very mysterious ways. There was a burning bush and pillar of cloud; there were the prophets and smoke-filled mountains. There were dreams and visions and commandments and laws and angels. But now it seems as if God is writing a new chapter. He is putting all the cards on the table; now God chooses to enter the story in a real and tangible way through Jesus. And with the birth of King Jesus, we are finally beginning to see God’s plan of bringing us home, of bringing us back into relationship with him. I invite you to hear our text for today…             I don’t know how many of you remember the ministry of the late Billy Graham, who died just this past Wednesday. I asked our youth a few months ago and they had neve

Feb. 10-11      Esther: Woman of Beauty and Courage Scripture: Esther 4: 1-16 Well, I just want to say a word about last week. What a testimony from our friend, Bill Hebenthal. I’m so grateful that Bill was willing to share with his story with us. Bill’s story is a story of redemption and restoration, of God’s story breaking into his life. I think we can all say that we were blessed by Bill’s message. And I hope it encourages us to think about the ways God directs our steps and repurposes our lives. So thank you, Bill. And if you didn’t get a chance to hear Bill’s story, might I suggest you take him out for a cup of coffee and hear it personally? You won’t be sorry! In many ways, Bill’s message was a wonderful bridge to our next movement in the Story. Today we find ourselves lodged in the middle of a book entitled Esther , which is a wonderful example of how God’s story intertwines with our own. This a book filled with all sorts of juicy subplots. In Esther’s story, we fin