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Where Do We Go From Here?

I don’t make it a habit to comment on every tragedy or circumstance that sends shockwaves through our country. One reason I often restrain from commenting is that there are plenty of strong, reliable voices who can say what I want to say and do it with grace and precision. A second reason is the conviction that I need to listen before speaking. Howard Thurman once urged people to search for the voice of the “genuine” rather than simply falling in love with one’s own voice. I appreciate the voice I have been given, but I want my voice to reflect something deeper than my raw emotions and immediate reactions. That’s why I’ve waited to comment on the killing of Charlie Kirk.  If you don’t know Charlie Kirk, he was a young (31 years old) political activist. Conservative in his politics and Christian in his faith, Kirk embraced the power and opportunity of freedom of speech and often took his back-and-forth dialogue/debate events to college campuses. There he would engage with young stud...
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Shrove Tuesday Sights

  Last night was our annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake and Sausage fundraiser for our children and youth ministries. What a great time!   A heartfelt thanks to all the servants who came out to prep, cook, serve, clean up and enjoy one another.  If you thought this was all about pancakes and sausage (which is not everyone’s favorite meal), you missed a tremendous blessing. I don’t say that to cause any grief or hard feelings, but rather to bear witness to God’s sweet presence during our time together.    Here’s what I saw:  I saw young children serving the Lord by serving others.  I saw families connecting with each other as they served together. I saw trustees cancel their meeting to invest in the next generation.  I saw church members invite their friends to enjoy a meal.  I saw young dads picking up to-go meals for their sick spouses.  I saw a young, engaged couple finding a home at Lakeside and wanting to participate in a church activity....
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Through the Eyes of Jesus: Restoring Dignity

Through the Eyes of Jesus       Restoring Dignity  John 4: 1-2, 13-30             Well, friends, today we continue our 40-day journey through the Season of Lent. This year, we’re inviting Jesus to help us see again, to see with new eyes, to see the world as Jesus sees it. My hope is that God’s Spirit will challenge us, convict us and grow us as we do this work together. To kick off this series, we’re going to spend some time looking at an important conversation Jesus has with a woman at the well, a story of restoring dignity and worth.  If you have your Bibles… There was a story making the rounds a few months ago on Facebook, written by Brazilian author Paulo Coelho. I can’t tell you if the story is factually true, but what I can say is that the story speaks a lot of truth. Coelho tells the story of a young couple who recently moved into a new neighborhood, and every mornin...
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The Mountain or the Mud

The Mountain or the Mud? Feb. 23, 2020                       Luke 9: 28-43             I’m truly grateful to be in worship with you all this weekend. And I’m especially excited to begin a new journey with you. Today we’re beginning a new sermon series called “Through the Eyes of Jesus.” We’re going to explore several stories and conversations that will challenge us to see the world through the eyes of Christ. This series will take us right up to Palm Sunday, and my hope is that God’s heart for the world will take root and grow in us as we learn together. But before we engage the world, we need to spend some time with God. So today, I invite you to hear once again a wonderful story we call the Transfiguration, a story where Jesus invites three of his closest friends us to travel outside of their realties an...
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Lessons From the Cross- To Know the Crucified Christ

Lessons From the Cross           To Know the Crucified Christ  Scripture:  1 Corinthians 2: 1-9             Well friends, I’m grateful to be back in worship with you. And I hope that you came prepared to meet Jesus in new and powerful ways. Today we’re going to take one more look at life from underneath the cross. One of the great challenges we have as a people of faith is keeping God’s great story at the forefront of our minds. As a people of God, we believe that God is always up to something good, calling people to experience new life with Jesus, to be forgiven and set free, to be transformed. But this can be a difficult story to embrace when we see so much ugliness and evil in the world. It can be challenging to press into our faith when there’s so much evidence of division, hatred and chaos. Yet part of what makes us Christian, part of what it means t...
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Lessons From the Cross- The Weak Made Strong

Feb. 9, 2020                Lessons From the Cross:   The Weak Made Strong  1 Corinthians 1: 18-31 Friends, today we’re going to a turn to a topic that I believe demands our best thoughts and attention- the cross. For the next two weeks, we’re going to sit under the reality of the cross and let God teach us about its power. In a divided world, in a divided country, in divided homes, and in our distracted lives, the cross has some important things to tell us.  Would you read with me?  A few years ago, I decided I needed to get away and spend some time with God. It was fall, and was struggling to know what to preach over the next few months and thought maybe a retreat would do the trick. So I packed up some resources and drove an hour and a half south to Jumonville, one our Conference camps, which sits high up a mountain. I stopped in at the office, got my cabin keys, then...
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Real ID: God Made Me

Real ID: God Made Me           1/26/20 Psalm 139: 13-18 Good morning friends. Thanks for choosing to be with us on Sunday. I know on cold winter days it can be hard to find the motivation to do anything. But I’m grateful that you’re here. Today we’re continuing our sermon series called Real ID: Discovering the Real You. We’re exploring the words of Psalm 139 as we counter the lies of our world with God’s truth, specifically what God says about us. And today we consider the truth that God made us.  Would you read with me?  Several years ago I ran my first ever youth retreat. It was a surreal moment for me. I had grown up attending spring youth retreats, and they were instrumental in helping to shape my life and faith. In fact, it was at a youth retreat where I led my first devotion, and afterwards, the main speaker for the morning, as well as several adult mentors, began to speak words of encouragement into my ...
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