If I’m being honest (and I always try to be…sometimes a little too honest!), I’ve never been great with prayer. I pray, and I am ok with it - but it’s never been a ‘strength’ for me. I’ve known people – maybe like you – who are great with prayer, as they have rich, deep, filling prayer lives. That's so awesome.   But it’s not natural. And Jesus knew it.  It’s why he had to teach us to pray. In fact, in Luke’s

Like so many of you, I woke up this weekend to see the news reports of the horrors taking place in Israel, and subsequently, in Gaza. As I’ve read the reports and have seen the images coming out of the terrorist attack and resulting war,   I am reminded of humanity’s amazingly horrible capacity for cruelty.  In the women’s bible study on Tuesday morning, we prayed for those involved in the conflict – and then went on to study the bible. We happened

Yesterday I got the chance to attend the Orange Tour, a conference which brings together thought leaders from all over the country to discuss doing ministry both for and with the next generation. This year the conference was called "See you Tomorrow" and focused on how we can help kids and teenagers build a faith that will last, how we can help a generation become confident enough to keep following Jesus even when their expectations are not met, because "tomorrow

I’ve been thinking more about what I spoke about on Sunday (ie, the first of the four soils from the parable of the sower). I introduced the idea that the main reason the soil of our hearts becomes hardened is because we stop listening to God, and instead, listen to others’ voices. That’s Satan’s strategy for ruining our lives and unfortunately, it’s very effective – and it always has been. We see it working as far back as the Garden

Imagine, for a moment, that you were retiring from a career, or moving out of a town, or leaving a church community, or even just moving on to a new phase of life. If you could write a farewell address, what would it say? What would you want to say about your time there, that you’re now leaving behind? What impact would you be leaving behind in your wake?  Or, what would your legacy be? In the men’s bible study this morning,

Yesterday, the women’s bible study got (re)started for the new year. It was great to be back with some of the women from Central, praying and studying Scripture together. If you’re a woman and are free from 10:30-12:00 on Tuesday mornings, we’d love to have you!  This week, we picked up where we had left off before the summer in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 14 (I promise we’ll finish Mark eventually!). One of my favorite stories is in that chapter:

September is here, football starts (tomorrow!), it still feels like summer, and…school is starting up! If you have kids in school, if you’re a teacher, or if you remember having kids in school, it’s always a busy time of year. There’s a lot of energy, anticipation, anxiety, tears, and everything in-between.  So as we did last year, let’s start off this year right…with prayer.   Jesus said that we should concern ourselves with these “little ones” (Mark 9:36-37, 42) – so as

This is a tough one to write: summer is almost over (and yes, I know we have local summer still!). But seriously, before we get into it, I invite you to pray for the folks in Florida who are enduring another damaging hurricane – especially those people who are most vulnerable, unable to help themselves, sick, elderly, and so on.  Now the the Psummer of Psalms is over, I want to take a moment simply to reflect a bit on the

We're excited to be growing our Sunday morning staff! Currently, we are looking for a nursery attendant who can care for our littlest ones, as well as teach small lessons. Please check out the full role description here. If you, or someone you know is interested, contact our Next Generation Pastor, Rebecca DeLucia. VIEW THE ROLE DESCRIPTION

Throughout the summer, I’ve been reading the Psalms as part of my yearly bible reading plan. So throughout these Central Thoughts emails this summer, I’ve done a sort of Psummer Psalm Pslam – looking at a different Psalm each week. And today is the last day of the Psalms!  It’s kind of sad, as I’ve enjoyed reading and reflecting on them!  Yesterday’s Psalms were some of my favorites – especially 146 and 147. Do yourself a favor and take some time to read them today.