Characters at the Cross
A guest blog by Rebecca DeLucia, Next Generation Pastor In today’s Bible Reading plan, we are in Luke 23—a chapter jam-packed with action, a slew of characters, plenty of plot, and so much more. In this chapter, we come across the stories of three unexpected individuals. None of them are the “main characters,” yet each shows us something about what it means to follow Jesus. The first character we meet is Simon of Cyrene. Simon doesn’t wake up that morning planning to serve Jesus;
To Such as These
Sunday’s message was all about how one of the most fundamental things that Jesus DID, was to inaugurate the Kingdom of God: the reality that God is truly in charge in a way that touches real life for real people in real ways with real meaning in the real world we really live in. In today’s bible reading in our Burning Hearts reading plan, Jesus (as he often does) addresses the Kingdom of God again, this time in reference to little children (“even infants”). Here’s what
No One to Help?
In this week’s bible studies, we’ve been looking at the story of Jesus healing the ‘invalid’ in John 5. (The phrase ‘invalid’ has always haunted me - that someone could be labelled as “in-valid”. But how often does our world “invalidate” someone, write them off, marginalize them because of a disability, a personality flaw, a public fall from grace, or just because of how they were born? More often than we’d like to imagine.)Anyway, Jesus asks him, “do you want to
Disappointment.
A few weeks ago, in our Jesus SAID (stories) series, I spoke about the parable of the persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8) - that in the face of her enormous disappointment and discouragement, Jesus encouraged us to "pray always and not to lose heart". It's an important message, as we all will and do face disappointment in life. Last week, former Central member Shawn Blythe (who moved to Delaware) sent me a short blog on disappointment that I thought is really worth sharing with
Hearts and Lives on Fire
In today’s reading in our Burning Hearts bible reading plan, we meet a John the Baptist who is, well, fiery. He’s paving the way for Jesus the Messiah to come, saying that when he comes, things will be transformed. That’s what fire does: transforms. It warms, it illuminates, and it destroys as it paves the way for what is new. John is fiery, but be even more on the look out for Jesus because, as he says, Jesus will baptize people in fire
The Shepherd of Easter
A post by Rebecca DeLucia, Next Generation Pastor Since January Central Kids has been memorizing Psalm 23 and on Sunday we got to see the fruit of that labor. What struck me this week as I watched the video over again (it is just so sweet!) was the deep connection Psalm 23 has to Easter. Psalm 23 is often used for quiet, heavy moments; hospital rooms, funerals, seasons of grief. But it was never meant to live only there because it speaks just
Saved by Snakes?
In today’s bible reading (Numbers 21), we come across one of the strangest stories in all of scripture, but one that – because of Jesus – holds enormous importance. It’s the story of the venomous snakes in the wilderness. In the words of Indiana Jones, "Why'd it have to be snakes?" To make a long story short, God liberated Israel from its slavery in Egypt, Israel distrusted God and detested his provisions for them, and so they were made to wander for a long,
Why the Tent Matters
If you’re reading our 2026 bible reading plan right now, you know that we are currently in a bit of a tough section. In this plan, we’re not reading every chapter – but rather, selected chapters that get at important themes for understanding the bible as a whole, and more particularly, Jesus. So you might be wondering, if that’s the focus, Why Leviticus, why?!? If you’ve ever tried to read the bible all the way though, starting with Genesis, it’s usually around Leviticus that
An Opportunity for Faith
On Sunday, we explored a parable of Jesus about our “need to pray always and not to lose heart” (Luke 18:1). On the theme of prayer, enjoy this guest reflection by recently-moved and much missed member, Shawn Blythe. As always, Shawn’s insights are, well, highly insightful! I worry – a lot. I worry about things that I feel that I shouldn’t worry about. Then I worry about the fact that I worry about things that I feel I shouldn’t worry about. At the
The God of the Exodus
A blog by Rebecca DeLucia. I (Rebecca) have vivid memories of being ten years old and going with my Sunday School class to see The Prince of Egypt. I remember the candy, the smell of the movie theatre popcorn, one of the best soundtrack scores ever and the epic ice cream sundae bar my teacher had set up for us back at her house. But mostly, I remember gathering around her dining room table, eating mountains of ice cream and listening to her