Reminder: People are Great
On Monday, I was reminded of something that we all need to be reminded of at times: People are great. Like, when you really get to know a person – most people – if not all - are great. But so often we don’t get to know them, and so we misjudge and miss it. I was reminded of this on Monday at a funeral that I had the privilege of being a part of. It was for a woman named Courtney who was
The Value of Light
By Rebecca DeLucia, Next Generation Pastor Over spring break last week my 5 year old nephew came to visit. We took him to the Planetarium and the show we saw was about two kids searching for answers about space. Questions ranged from, “How far away is the sun?” to “What is it like to be an astronaut?” The final question they needed to answer was, “What makes Earth so special?” It cutely used the answers to
A New Dawn
Hello! I hope you’re staying dry and cheery in a week that is wet and dreary (ok, that’s enough rhyming…). Last Sunday was Easter – and it was a great one! Our own service was lovely – as was our Good Friday service. It was so nice to be with you to celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord. But I want to just highlight the sunrise service for a moment. If you didn’t brave the alarm clock to get
Carrying the Cross
A guest blog by Shawn Blythe There may be no more poignant reminder of the ways by which we cross paths with our Savior than the story of Simon of Cyrene. His intersection with Christ was unlikely and under the most unimaginable circumstances. Cyrene was approximately 800 miles from Jerusalem – a journey that would take approximately one month to complete by land. It was a pilgrimage that was likely only undertaken a handful of times over the course of a
Maundy Thursday Reflections
A guest blog by Shawn Blythe The events of the Thursday before the crucifixion centered around the Passover meal that has come to be known as ‘The Last Supper’. The events of that evening were among the most momentous events in all of history was going to happen but, apart from Jesus, no one—not even those directly involved—had a clear understanding of the implications. While we typically focus on the attendees of the meal, there are a number of others who
Easter is (Almost) Here!
Well, it’s here: Easter week! We had a great Glow in the Dark Egg Hunt on Sunday. To all who helped run things, welcome and direct people, run games and crafts, set up and clean up – THANK YOU. We welcomed in over 100 kids and their families to our building, and got to connect with a lot of them. It was a great afternoon. Thank you for using your time, gifts, and energy to serve how you did. Amazing!This
The World Has Gone After Him!
This Sunday, as you may know, is Palm Sunday. It’s the Sunday that Christians all over the world celebrate Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem - where the crowds went to meet him, and lay branches from palm trees at his entry – to welcome him as a king would be welcomed to town. It is quite the scene. But because of our current sermon series, I won’t talk about Palm Sunday this week. So, I’ll take this time to share some thoughts
Those We Bring Along
A guest post by Shawn Blythe. The first chapter of Mark introduces us to the first apostles that Jesus called. They were two sets of brothers who were fishermen. We all know them as James, John, Simon and Andrew and some may recall the story of their calling from our childhood Sunday School classes. Over fifty years later, I can still picture one of the color drawings in my children’s Bible depicting the scene. But what is perhaps easily overlooked are the
That is in the Bible?
Some of what is in the bible is pretty surprising. There are stories that are hard to wrap our minds around, history that is tough swallow, characters that are all too real) that we can all recognize ourselves in them), and rules that seem completely alien from our modern life. And then there’s the Psalms. In our bible reading plan, we entered into a few Psalms last week. The book of Psalms captures a wide range of situations, human emotions, and responses
A Very Fun Youth Retreat
On Saturday, Central Youth had our first ever one day Youth Retreat! It was a great (and long!) day filled with games, laughter, and conversation. The leaders and I took 9 kids to the American Dream Mall for indoor Snow Tubing and an epic photo scavenger hunt. The students bonded with one another and the leaders got to see their personalities shine. We didn’t only have fun though, we also spent time together in Small Groups, sharing about our lives