They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24:32On Sunday, we kicked off our new “Voice of Hope” series – which concludes our ‘trilogy’ of series based on our identity statement (Jesus is central, so we aim to live by faith in him, be known by love like him, and be a voice of hope in the world).  If ‘live by faith’ points to ‘what’

 I hope you’re enjoying this beautiful day. Try to get outside and enjoy this fantastic day. May is a busy month for us at Central – and I couldn’t be more thrilled.Last Saturday was the Town Wide Yard Sale – and it was such a great day. The headline is that, thanks to your generosity and serving, we raised a bit over $350 for the AACC Food Pantry! Awesome. But perhaps more important, we had a great day meeting some neighbors and making

Next Wednesday May 17 at 7PM, we will host our first “Equip” seminar. This inaugural seminar will focus on mental health, equipping us to better love our neighbors who struggle with their own mental health issues – so that we can be a voice of hope in our community. It will educate, destigmatize, and open up this important conversation for us. So many people struggle with such issues, and for too long a time, the church was guilty of sweeping

In case you missed it, last Sunday, Amanda and I got baptized at Central! It was an amazing morning.  We were so glad to be surrounded by so many friends, both new and old – and so many people who have influenced our faith. It was a blessing, for us, and we hope it was for you too. It was great to be able to share our testimonies with you (if you missed them, watch them both!).  As Jared talked about on Sunday, our testimonies (i.e., our

On Sunday, I made a promise that I simply did not keep! Towards the beginning of Sunday’s message, I said that, at the end of the message, I’d tell you what “to fulfill all righteousness” meant… and I totally forgot. So now I have a chance to tell you.  Bear with me… “Righteousness” is a big word in the New Testament, especially in Paul’s writings. It can get hotly contested exactly what Paul means by it at certain points, but at the core of what

This Sunday, we kicked off our new series on baptism – called “In With the New”.  As I said on Sunday, baptism is all about being “in Christ” – and as Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, everything has become new! So out with the old, and in with the new.  I spoke about baptism as being relational, rather than magical. It’s all about a relationship

I hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend and can enjoy this beautiful day.  Spring has most definitely sprung. I love the spring season because it’s the season where we celebrate the “new”.  And this spring, here at Central, we have some pretty significant “new” to celebrate! “New” is the word I associate with baptism, as baptism marks the entrance into a new life, a new way of living, a new community, a new calling, and a new story. So starting

This – the last week of Lent – is what is known as Holy Week. It is during this week that Jesus first served the Lord’s Supper to his disciples and got down on his hands and knees to wash their feet. I’m so glad that on Sunday, not only did we celebrate Palm Sunday to kick off the week, but we also heard about the meaning and challenge of the foot washing before we got to celebrate the Lord’s

This Sunday, if you don’t know, is what is called Palm Sunday. It’s the Sunday before Easter, where across the world, Christians celebrate the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem as a King. We give out palms in order to remember and represent the palms that the people spread out on the road as Jesus rode into the city.  It’s supposed to be a Sunday where were celebrate him as King, as they celebrated him then. But there’s something so interesting

When I type the word “membership” into Google, after the dictionary definitions pop up, the very first entries are about Costco, Planet Fitness, the National Restaurant Association, the American Medical Association, and so on. These are all stores, gyms, associations, or clubs that you join (either by paying or by earning your way in), and once you are “in”, as members, you are entitled to all kinds of benefits (2% back on all purchases, a squeaky clean and spacious gym,