Sad News on a Cold Day
Good afternoon Central Baptist. I hope you are staying warm on this very cold day.I want to start off with some sad news: this morning, at about 9AM, Bill Taylor passed away peacefully. He is now with Jesus, which as Paul tells us, “is far better” (Philippians 1:23). Bill was such a good and kind man, a loving husband and father, and a gentle and warm presence, friend, and brother to us all. He will be greatly missed. Please pray for
Blind Old Bartimaeus
In this morning’s men’s bible study, we discussed one of the stories we read for today’s bible reading plan: the story of blind Bartimaeus.It’s one of my favorite stories in Mark for two reasons.First, when I was interviewing for to be the pastor here at Central, I was asked to lead a bible study – and this is the story I chose to do. As I was reflecting on the story in preparation of that bible study, the ideas and message
Storms In and Out
A blog by Next Generation Pastor, Rebecca DeLucia Life has a way of throwing storms at us; some we can see and others we carry quietly inside. In Mark chapters 4 and 5, we encounter two powerful stories back-to-back that show us something essential about Jesus: He has unmatched authority over both external chaos and internal captivity. In Mark 4:35-41 Jesus and His disciples are crossing the Sea of Galilee when a violent storm erupts. Waves crash over the boat. Water fills it.
All Things New!
Happy New Year’s (Eve)! Tomorrow is a day where, at least by the calendar, we start over: start the new year, start new resolutions, start again. We hope that things go better this year than last. We hope that we can do what we didn’t manage to last year. We look forward to a fresh, clean canvas for the year and hope that the picture that’s painted is a good one. We hope that the new is better than the old. In
His Gospel is Peace!
Truly He taught us to love one another;His law is love and His gospel is peace.Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother,and in His name all oppression shall cease.Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,let all within us praise His holy name.Christ is the Lord! O praise His name forever!His pow'r and glory evermore proclaim!His pow'r and glory evermore proclaim! Merry Christmas Eve! Above is the final verse from O Holy Night, where we sing that “His
What Makes for Peace?
Because of this weekend’s snow, Sunday was an odd Sunday. The roads were very unsafe, so we encouraged you NOT to come to the worship service…odd indeed! In fact, one of the songs we were going to sing was “O Come All Ye Faithful”, which I had us cancel – because we were encouraging all you faithful NOT to come on Sunday morning! Instead, we encouraged you to watch online – and hopefully you did (and you still/always can right here). But if
It’s Like a Community Within a Community
On Saturday evening after the Atlantic Highlands Tree Lighting, we threw our 4th annual Light It Up! After Party. For what was a lightly attended tree lighting, our after party was not: it was filled with kids familiar and not, new friends, visitors, and many of you. It was a GREAT party. Thank you to all who made a soup or chili, who helped set up or clean up, ran crafts, or who was just there to be warm, friendly, and fun. I had a
It’s the Most ___ Time of the Year
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. It’s the busiest time of the year. As we sat on Sunday for the announcements I couldn’t help but think, it really is the busiest time of year. But yet, it also really is the most wonderful time of the year. Many of the things that we scheduled are fun and bring joy and wonderful moments of togetherness and community - Light It Up! Christmas Connect! Christmas Celebration Sunday! Christmas Eve! And those things are just at Central! Yet this
Awesome
You guys and gals are awesome. I mean, God is awesome, through you. But you're pretty awesome too. This past Sunday was a great Sunday. Besides the fact that a small army of folks helped decorate and beautify our building for the upcoming Christmas season, we had a handful of Central folks – along with some non-Central friends – cook Thanksgiving meals for 14 local families, totaling over 40 people. And then, on Monday, a handful more distributed and delivered those meals. Awesome. Here are
You Are a Work of God
This coming Sunday, we are wrapping up our (all too!) short series called “BeLoved”, on our identity, dignity, and destiny in Christ. On Sunday, we talked about how as God’s beloved children, we are also created to be his beloved ‘co-workers’. That is, we are made in “the image of God” to ‘be’ like God in the way we do a sort if imitation of what God has done in creation: brining order to disorder, peace to chaos, light to dark, and life to