Happy Thanksgiving Eve! I hope you’re able to make it to tonight’s Thanksgiving Eve worship service at 7:00. I’m looking forward to sharing some insight into the way that gratitude transforms us. It should be a good one! Speaking of thanksgiving, Thanksgiving, and the coming season of Advent: have you had a chance to write your “Thankful 30” Advent calendar yet? (Check out last week’s Central Thoughts to find out what I’m talking about

As we approach Thanksgiving and the Christmas season, one of the things that happens to us is that we tend to get overwhelmed with shopping lists, meals to make, parties to consider, gifts to wrap, decorations to hang, and all of the rest. or in the words of Professor Hinkle: busy, busy, busy. People have described the holidays to me like a current that pulls you under which, in order to survive, you have to just swim with it…because if you try to

Have you ever wondered what “God’s will” is for you? It can be an impossibly huge question to try to answer.  Or not.  It can also be quite simple. Look at what Paul tells God’s will is for us in 1 Thessalonians 5: 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. That’s God will. At least, that’s what God wants us to do. So as we continue in our Central Thoughts

Welcome to November. Leaves are falling, clocks are falling back an hour (this Saturday/Sunday!), and Thanksgiving is coming. I want use this month’s Central Thoughts to focus on something that is supposed to be a ‘central’ component to our faith: gratitude.  One of my favorite moments in scripture comes in Colossians 3:15. It’s a longer verse, but it ends with just a short sentence fragment: And be thankful. Paul has just detailed the new life we have in Christ, how we have been ‘raised’

I hope you’re doing well on this formerly miserable/foggy day, now beautiful/warm/sunny day.  The weather can be unreliable at best.  Thank God He is not. As we heard on Sunday, God is completely faithful.As I said at Sunday’s Quarterly Business Meeting, I am excited about where Central is, and where it’s going. I am excited about the progress we’ve made together to ‘open’ our doors more and more to those who might not have a church home, and who are

I hope you’re doing well on this very-fall day. Chilly out there this morning! I wanted to use today’s “Central Thoughts” to remind you of some things, as well as let you know some new things. First, some quick reminders: Central Youth is this Tuesday at 7PM (spread the word!), we’re giving out BIG candy bars on Halloween (so sign up to help on Sunday at the back of the sanctuary, and bring in your big candy bars this Sunday!), and choir practice is tomorrow night. 

In life, we all form some view of God. Whether or not we even believe in God, there’s always some view, some image, some idea of the God who we do - or don’t - believe in. Right? We’re not born with it. It’s not something that is innate in us, nor obvious, nor instinctual. We need to learn it, be taught it, and really, have it revealed to us (by God Himself!).  When you reflect on your life, where did your

I hope you’re having a good day as we finally emerge from the multiple days of rain that were the remnants of Hurricane Ian. Please continue to pray for the people who have been effected by the hurricane, especially for the vulnerable and for the men and women who are giving of themselves to help, heal, and restore. Pray that God would give them strength, perseverance, and hope. This past Saturday, I attended the annual gathering of the American Baptist Churches

I hope you are enjoying this beautiful, crisp, early fall day. It’s beautiful outside, isn’t it?!? It’s a great day to get a cup of coffee, walk outside, or sit in the sun with a friend. Try to do that today, and enjoy the beautiful day that God has given us. It’s an opportunity to thank – and worship – God in a different way.  But, today is not beautiful for everyone. Florida is getting pounded with a dangerous hurricane as

That's what Paul said in Acts 16 to a prison guard who was about to take his own life. Paul's voice, interrupting the guard's darkness, saved the man's life. I know that's a heavy way to start, but I want to write to you today about something that is both very heavy, and also very important. As I mentioned in the sermon on Sunday, last week I heard about a young victim of suicide from Middletown North. She was 14 years old. While I