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

Wow. Thank you. I hope you’re doing well and enjoying this beautiful late summer day. We don’t know how many of these we’ll have left this year, so enjoy it! So – as I said in last week’s Central Thoughts – Sunday was a BIG day: we switched service times, re-launched our Greeting Team, switched how Central Kids works, and had a kick-off day picnic. And I have to say: it was a great day. From what I’ve been hearing, the service time switch went

What do we do with 'new'? Well, this is a big week. This week, we make the new shift to 9:30AM for both the worship service and the new Central Kids Sunday school. We’ll have a new greeting team in place, as well as some new technology for Sunday. You also may not know it, but we have a brand new website (cbcah.org). The Women's Bible Study is kicking off a new year this Tuesday at 10:30AM. And - I'm still

It’s that time of year. You can feel it: school is restarting.  Being married to a teacher, and having 3 school aged kids – it’s impossible to ignore these days! Whether you’re a parent of young ones, a grandparent, aunt, uncle, friend, neighbor, teacher, administrator, lunch aid, or whatever else – you probably feel it too. There’s supplies to buy, schedules to work out, lunches to prepare and pack, post-summer tears to dry, and summer reading to cram in. With school