Raising the Dead Raises Eyebrows
This Sunday, we kicked off our new series that will lead us through Easter called “Because I Live”. It’s a series that is exploring the resurrection of Jesus and what it means for us. As it turns out, it means everything for us. As Jesus himself puts it, “Because I live, you also will live.” See what I mean? It means everything. This week, we’re also wrapping up the book of Acts in our 2025 bible reading plan (I hope you are reading along with us!). Over
Salt, Light, & Youth
A guest blog from our Next Generation Pastor, Rebecca DeLucia On the last Saturday of February, Central Youth had our 2nd annual One Day Youth Retreat. Over the course of the day we spent time playing games like cereal relay, Wario-Ware, life sized Candy Land, and the youth group classic, sardines. We also spent time with one another having lunch at the Atlantic Diner in town and having a blast at the Monmouth Squash and Swim Club in Sea Bright. These
Faith in Christ…
On Sunday, we continued in our “Step In” series, opening the door on the topic of justification. It’s a big topic. Way too big for one Sunday, in fact. In the history of Christian theology (and church history), it’s one of the biggest. I hope you can come tonight (to Step In & Follow Up at 7PM) and hear more, ask questions, and look at other scripture passages that talk about it. See below for more details! On Sunday, I introduced the idea that before justification is
God’s Desire & Our Design
This past Sunday in our “Step In” series, we ‘stepped in’ to an enormous topic: redemption. Redemption is a kind of umbrella word for everything that God in Christ and through the Spirit has done, is doing, and will do for us – to restore us to the life God always meant for us to live (ie, life with God…eternal life). See what I mean? It’s an enormous topic. We ‘stepped in’ to it, but really, it’s like we just barely dipped
Grace Has Arrived and Prevailed
This past Sunday, we reached the mid-point in our big winter Steps series called “Step In: Taking In the Message of Christ”. We talked about a BIG, BIG, BIG idea: grace. Grace is one of those big ideas that is so ‘everywhere’ in the bible – so ubiquitous – that it’s almost hard to define (and even harder to do in one short sermon!). Bouncing off of Romans 6:23, we heard that “What Went Right?” is that God has decided to restore
In The Beginning…of the Church
A guest blog, by Next Generation Pastor Rebecca DeLucia In our Discipleship Essentials book and our Step-Groups these past few weeks, we have spent time reading and reflecting on Genesis 1-2 - the creation narrative. In today’s Bible Reading Plan we read Acts 1, the beginnings of the early church. It is amazing to read these two passages of Scripture back to back and see the themes woven throughout both. In Genesis we read the role of humanity in stewardship of creation, “God blessed
A Royal, Revolutionary Calling
This past Sunday, we continued our winter series called “Step In: Taking In the Message of Christ”, all about “taking in” the big ideas of Christian faith so that we can believe – and live – differently. Last week, we asked the BIG question (who is God?), and this week we asked perhaps an even more asked question: Who are we? We talked about what it means that we’re made in the “image of God”. Basically, just as an idol or statue (or image)
Step In & Follow Up!
This past Sunday, we kicked off our new winter series called “Step In: Taking In the Message of Christ”, all about “taking in” the big ideas of Christian faith so that we can believe – and live – differently. We started with perhaps the biggest idea of all – God, and the biggest question: Who is God? It’s important to ask that question that way (who is God?), rather than the other way it could be asked (what is God?). God is a who – more
The Village!
A guest blog by Rebecca DeLucia, our Next Generational Pastor This past Sunday we launched our newest effort to build intentional intergenerational relationships here at Central, The Village. If you missed the launch, you can watch it right here. This initiative will pair kids within the church with adults, so that we can ensure that every kid will be seen, heard, known, encouraged and prayed for. I’ve had many encouraging conversations with people here at Central - both before and after Sunday - who
An Ambitious Start!
I’ll say it again: happy new year! I hope that your start to the new year has been a good one. This new year at Central, we are being pretty ambitious: kicking off three big things. Let me briefly tell you about each. The first, we’ve already kicked off and I hope you’re joining us in: the Light to My Path 2025 bible reading plan. If you haven’t, now is the time to hop on. We’re not too far into the Gospel of Luke, so