Monthly Archives: February 2012

         “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” This passage, taken from Ephesians 2:8-9, seems to swiftly answer the question posed in the title of this article. We are saved by grace, through faith – NOT of WORKS. Seems pretty simple right? When taken out of the context of the entire New Testament the question seems to be answered sufficiently in one clear, concise statement. In the words of legendary broadcaster Paul Harvey, however, we must examine “the rest of...

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            On June 12, 1987 during a speech at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, Ronald Reagan uttered perhaps his most famous sentence as President of the United States. Speaking to a cheering crowd he challenged the capitalist/communist division of the city of Berlin by emphatically stating “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” Although it took nearly two and a half more years, this goal was eventually accomplished as the wall fell in November of 1989. There was no longer a wall separating East and West – Germany was one united country.             In Ephesians 2:14 Paul wrote a...

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The book of James is perhaps the most practical book in the New Testament. While all of God’s Word should be studied and applied, in this short book James is able to give simple, concise instructions on how to live as a Christian! In James 1:22-24 he writes “but be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;  for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.”...

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In the last two years we have grown significantly as a church family. We have become a larger, more diverse congregation due to the addition of several families and individuals, and we are adding to that number on a regular basis. With that growth we have also gotten younger. We have a number of young adults who are starting their families, as well as a number of smaller children who are still in the early stages of learning who God is. We are still lacking in one area, however, that may be the most important in the church today...

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New Year’s Day often invokes a desire for change within people. As the day has approached, many have come up with resolutions for the New Year aimed at self improvement in a number of different areas. Some of these include weight loss, financial management, improved relationships, and even the occasional decision to let go of a vice such as smoking or alcohol use. Sadly, statistics show that 3 out of every 4 people that make a New Year’s resolution are unsuccessful in their quest to change their unwanted habits. This unfortunate statistic is due to a lack of commitment...

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I have been asked many times to identify my favorite holiday, and my answer to is the same every time – Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving for many of the same reasons the rest of the world does including the tremendous quantities of food that are consumed along with the wide variety of sporting events televised during the day. Thanksgiving, however, is about so much more, and it is a chance for us to really pause and reflect on how blessed we are in our lives. When we sit down and count our blessings we should see how numerous they...

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