It’s kind of a weird statement. God is our living branch? What’s that about anyway? A shoot from a stump will grow into a tree? How does that apply to my life? I don’t even have trees in my lawn? This week we journey closer to the celebration of Christmas. In this journey we find ourselves face to face with some of the most challenging days of the year. The stress mounts. The lists grow longer. And often loneliness is at an all time high. Have you ever felt like your tree was knocked down? Listen this week as Pastor Derrick shares what happens when God begins working through a fallen tree.
Page 74 of 135
This week’s Music Monday is coming a bit late. I guess that’s the problem of being a blogger, pastor during the week before Christmas! But this week’s song is a great one! I’ve been searching for powerful Christmas songs that are different, yet speak the same prominent message of grace and peace at Christmastime. Hearts Waiting is a new song with an old spin. The hearts of humanity waited for centuries for a King to rescue them from evil. What they got wasn’t exactly what they were seeking. He was so much more!
Continue readingGod is with us here, now, today. He’s with us in the good times and in the bad times. He’s with us when we’re on the mountain tops and when we’re stuck in the valleys. This week we focus on the storms of life. God with us in the storms reminds us that even when we want the storms to go away, God has a purpose in the storm. He invites us to journey with him through the torrential downpours and ride the waves of life. Because there’s something meaningful waiting on the other side of the storm. Listen this week as Pastor Derrick walks us through the meaning of the God’s presence in the storm.
God is with us in all places of our lives but some times he makes himself visible in a specific way to help us through a specific challenge or trial. This week Pastor Derrick shares the presence of Jesus in our lives as our shepherd. As we consider how God is our Shepherd we’ll take a few moments to discover who shepherds were and how they acted. Then Pastor Derrick will guide us to a better understanding of why we need a shepherd.
In the days leading up to Christmas it’s a great time to discover the old and the new of this amazing holiday! This season is filled with good old favorites like snickerdoodles and spiral hams and favorite hymns and family times. But it’s also a great time to journey into the new expressions of this beautiful time of year. This week’s Music Monday is all about cherishing the tradition of Christmas past with a new twist.
Continue readingWhen we travel through the wilderness God is with us. When we feel lost and alone God is with us. When no one else is there, God is with us. When life is swirling at a busying pace, God is with us. But he’s not with us the way we might expect. Listen this week as Pastor Derrick helps us sharpen our focus on how to listen for God.
What does it mean that God is our Potter? To turn a lump of hard clay into something useful and usable there are four key things that need to happen. The potter needs to mould the clay and make it pliable. The clay needs centered on the wheel. The potter presses his hands into the clay. But it’s not done until the clay is placed into the kiln and fired and hardened. Listen as Pastor Derrick shares the ways the Potter has his hands all over you!
It’s here! The official start of the pre-Christmas season that we in church world call Advent. The word basically means preparing for something big. It’s the idea of anticipation and excitement. So as we prepare for Christmas throughout this Advent season, we’re going to look at different Christmas songs and talk about our Christmas traditions. In an effort to do this we’ll start this week with a Music Monday titled Little Merry Christmas that shows how our traditions should all point to one important truth. Continue reading
Throughout the season of Advent we’re discovering where and how God is with us. This week we travel into the valley to see how God is with us when all we can see are the mountains high around us. We’re not meant to stay in the valley. We’re made to move THROUGH the valley. Dig a well. Let God bring the rain. Then watch as he guides you through the Valley.
What does it mean to be in Christ? Through this series we’ve journeyed to understand how Christ makes a difference in our daily lives. Everything from changing the way we see the world around us to bringing us into something far bigger than our immediate families to saving us from our fears and failures to making us whole – Christ makes a difference not just for our eternity but also for our todays. Listen this week as Pastor Derrick wraps up this series with a message titled In Christ I Am Blameless.