Bible Reading Resources ESV Study Bible NLT Life Application Study BibleBible Reading Plan Generator – a great way to create a customized reading planbible.com – a great site that includes an app for your phone and a number of different scripture reading plans (scroll down on the homepage to see the list of reading plans)Family Worship, by Donald Whitney – helpful little book for kick-starting fam...  Read More

Fighting for Joy During the Holidays    The fight for joy for a follower of Christ is never-ending. In our recent sermon on Romans 5:1-11, we looked at how one of the weapons we use to fight for joy is consistently reminding ourselves of what is true for those who have saving faith in Christ. We “preach the gospel” to ourselves daily, remembering that we have been forgiven, made righteous, adopte...  Read More

The Patriarch of Peace  In Zechariah’s prophecy over his son John (later to be known as John the Baptist) in Luke 1:68-79, Luke employs a fascinating literary technique called “chiasm.” It is a technique that repeats certain themes in order to emphasize a central theme that is present in the middle of all the surrounding themes. You can see the themes below through the specific words used:  Visite...  Read More

A few weeks ago I had breakfast with Max Smith. As we sat down Max asked, “So how much time do you have?” Now I have not been a pastor all that long, but I have learned that is a question that must be answered very carefully. So I responded, “Why do you ask?” To which he responded, “I want you to come see a little bit of my world.” I then spent the next couple of hours seeing Max’s world. For thos...  Read More

Christ our ShepherdThe Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures.He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me;  your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the pr...  Read More

Promises of PeaceThis past Sunday we looked at Psalm 85 as a reminder of God’s desire to be our peace. Most scholars believe the historical context of this psalm is the return of God’s people back to their land after 70 years in exile. Part of the reason for this belief is how well the content of this psalm lines up with content in the book of Isaiah that is written for those returning from exile....  Read More