Why We Need Thanksgiving

Have you ever bought something you already had, because you forgot you have it?  I am thinking right now of a tool for my chainsaw I have hanging on the wall in my garage unopened.  Why?  Because after I got home with it and finally got around to using it, I discovered I already had replaced that item!  There was no need to buy a new one, yet I had and it was well past the return window. Now I may be worse than some, but the fact is, we humans are forgetful and we need to be reminded of …

Shoebox Sunday!

Today is one of our favorite Sundays of the year.  For the past several weeks (and much longer for some) we have been packing Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes to send the love of Jesus to children around the world.  All the hard work and sacrificial spending of the church culminates on this day when we remember what we are doing and why, then spend time praying over the shoeboxes we packed.  We pray that God will put just the right shoebox into just the right child’s hands.  If you can’t be here in person for this special day, we hope …

Hamartiology – The Doctrine of Sin

Where did the idea of sin come from?  Is it just some old-fashioned idea that was created to help keep humans in line?  Is guilt just a social construct? It would be nice to think that sin and guilt were something fictional that we made up, but I think we all know that is ludicrous.  But that doesn’t answer all the questions we may have – like if there is a good, Almighty God, how did sin come to exist?  Can a good God create sin? This message looks at sin, its origin, its nature, and its effects.  We will …

Foundations of Our Faith – Anthropology: the doctrine of man

So when we think of anthropology, we tend to think of history and archeology and maybe even sociology or science.  The truth is, the study of anthropology has many subsections, but today we want to look at the most important, the origin and purpose of man as taught by God in the Bible.  This study will provide a biblical foundation to help you properly interpret all the other disciplines that help us understand who we are as humans and what our place is in the universe.  We will look at the three most important questions – where did we come …

Political Issues and the Church

A few years ago I preached a series of messages on topics that are often considered “political” and therefore not discussed in polite churches.  It was my desire in those messages to point out that many such topics are actually issues of morality and the bible has much to say about them, therefore the church should as well. As we get ready to vote on Tuesday, I wanted to make those messages easily available for you to review as you prepare to vote.  I believe the privilege of voting is actually a trust God has given to American citizens and …