Is it okay to wish someone Happy Father’s Day??  We live in a world that is very fractured and polarized.  Currently, one of the most contentious issues is that of human sexuality.  With so much division and confusion, some might be wondering if celebrating a father figure and saying what a good job he has done is fitting when so many can’t agree on what that all means! Thankfully, God has no confusion and really, we have no reason to be confused either.  God has told us clearly in His Word what it means to be both a man and …

Do you believe that everything just happens by chance?  That any meaning in life is only what we can get from the face value of all that happens?  God wants us to be rescued from the despair of the mindset.  He wants us to that, while we live in a fallen world with much evil, He is working behind the scenes to execute His redemption plan.  He also wants you to know that He knows you!  You have meaning to Him and He loves you.  He wants you to be part of His family and He wants to do great …

It is a common misconception that the Bible is just a book of rules; of prohibitions and mandates.  This comes from (and leads to) a very wrong view of God as some kind of stern, authoritarian, (and maybe grumpy) king in the sky that sees us a mere pawns on one of His planets.  Nothing could be further from the truth. First, the Bible is actually one connected true-life story, a collection of 66 books written over 1400 years that contain a variety of literature, from history narratives to poetry and even letters.  Far from being a book of rules, …

This week we are pleased to have with us Dr. Tim Bertolet with us from ABWE.  He will be sharing with us from Hebrews 4, encouraging us regarding our gracious high priest, Jesus Christ. Tim Bertolet serves at the Association of Baptists for World Evangelism (ABWE) developing strategies for equipping missionaries,  creating missionary training, and coordination of our worldwide theological educators. He served as a pastor for 16 years before going to ABWE. He is passionate about international theological education, pastoral training, and writing material that will help people grow in their faith. Tim also serves as an adjunct professor …

So much of the turmoil that we experience in life has a single root problem.   The hymnwriter Joseph Scriven wrote in famous hymn “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” these words: “O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry, everything to God in prayer!”  He is correct, but that still isn’t the root problem.  The root problem to so many of our issues is that we have a too-small view of God.  Many factors contribute to this; it may be ignorance, it may be disillusionment, it could be a …

The observance of Communion, or the Lord’s Supper, is one of two “ordinances” that God gave the church, the second being baptism.  Anyone with a Protestant or Catholic are familiar with both, though they are often looked at different ways.  In the message today, leading up to our observance, we are going to discuss a specific aspect of what is being pictured through this ordinance, the very one it get’s its name from. The word “Communion” is actually a synonym for fellowship.  It refers to sharing in or participating together in something.  In our study we will see that two …