What does your pastor look like?

Everyone has an image in their mind about what a pastor looks like and what he or she does. Sometimes that picture isn't a good one, and rumors can fuel the fire.  Paul knew all about that.  So he held up a few pictures for the church in order to show them the resemblance between him and what a pastor should look like.  We read about those pictures in I Thessalonians 2: 1-12, Sunday, Feb 2, at 10 a.m.

and the answer is...

The mess we have made of things is so big, there's no way we can clean it up. People made the mess, people are responsible to clean it up.  And yet the situation is so bad, we are unable to dig ourselves out from under it.  Is there anyone at all who can help us?  Yes, there is.  Who is it then? Do you really want to know?  The answer is.....
(See Heidelberg Catechism Answer #18 and Hebrews 2:14-18) Sunday, Feb 2, 6:00 p.m.

Coming Attractions

We open a letter this Sunday morning - a letter written to us, for us.  It's Paul's letter to the Thessalonians.  In the opening paragraphs of that letter we get a hint of things to come-- the "coming attractions."  This letter is going to address a number of topics, from sex to the rapture. We are going to read a letter, and it is my prayer, that we will also heed it. Sunday, Jan 26, 10 a.m.

Disturbing the Peace

This week we begin a series on Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians. In Acts 17 we find Paul in Thessalonica where the gospel he brings disturbs the peace that the city holds so dearly.  The gospel will always disturb the peace because it stands in opposition to everything our culture believes.  That counter-cultural message got Jesus killed.  We proclaim a message that offers a better way, a surer hope, a deeper joy.  It's a message that will disturb the peace. But it's worth it.  Sunday, Jan 19, 10 a.m.

Cleaning up the mess

The mess created by sin (by us) is so big and so deep and so tall.  There is no way we can clean it up, no way at all.  That's the dilemma in which we find ourselves.  What are we going to do? Can someone else clean things up for us? The Heidelberg Catechism asks those questions in Lord's Day 5.  Join us Sunday evening as we ask the big questions. Jan 19, 6 p.m.

Who Is Jesus and What Does He Mean to You?

"See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame" (I Peter 2:6).  Our guest pastor, Jeff Klingenberg, bring the message this Sunday, Jan 12 at 10 a.m.  Who is Jesus and what does he mean to you?

It's over

Christmas 2013 is over.  The gifts have been unwrapped, the turkey leftovers are gone, the tree is at the curb.  Did it make any difference? Does knowing that Jesus came to earth change anything for you? We wish one another "happy new year!", but we know that in 2014 we will encounter pain and sadness, whether we know Jesus or not.  So, does it make any difference?  It makes all the difference!  In Jesus we have hope and confidence for tomorrow, for 2014, for eternity.  This Sunday morning, Jan 5 at 10 a.m.) we look at John 11:1-45.

God is angry, terribly angry

"The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire..."  This sentence comes from Jonathan Edwards famous sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.  We like to minimize our sins, excuse them, medicalize them, explain them away; we hope God will look the other way. But our sin separates us from God, and in his justice, he cannot ignore our sins; he is "terribly angry about the sin we are born with as well as the sins we personally commit" (HC Q&A 10).  Our sins are big.  But God's grace is bigger.  January 5, 6 p.m.