Tag

baptist church

Does our church love hurting people?

I saw a church marquee that had a chuckle-worthy tagline. It said: St. So-and-so Church: “We love hurting people.” I think what the church means by this tagline is that they are a church that loves people who are hurting. The anguished English on the sign makes me giggle, but when I get past the […]

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A Grace Welcome on Resurrection Sunday

We have been immersed in the somber, penitential season of Lent for quite some time now, and all last week we reflected on the events that led to the suffering and death of Christ on the cross. So what a joy it is to have finally reached this place of celebration as we come together […]

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Caught Up In My Own Snare

This page was blank. It had endless possibilities: Pictures, foreign words, scribbles, symbols. Now it has ink on it. No eraser. Pen stains. Words trap. Our pen marks name that which is not ours. The limitless superfluous pace is shrinking. The infinite imagination of white space still exists But the parameters I created are now […]

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How do I see?

The sky is fickle: Bright then dark. I need some sunshine to ignite my track. Without clarity how will purpose find meaning? Without glasses what will I miss? With no light to illuminate vision I dwell but overlook the present. The night has as much power as the day But only if I close my […]

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The Grace in Grace Baptist Church

It’s right there, front and center in our name, “Grace.” It’s a catchy word. A buzzword. One of those words that, unfortunately, has become thin because of flippant use, but certainly not because of its substance. This is seen when we consider its Greek form, Charis (khar’-ece), which carries a range of meanings, including grace, […]

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Planting trees, casting shade and producing fruit

My dogs love playing in the backyard — running, barking and wrestling. The spring season is the best time for them to be outside: they have thick coats and the weather is cool. Unfortunately, we only have one small, developed tree in the back yard. Without shade, the dogs don’t like spending time in the […]

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A Grace Welcome: First Sunday of Lent

Good morning and welcome to Grace Baptist Church. I’d also like to welcome you to a new season in our church year: “Lent.” Our calendar year began on January 1st, but our church year or liturgical year began a month prior to Christmas with Advent: The expectation or anticipation of the coming of Christ. Of […]

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Preserving our saltiness as a church plant

The Gospel reading from church on Sunday challenged our church plant: Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot” (Matthew 5:13, NRSV). In the first century, […]

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A Grace Welcome

Grace has been meeting publicly for a year now. And we’ve been doing it not because it’s our tradition to do so – because we are new – but because we are drawn here this morning by the resurrected and living Jesus Christ. This is the center that holds us together. We don’t have fences […]

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A church member left me a one-of-a-kind voicemail

A couple of weeks ago, I received a rather eventful voicemail from a church member: “Hey man, got a crazy story to tell you. It ends with me delivering our baby unexpectedly on the bathroom floor this morning. Everyone’s doing fine now. Talk to you later.” A couple in our church thought they would deliver […]

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