By: Charlie Fuller. In my first life I was a music professor. I conducted choirs and taught private voice lessons. There’s something unique about teaching voice that you might not know if you’ve never taught voice, taken voice lessons or sung in a choir. That unique...
By: Scott Spreier Blame it on bad Baptist upbringing, but every time I read the story of the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt, my mind goes straight to the movie The Ten Commandments. If my memory serves me, our small rural church motored en masse 20-some miles to the...
Around here we’ve always called the start of our fall activities Promotion Sunday — that being today. It means very little, honestly, particularly for adults — because, well, we don’t actually promote. (We never stop aging, despite our best attempts.) Promotion Sunday...
At each family dedication I present the child with their own story Bible, Growing in God’s Love. Yes, I realize the child cannot yet read. As they mature and grow, they begin to shape and understand their own story. My prayer and hope is that when they come to realize...
Preparing for Worship - John Kelly. Looking through this week’s worship order, I have to admit: I smirked a bit when I saw “He’s Got the Whole World In His Hands” listed in the order. Like many of you, I assume, it was one of the first songs I remember learning to...
Preparing for Worship - Ralph Manuel. As we look at the world around us, it is easy to become blinded by the day-to-day sameness of our lives. We become so accustomed to seeing what we always see that we don’t really see at all. Our comfort zone is, by definition,...
Preparing for Worship - Ava McClung. I think it’s interesting that in our Scripture this morning the Psalmist describes God’s word as “a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Have you ever used a flashlight or a lantern to light a path in the dark? The light...
Preparing for worship - Timothy Peoples, senior pastor. I remember as a child singing the song, “God wants somebody that’s real. Somebody that’s saved and sanctified and Holy Ghost-filled.” One particular Sunday, my uncle entered the pulpit to preach a sermon titled...
Preparing for Worship - Abbey Adcox. Embodiment. I’m sure you’ve heard the word thrown around recently. On the surface, it’s a buzzword, the next new thing. In its truest sense, however, embodiment explores the relationship between our physicality and our energy, the...
Preparing for Worship - Jeff Hampton. On this Father’s Day, who do you thank God for? It may very well be your father, but it also might be a mother, teacher, friend, neighbor, colleague, pastor or someone who was there just at the right time. My list gets pretty long...