Preparing For Worship - Gina Biddle. As we prepare for worship this day, let us be reminded of many things. This is the Lord’s Day. Moreover we rise, and may we give thanks for the privilege to be awake in our right minds. Today’s Scripture from Ezekiel inspired the...

Preparing for Worship - LeAnn Hampton. Seen. Known. Loved. The theme for our journey through Lent has been beautifully represented through our times of worship each Sunday. Today the concept of seeing and being seen is woven through the Scripture reading in John 9,...

Preparing For Worship - R.G. Huff. Has anyone asked you what you are giving up for Lent? It’s not a question many Baptists are asked, I guess, but it happens! You may notice this morning that for this Lenten season, we at Wilshire are giving up the way our worship...

Preparing For Worship - George Mason. When your church is nearly 72 years old, you’d think we’d have done this before. You would be wrong. Although we’ve recently begun life together with the Reverend (soon to be Doctor, too) Timothy Peoples as our fifth pastor, this...

Preparing for Worship - Timothy Peoples, senior pastor. I have had some dance parties all by myself lately. It all started one night when my Spotify music channel played Whitney Houston’s “Step by Step.” I have no idea what came over me, but dance moves I have never...

Preparing for Worship - Jeff Hampton.  In worship this morning the Wilshire Winds play an arrangement of “Abide With Me” that offers an unusual twist on the familiar tune. At the beginning and throughout, listen and you’ll hear the trumpet notes of “Last Call,” which...

Preparing for Worship - Jeff Brummel. We followers of Jesus sing. Singing together, whether in a choir or as a congregation, is a unique activity steeped in tradition throughout history and across many cultures. We have lovely choirs that adorn our worship service....

Preparing for Worship - Heather Mustain, associate pastor.   Today is fondly known around Wilshire as Deacon Ordination Sunday. Deacons, in our Baptist tradition, are members of the church who have been nominated and identified from within as those who already...

Preparing for Worship - Darren Dement, associate pastor.  Our opening congregational hymn this morning, Brethren, We Have Met to Worship, has a bit of a murky history. The text has been variously attributed to either George Askins or George Atkins, both known to be...

Preparing for Worship - John Kelly, pastoral resident.   This weekend, we celebrate a man born in the era of the Great Depression — who became a leader of the Poor People’s Campaign. We remember a man whose childhood was backlit by the noisy chaos of World War II...