You are in your discipleship group, and someone reveals their recent, painful loss. You respond by expressing empathy and grief. But then what? Buddhists and atheists and Communists express empathy and grief. What next, that would be "Christian"? Read Titus 1:1-2, and insert "Paul", with your name, and "an apostle of Jesus Christ" with the less technical - but still appli...

It's hard to believe that it's been three years since God brought Lucy into our life. Three years of joy and exhaustion and recalibrated plans about life. As I reflect on those three "features" of life with Lucy, here are some lessons I'm learning, in no particular order: Sometimes often a mom won't get a Sabbath rest, and rejuvenating time with God, unless dad makes ...

This Halloween is the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation, when Martin Luther revealed his 95 Theses, setting off a firestorm of debate, controversy, change, and blessed freedom. Many passages of Scripture could claim to be the heart of the Reformation; Colossians 2:23 is one of them. If you want to understand the Reformation, seek to understand Colossian...

An old Reformer once said, of the Christian's life, that "unless we are addicted to righteousness", "we will faithlessly abandon our Creator". That phrase - "addicted to righteousness" - is striking. Certainly the language of addiction applies to our present day, even in our entertainment practices - we don't just "watch TV"; we "binge watch" shows. And there is the myriad...

Sometimes God gives compare and contrast moments that are inescapable. This morning I saw in the New York Times that Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy, had died. Thinking biblically: ". . . you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God . . . because of t...

Many of you have asked about my family member Gracie, who was shot by a fellow student in her school a couple weeks ago. She is recovering well. Though the bullet literally bounced off her spine (and missed her aorta by a hair), doctors expect a full recovery (though she is not yet walking again). As you read this, please pray for her. As I understand it, she was shot and...

"Community" is simply being with other people. A flourishing community is one where there is mutual, multiplying joy among the members, as a product of being with each other. This is because we humans are hard-wired for joy. We're created with this innate desire. The only way that any human experiences satisfying joy is in God. Therefore the only truly flourishing communit...

We are a polar people. On the one pole, we love to be exceptional, to be special. You see this sweet narcissism on social media; we post our best and brightest moments, but often the purpose is to demonstrate the singularity of ourselves. But a funny thing happens on the road to awesomeness: we find that being awesome doesn't result in being loved. Therefore, on the other...

As you settle back into a routine from the summer, it might be a good time to consider how you take notes during the sermon. We like notetaking, and our style of preaching invites it (thinking here about the main points, which often require more than one pass to digest). But notetaking has its pitfalls: - While recording some information that is intriguing, one can easily...

Our aim is to be a joy-filled community, that treasures God in Christ supremely, obeys the Bible completely, loves one another selflessly, and spreads the gospel intentionally. To that end, we structure our church life around three different spheres: the Sunday Worship Celebration, Community Groups, and Discipleship Groups. I want to focus in here on Discipleship Groups, a...