By Pastor Stephen Hess – April 4, 2018 marked the 50th anniversary of an historic and tragic event in our nation’s history—the assassination of Martin Luther King. At the beginning of April, I had the chance to travel to Memphis to attend a conference called “MLK50: Gospel Reflections from the Mountaintop.” In addition to reflecting […]
book of colossians, colossians, gospel, raceBy Pastor Stephen Hess – I have always been intrigued by the accounts of the resurrection of Jesus and his appearances to his disciples thereafter. It is clear as you read the Gospels that the disciples were experiencing a mixture of emotions including things like fear, excitement, awe, and joy. I often wonder how I […]
easter, HolidaysBy Pastor Stephen Hess – If someone asked you to describe God, what would be the first words to enter your mind? Many people would probably first think of attributes such as power, wisdom, or perfection. Perhaps the most common one-word definition of God today is “love.” After all, Scripture does tell us that “God […]
Bible studies, HolinessBy Pastor Stephen Hess – There is a problem in the world today. The problem could be described in many ways, but everyone—whether Christian or non-Christian—seems to agree that things are not the way they are supposed to be. In fact, I’ve never met a single person who would deny the reality that something seems […]
book of genesis, genesis, sinBy Pastor Stephen Hess – If you could choose one word to describe the state of American culture as we enter 2018, what would it be? I would probably choose the word “confused.” The further we move into the 21st century, the more confused we seem to be as a culture about some of the […]
book of genesis, genesis, sermon seriesBy Pastor Stephen Hess – Over the past several weeks we have been working through the book of Ruth on Sunday mornings in our current sermon series. When most people think of the book of Ruth, they probably don’t think of the season of Advent or the birth of Christ. However, this Old Testament story […]
advent, Book of Ruth, christmas, Holidays, Ruth, sermon seriesBy Pastor Stephen Hess – As Thanksgiving approaches I find myself thinking about how Christians should celebrate this holiday. Christians have very distinct ways of celebrating Christmas and Easter, but what about Thanksgiving? Do we use this autumn holiday to worship our Lord or is it just another excuse to over-indulge and eat too much […]
Holidays, ThanksgivingBy Pastor Stephen Hess – Over the past month there has been a recurring and disturbing theme in the headlines: natural disasters. First, Hurricane Harvey drowned the city of Houston with a deluge of rain and flooding of epic proportions. Thousands of homes were destroyed and it will take years for the city to rebuild. […]
current events, sufferingBy Pastor Stephen Hess – A couple of weeks ago I turned on the news and saw images that I found it hard to watch. There were images of men marching at night carrying torches deliberately reminiscent of KKK rallies. There was video footage of men chanting Nazi slogans and performing Nazi salutes. I am, […]
gospel, race, racism, sinBy Pastor Stephen Hess – Some time ago we acquired a toy garbage truck set in our household. This particular set came with play-doh molds to create objects such as garbage cans and bottles. These objects can be dropped into a special compartment on the truck before you drive the truck across the floor. As […]
gospel, sermon series