By Pastor Stephen Hess – If you walk into a grocery store during the month of February, an entire section of the store will be filled with chocolates, flowers, and pink greeting cards. The stores are preparing, of course, for what is commonly known as Valentine’s Day—a day celebrating romantic love and relationships. Many people […]
HolidaysBy Pastor Stephen Hess – As I write this article, we are just a few days away from an important American holiday—the Fourth of July. One of the songs that you often hear on the Fourth of July is “God Bless America”, which begins with the words, “God bless America, land that I love.” I […]
america, HolidaysBy Pastor Stephen Hess – For Christians, Christmas is a time when we celebrate the birth of Christ. It is also traditionally a time when we engage in the practice of giving gifts to one another. When you stop to think about it, there’s something a bit strange about this. Christmas is the one time […]
advent, christmas, Holidays
By 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 – 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, Thanksgiving