Sunday Service
Why Grow?
Date: March 5th, 2023
Matt. 22:34-40 & 2 Cor. 5:11-15
Series Archive
Who helped you follow Jesus?
The Great Commission calls on us to “make disciples,” and I’ve been thinking about how to do that. In pondering this I’ve asked, Who made me a disciple and how did they do it? For me the answer to the first part of the question is many people. The same is probably...
Do you believe?
What we believe deeply impacts the way we live. For example, if I believe, like many, that all relatively decent people go to heaven, I’ll try to live a relatively decent life and vaguely hope it is good enough. On the other hand, if I believe that Jesus is the way,...
Most people say we’re on the wrong track. What an opportunity!
Have you noticed that nobody seems to be happy about where things are headed these days? Gas prices make us shake our heads. The cost of our groceries is making us think twice about what we buy. The "culture war" over guns, abortion and climate change seems to be more...
Sharing Christ’s light to immigrants and refugees
https://youtu.be/LNNV_uNAlNw Wael Melek, who is completing his studies at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, recently joined First Pres as a pastoral intern. He will be completing an internship through the end of the year. We recently did a Q&A with Wael to...
Do you understand what you’re reading?
I want to consider one of the great evangelism questions we find in scripture. This question comes from Acts 8:30, where Philip asks an Ethiopian eunuch, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The best definition of evangelism is one beggar leading another to food,...
Do you want to be well?
In John 5:6 Jesus asks, “Do you want to get well?” It is a great evangelism question because it prompts a bunch more like: · What does it mean to be “well?” · How do you define the “good life?” · Are you living it? · Is it marked by the Fruit of...
Where are you?
As many of you know, I’m very Socratic in my thinking and love questions, so when my friend and mentor Jim Singleton mentioned that there are six great “evangelism” questions in scripture, I took notes. One of these questions is in Genesis 3:9, where God asks Adam and...
What baseball taught me about Jesus’ call to ‘go’
We were outmatched. Game after game, we just couldn’t get a win. We’d come close – within a point or two – but the losses had piled up, and we were discouraged. Even though we told the kids that it wasn’t about winning, we coaches knew that a win really would lift...
Who put that Bible in your hotel room, and why?
Your first introduction to the Gideons was likely in a hotel room during your travels as you noticed a Bible placed in the room by the international group. We asked Russ Lawrence, a First Pres covenant partner who volunteers with Gideons, to share more about the...
College students are a vital part of our life together
On most Sundays these days, you will see a balcony full of college students at the first service. However, you will also find some serving in the nursery at the same time. After worship, college students briefly fill the hallway outside the sanctuary as they begin to...