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Waiting well in a can’t-wait world
The Advent season is a “can’t wait” season. People can’t wait to start listening to Christmas music or to decorate. Some can’t wait to open presents and others can’t wait see presents opened. The “can’t wait” nature of the season is seen in lots of ways, including...
Blog Archive
The most musical Sunday of the year
Sunday was our annual Music Sunday worship service, when we hear the Christmas narrative through Scripture and song. Here are some scenes from the day, which also included our annual Christmas-cookie event between the worship services.
In prayer, tone matters
I’ve learned that “tone” matters in talking to people, and I think the same is true when we talk to God. Jesus makes this point in Luke 18:9-14 when He tells the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. The Pharisee’s tone is arrogant and entitled as he...
Welcoming our new director of children’s and family ministries
We are thrilled to announce that Vanessa Manson will be joining First Pres as Director of Children’s and Family Ministries at the end of January. Vanessa, her husband John and three of their four children, ages 16 to 26, joined First Pres earlier this year (their...
How Church World Service is welcoming refugees in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County
First Pres' November mission focus is Church World Service, a global organization with a Harrisonburg office. CWS began in 1946 in the aftermath of World War II . The organization is a faith-based group transforming communities around the globe through just and...
How persistent are your prayers?
In Luke 18:1-8, Jesus tells his disciples both then and now the parable of the persistent widow. If you are not familiar with the parable, basically a widow gets justice because she won’t leave an unjust judge alone. Luke 18:1 tells us the point of the parable is “to...
The language of lament
The Psalms are called the prayer book of the Bible, and 70% of the Psalms are classified as “lament.” Even beyond the Psalms, the Bible is chock full of lament. There is even a whole book of Lamentations. So clearly lament should be part of our prayer life, but if you...
What does sincerity have to do with prayer?
I’m struck every year around this time by the word “sincere” because Linus, in “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown,” is convinced that the Great Pumpkin will come only to “the most sincere” pumpkin patch. The word “sincere” is defined as “free of deceit, hypocrisy...
Taking Jesus to the neighborhood
A group from First Pres recently hosted a block party at the nearby Morrison Park neighborhood that drew several dozen residents for games, food and a time of worship. The event was part of an ongoing initiative at First Pres to experiment with outreach events that...
A 3-step method to help you pray
How do you pray? Mary and Martha give us a great example in John 11:3, which was the theme of my sermon last week. What we learn in John 11:1 is that Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, was sick, so his sisters sent word to Jesus. That is prayer: sending word to...
Want to be beautiful? Learn from the trees.
It’s peak fall-color season around here, and the trees are really showing off their reds, oranges and yellows. In the early-morning or late-afternoon light, they are particularly stunning. Stunning, but dying. Have you ever thought about that? Leaves are at their...