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Wordle and Jesus: An online word game and sharing Jesus
Raise your hand if you’ve played Wordle. Better yet, hit share and show us your squares. For those who haven’t gotten on board the global word craze, Wordle is an online word game that gives you six chances to guess a five letter word, with hints along the way about...
Blog Archive
What does ‘success’ look like in following Jesus?
I’ve been thinking a lot about how we define success in the Christian life in general and specifically in ministry. I confess that part of me shies away from defining success and I don’t think I’m alone in this regard. I think I avoid defining success partly because...
Something that won’t look different in that #10yearchallenge
Have you seen the #10yearchallenge, where you post a pic of yourself 10 years ago now, and everybody gets to see how much you've changed (of for the fortunate ones, how little you've changed). That got me thinking about how grateful I am that though my hair gets gray...
Thank you from Kentucky
When a mudslide damaged our sister congregation's church in Stopover, Kentucky, we mobilized to send assistance with a small work team. We later collected funding to further help Shepard Memorial get back on their feet. Now, our friends in Kentucky have sent us a...
We’re looking for our next children’s and family ministry director
First Presbyterian Church is looking for the right person to lead our ministries to children and families. Our Director of Children and Family Ministries will lead the vital and strategic Children’s Ministries Team as it strives to fulfill its mission, goals and...
What happens when we pray together
I recently spent 24 hours as part of a prayer retreat with eight other local pastors. We took time to pray for each other, the congregations we serve and the city of Harrisonburg. It was wonderful. We quote Oswald Chambers in introducing our prayer guide each week...
5 books that can help deepen your love for Jesus in 2022
The leaders of First Pres read a lot of varied books in 2021, so we wondered what some of the best were. Here's what they told us. "Pursuing a Heart of Wisdom" (John C. Kwasny) Associate Pastor Billy Craig: This book was about counseling teenagers biblically and by...
COVID reminders & updates
During the past few weeks, we, like everyone else, have noticed an uptick in positive cases of COVID and potential exposure to the virus. A number of our staff have had COVID, as have a number of our covenant partners. In light of this uptick, we want to continue to...
Music that inspired us in 2021
We asked our worship team what music drew them closer to Jesus in 2021. Here's what some of them told us. Take a listen and let this worship music propel you into 2022. "House of the Lord" (Phil Wickham) One of my favorite praise songs from the past year was “House of...
Learning to number our days
I received a new smart/fitness watch for Christmas which meant I had to register and name the device. So, in honor of Psalm 90:12 I named it “Number Our Days.” I commend all of Psalm 90 to you but verse 12 asks the Lord to “teach us to number our days that we might...
Come and see Jesus in 2022
After the trek to Bethlehem. After the birth in the humble manger. After the shepherds and the wise men and the angels. After. What then? Jesus grew. And after several decades, he began to do things that would turn the world upside down. Miracles. Healings....