I’ve been thinking about how we grow in Christ and I think the answer will involve a unique mixture of four gospel elements. First, we have to have “gospel content.” We need the scriptures and the true narrative about who God is and who we are. We need good teaching...
Students from James Madison University are returning to Harrisonburg, and we're ready to welcome them. First Pres has two upcoming opportunities to do just that. JMU Freshman Move-in On Saturday, Aug. 21, we will partner with campus ministries CRU and RUF to help...
In John 5:6 Jesus asks a question I think we all need to wrestle with: “Do you want to get well?” Many of us are tempted to dismiss the question because we don’t think of ourselves as sick. Yet for Christians a proper understanding of “well” must include growing in...
Starting Sunday, August 29, you'll be seeing some of your favorite faith-building opportunities return to First Pres as we get back together to study the Bible, grow in our walk with Jesus and build community. On that day, children's Sunday school, youth discipleship...
The bike ride has become legendary among my wife and children, the kind of story that seems to increase in dramatic effect with each re-telling. Just a day or two into my freshman year at James Madison University, I mounted my bike and navigated to what was then the...
Earlier this summer, I learned that my high-school journalism teacher, one of the most important mentors in my life, had died late last year. In the days that followed, I reconnected with friends from those days I hadn’t talked to since we graduated, and in our online...
I just wrapped up 10 amazing days filling in for Rev. Joey Chang with our partners at Kake Memorial Presbyterian Church in Alaska. It has given me much to think about, but for today I want to reflect on the value of partnerships like the one we have with Kake...
The Courtyard Committee knows that everyone is getting anxious for the completion of the Courtyard. No one is more eager to see it completed than the members of the Courtyard Committee. As you are aware, construction of any project during the pandemic has been fraught...
Several dozen of our youth and their mentors gathered for D-Now, our annual in-town retreat last weekend. They spent the weekend in worship, discipleship, fellowship and service . The theme for the weekend was the first chapter of 1 Peter, where Peter describes how...
A well-traveled highway connects Jimma and Gore, Ethiopia. Some of the highway is paved. More significantly to many Christian Ethiopians is the even stronger connection between Gore and Jimma that started with the “coming of the Holy Spirit” and subsequent “Great...