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...
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...
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...
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....
How to take on a Bible-reading habit in the new year
As the new year begins, many people use the opportunity to begin a Bible-reading plan. We asked Associate Pastor Billy Craig about his experiences with his Bible-reading plan and to offer some advice for anyone looking to jump in this year. He has been using the same...
Praying … that we grow in prayer
Recently, I wrote about why the Church needs to be “Reformed and always reforming according to the Word of God and the call of the Spirit.” Prayer is one of those places we need to be growing. Every week, leading off the prayer part of our Friday email, we include the...
4 gospel elements that help us grow in Christ
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...
How my garden taught me to slow down and get back to the essential
Less is more. We hear that phrase a lot, but the truth of it came home to me this year through my vegetable garden when I noticed my more productive plantings were the ones that were less crowded. I have this bad tendency to try to cram too many plants into too small...
Want to deepen your walk with Jesus? Look at him, over and over.
It’s a question I wrestle with often. How can I change? How can I become more loving and sacrificial? How can I put aside the things that aren’t good for me? How can I spend more time reading the Bible? How can I better obey the things Jesus calls me to? How can I...
To be transformed, conform
Romans 8:29 tells us that “those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.” We tend to get stuck on foreknowledge and predestination, but what I’ve been thinking about is being conformed to the image of Jesus. Ultimately it is God who...