What to Expect This Sunday, December 20
Peace: it’s something that most people hope to experience, but the lack of peace in our lives and in our world is never far from our attention.
On this fourth Sunday of Advent, we will light the fourth Advent candle to represent the peace that Jesus brings into the world. Together, the four candles represent love, hope, joy, and peace – four things that are desperately needed in all places and at all times.
Here is a preview of this Sunday’s order of service, along with what each portion represents:

A Radical Christmas

John Rutter is one of the most famous composers of choral music in the 20th century. He is known as the founder and director of the Cambridge Singers, and his compositions and arrangements are widely known and sung throughout the world and especially here in the United States.

I recently became aware of a Christmas carol written by Rutter in 1990. The carol is entitled “Christmas Lullaby,” and Tara and I have the opportunity to sing it with a chamber choir this coming weekend. The lyrics to this carol are particularly meaningful to me this year, so I’d like to share them with you here. Continue reading →

Following the Light

The Wise Men followed a star and visited Jesus in Bethlehem. What if this well-known story is not about sentimental nativity scenes? What if it’s about political and personal revolution? What if it’s about seeking God’s kingdom rather than the influence of politics and money in our lives? Listen to Pastor David’s sermon on Matthew 2:1-12.

Listen now!

What to Expect This Sunday, December 13

Our worship services are planned carefully and thoughtfully. I (Pastor David) take a couple of hours each Monday morning to plan the next Sunday’s worship service. Each week I have a theme or an idea in mind, and my hope is that the theme or idea is conveyed and experienced by everyone in the worship service. But I am realizing that may not always be the case.

So each week I hope to give you a little description of the structure of our upcoming worship service, in order that you might have an idea of what to expect and how to prepare yourself spiritually for our weekly encounter with the ever-living God. Continue reading →

December Youth Update

Merry Christmas! It’s a wonderful season for the church as we celebrate the most important moment in human history. It’s a time to be with family and friends to celebrate the virgin birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is moment where a miracle became a reality and we learned that nothing is impossible with God. It’s a story of the eternal promises of life, Jesus becoming a man with the ultimate sacrifice of death to pay for our sins through His resurrection, the fulfillment of prophecy and becoming our Messiah, our Savior, our hope in a hopeless world. The reason we celebrate Christmas, the miracle that changed the world. It’s for me, for you, for us, and the world. May your Christmas season be joyful! Continue reading →

Hypocrisy and “Thanksgetting”

Today’s Chronological Bible reading includes this verse, Romans 2:24, from the New Living Translation:

No wonder the Scriptures say, “The Gentiles blaspheme the name of God because of you.”

There’s a problem among Christians, especially in North America, and that problem goes by a one-word name: hypocrisy. Echoing the words of Romans, it is no wonder that people outside Christianity have no room for God in their lives, especially when Christians are so adept at saying one thing but doing another. Continue reading →

What’s Going On in the Church of God?

Earlier this month, several of us from Mt. Haley attended the Michigan General Assembly of the Church of God. This annual meeting gives us the opportunity to learn about what is happening in ministries around the state and even around the nation. The main speaker this year was Jim Lyon, the General Director of the Church of God in the US and Canada.

He shared some amazing news with us, and I’d like to share those updates with you, too. Continue reading →

The Pattern of the World

A couple of weeks ago, on November 1, I preached on Romans 12:1-2. The sermon, part of our series on evangelism, was a call for us to experience deep transformation in Jesus Christ and then to live into the perfect will of God. The sermon led directly into sharing the Lord’s Supper together, an experience of deep transformation in which we encounter the crucified and living Christ in a mysterious, powerful way.

In the sermon’s conclusion, I spoke these two sentences:

The world’s way of living is to ignore the mercy of God and to live for our own comfort and preservation. When we separate ourselves from those who are not like us, we are simply accommodating to the pattern of the world.

I would like to expand on those thoughts with you now. Especially now, in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Paris. Continue reading →