Begin with Waiting
Last Sunday we looked at Acts 1, in our sermon series “Summer in the Spirit”. We found that even though Jesus gave clear directives to spread the Good News locally and globally, His followers were first told to wait…their focus wasn’t on the doing, it was on the waiting…
Holy Outreach
We’re spending the whole Summer focusing on God, the Holy Spirit, as the divine person we can know and be changed by through the scriptures and through His presence in our daily lives. I had the joy of teaching on…
Newsflash: Pastor Attends Church
I went to church last Sunday. No really—"I went to church”. For the first time in a while, I basically had no part in putting on the worship service. Sure, I was..
A Full Fifth
I wanted to use this space to mention a few things from our time together for “5th Sunday”, our "worship of service" in place of our normal Sunday morning Worship Service. As you know…
The Never Ending Series
I can’t believe Jesus 1.0 series is over, can you?! We started the series back in December as we celebrated Advent, and now we’ve witnessed Jesus ascend, leaving his disciples behind to wait on the coming promise of the Father (the Holy Spirit). The beautiful thing about a…
Blessings Harmonized
As you probably know, we hosted the Moody Bible Institute Chorale on Wednesday evening for a concert. The event had been rescheduled three times in the last year and a half due to covid concerns. Admittedly, I was skeptical that it was going to…
Is Busy Giving You Pause?
May is a very full month around here! True story—I wrote a first draft of today’s “pastoral blurb” yesterday morning to ensure that I got it to Dave before the deadline to send in the all-church email. The piece I wrote has to do with how many things we have going on in….
The How of Help
In staff meeting this week we discussed how Christians and The Church can better care for people, both christian and nonchristian, who are dealing with mental health or sexual…
Seasons of the Spirit
Since last Sunday’s Sermon on the Emmaus Road (Luke 24) , I’ve had a handful of conversations. Some folks resonated with the experience of the Hiddenness of God. God can sometimes be hard to find. I’ve also connected with others who long for…
The Way We Give
If you’ve been around anyone in a leadership role at HSCC the past few weeks, you know the church is in “budget season". Staff are figuring out costs for plans, Deacon liaisons are connecting and submitting requests, the PLT is discussing and praying through the…
What an Easter!
Can you believe it’s almost Easter Sunday already? I don’t know about you, but for me this year feels like it is flying by and in the midst of our busy life, this week we have a holiday (a holy-day) set apart for us to pause and…
The Fear of Death
As I’ve reflected on John chapter 11 last few weeks and I’ve been impacted by Jesus’ intentionality during His last weeks of “earthly” ministry. Of course, His earthly ministry has continued for 2,000 years, but we’re talking pre-resurrection here ;) As you may recall, we dove into the story of Lazarus (John 11) and soaked in the layers of revelation Jesus showed to His…
Where’s My Peace?
This morning I was feeling "off"…some tiredness, discouragement and the weight of the many responsibilities and cares of life. A friend shared with me a similar incident he’d had a few days earlier and captured it with…
What Fog Reveals
A few mornings ago, we had our first really thick foggy morning. From my vantage point, a few miles inland, I could see the fog creeping up the valleys, covering the city and advancing on the forest. In the later spring and all summer into…
Are the Rivers for Me?
Last Sunday we dove into the powerful words Jesus declared on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles (Hoshana Rabah). At this climactic moment, all of Israel was gathered together, celebrating the ancient memory of God’s abundant provision at the…
Grateful. Wonder. Jesus.
As we journey through Jesus’ life in our sermon series, "Jesus 1.0”, I’m grateful and wonder about a few things. First, I’m grateful to be surprised by how…
A “Mounting” Challenge
I was very encouraged by our time together on Sunday. As I remarked at the start of the sermon I had the sense that the Lord was really moving in our gathering. Aren’t you grateful that God is gracious enough to bless us with his presence each time we…
All The Good Things
Keri shared this verse in our staff meeting this week. It was a powerful time together as we listened to the Word, to each other and the Holy Spirit as we digested this…
Reflections on Serving
Great job Church! I was encouraged by what I saw and experienced last Sunday as we participated in “5th Sunday” ministry to Downtown/Riverwalk residents and grounds. Were you?…
5th Sunday Serve!
As you know, we instead of a normal "worship service" this Sunday, we are doing service as our form of worship this Sunday. Please read on, even if you aren’t planning on participating in the service opportunities downtown, as there is something for everyone. And if…