When I was a kid I remember being a part of this kid’s production, or concert at our church. It was really enjoyable but I remember a story they told us that I have never forgotten. As part of the preparation for the concert we would have practices and these would always start with some
Over the last few months we have been taking a look at the core values of The Christian and Missionary Alliance and today we are moving on to the final value. Core Value #7, which says, “Achieving God’s purposes means taking faith-filled risks. This always involves change.” As I was thinking about that core value, and
With varying schedules, it can be difficult, in many churches to calculate the number of people who attend at least semi-regularly. At the River this can be especially difficult, due to the number of students who attend. I spent some time this week trying to come up with an accurate number. After looking at everyone
What do we mean when we say that somebody has big shoes to fill? We mean that they are following someone legendary. They are taking over for someone who has done such a good job that it will be difficult to measure up. Harry S. Truman comes to mind when he took over after Roosevelt’s
When I was in college, everyone had to take 12 hours of science. I didn’t do so well in high school science so I looked for a science that I might do better at and I decided upon Physical Geography. It is the study of topography, so we studied everything from erosion to the water
Today we are going to take a look at how Jesus defines greatness. Please turn with me in your Bibles to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 20. So today we will be taking a break from our series on the Sermon on the Mount, but we will be staying in the Gospel of Matthew for
Have you ever heard of Forrest Fenn? He apparently is or was a multi-millionaire art dealer, author, and Vietnam War veteran who in 2010 decided to encourage people to get up off their couches, leave their video games and televisions behind and get into the great outdoors. He did that by taking a bronze treasure
According to a post on the McKinley-Irvin family law website, based on U.S. Census Bureau statistics In America there is one divorce approximately every 36 seconds. 41% of all first marriages end in divorce, that number rises to 60% of second marriages, and 73% of third marriages. People who wait to get married until they
The movie “127 hours” is based on the story of Aaron Ralston a 27-year-old experienced outdoorsman from Aspen Colorado. He was hiking in a canyon in Utah on a 13-mile hike, when an 800-pound boulder shifted and pinned his arm. Knowing that nobody knew where he was, after being stuck there for 5 days, he
So throughout this advent season I am trying to tie my sermon in with the advent reading. Last week we looked at Mary’s Magnificat, because that was the passage. But when looking at the advent reading for today, I was really resistant to preaching a sermon on this passage. Let me tell you why. You