A Theology of Disneyland
With COVID restrictions ending, more people will be itching to travel and vacate for beaches, mountains, and yes, even Disneyland. Before you head off to see Mickey and Minnie, remember this: there is more to Disneyland than meets the eye. Everyone who has been to...
VA Governor: “Ending…of Restrictions”
This is a big week for Virginians, our church included. It marks, what is being reported as, the beginning of the end of COVID restrictions across the Commonwealth. Over the past year, our leadership has led our church to submit to the governor’s guidelines, in the...
“Big Church” Is Children’s Church
It’s Sunday evening. The amber sky over Ephesus was just beginning to fade into the darkness. A few dozen people arrive at the same home, at the same time, as though it was their habit. Hugs, kisses, and smiles are their greetings. One by one they make their way into...
On Singleness
Singleness is not talked about enough in the church. And when it is, it can be awkward. It’s easy to make wrong assumptions about single people or the single life. Some think that being a Christian who isn’t married is either too hard, too easy, too lonely, too...
“He Descended to the Dead” – A Defense
(The weel's sermon text is 1 Peter 3:18-22. There are different interpretations of its meaning. Tim Helm, our Director of Children's Ministry, shares a defense of one such view.) If you have ever read the Apostle’s Creed (which by the way I would suggest all...
Ravi’s Books, Now What: Two Views
Ravi Zacharias wrote over 30 books. Some may sit on our shelves at home. Now that his scandalous sins have come to light, what do we do with his works? Keep them? Purge them? What is the wisest response? Christians will disagree on the answer to these questions. The...
10 Ways to Be Pro-Life This Week
January 22 is the National Sanctity of Human Life Day. (On this date, 1973, the Supreme Court legalized abortion-on-demand in all 50 states.) Churches around the U.S. use that day (and the Sunday prior) to celebrate God's gift of life, commemorate the many lives lost...
“Amen and A-Woman” – A Lesson
By now, you’ve probably seen the clip. If not, trust me, it’s odd. Last Sunday, the 117th Congress met for the first time in 2021. As is customary, an opening prayer was offered to mark the beginning of a new year and new session. With heads bowed across the room, a...
Advent: Week 4 – Peace
Our family was driving around looking at Christmas lights and listening to Q99. I wasn’t paying much attention to the radio until one of my kids asked a question. He said, “Dad! What are the kids saying in this song?” Everyone quieted down. I turned up the radio to...
Advent: Week 3 – Joy
The following article is an article by Matt Boswell from Gospel Coalition originally published December 20, 2018. Given its dual theme of joy and singing, I thought it was a perfect advent reading for our service and theme today. One of my favorite memories as a boy...
Advent: Week 2 – Love
The Beatles famously sang, “All you need is love. Love is all you need.” Theologically speaking, that is kind of true but also kind of not true. It ultimately depends on what we mean when we speak, or sing, of love. Love has been described in a million different ways....
Advent: Week 1 – Hope
If you haven’t heard it enough already, then let me say it again: 2020 has been a crazy, unprecedented year. And it’s still not over. Who knows what will happen in the final month? Hopefully, the worst is behind us. It’s precisely because of this year’s...