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[9] And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, [10] so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, [11] filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:911) The investment of prayer has been formationa...

Philippians 2:19-30 offers two examples of humble joy that Paul puts forth for the Philippians to learn from. Timothy and Epaphroditus were both believers in Christ Jesus who had been gripped by the gospel, lived to build up the church, and worked to advance the mission of God. We have much to learn through the stories of saints who have gone before us. Below are a handfu...

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One of my favorite memories as a boy was singing with our church family on Christmas Eve. As the service would near its conclusion, the deacons would distribute candles around the congregation while the lights grew dark. As we sang our final hymn of the evening, the room would flood with candlelight as voices announced the message of Christmas,"Joy to the World, the Lord i...

I think most believers have heard or even memorized "The Great Commission", Matthew 28:19-20. "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." But what does that look like in everyd...

When my husband and I first walked into a small group gathering 5 years ago, we were unsure of what to expect. We loaded up the kids in their pjs and headed down the freeway hopeful. Community groups were a new entity to us- supremely different from the program based church model we were accustomed to. As we all piled out of the car and into the home, we walked into the ar...

The time is upon us - that time which is usually welcomed by parents, but dreaded by students everywhere: back to school! While we look forward to the new and interesting opportunities ahead for our families, we also know the hustle and bustle of the school season is about to take over and consume most of our waking moments.A productive way to prepare for the challenges th...

My first experience in church planting was 9 years ago in Washington state. We had always been attenders and to be quite honest, I really had never committed myself or any of our time to any church we were a part of. We were just "too busy." We had a young son, were serving in outreach ministry, and Aaron traveled during the week. Church on Sunday was a negotiable and oft...

Planting a church requires all-hands-on-deck. Men, women, teenagers, and children all contribute in significant ways to seeing a new church come to life. The organizational needs required to make a church a church are tremendous: facility logistics, greeters, kids workers, and coffee pots (seriously). As we set out to plant the Trails, I am praying we see committed, sacrif...

One of the most difficult tasks for church leadership is rallying its members to be excited about serving in the church. When the pastor preaches about servanthood and contributing to the needs of the body, Christians harmoniously nod their heads in agreement. However, members often look to the person next to them to step up, rather than courageously using their own gifts ...