Reflections From Sunday Evening

40 years ago today I married Cynthia Grizzell. Cindy and I are sitting here being grateful that God brought us together and has given us such a blessed life. It does seem a bit strange that we have been together for so long - but we don't really feel that old. The kids surprised us last night. I never saw it coming. A super evening with family and friends that I had no idea was going to happen. Thanks guys - it was a blessing. Later we are heading out for our anniversary dinner. Great day. As we have often done in these years together we spent the morning at church followed by lunch and a learning time with Rev. Doug Anderson. Very grateful for the place the church plays in our life. Thanks to Doug Anderson for being here to preach today. He said it was his anniversary gift to us! He did a wonderful job inspiring us about Radical Hospitality. Now for what's coming up. Next week I finish the series on Love Walks (yes, I do still preach here!) by sharing "The Catch." I preached this message on Sunday night a couple of weeks ago and look forward to sharing next weekend. On Labor Day weekend we will think about our "Culture of Call" and I will share some thoughts about responding to the Nudge of God. In September we kick off a series called "How to Find Fault With Others." More to come on that one! So it's been a good day. I hope you've had a good day too. steve

Reflections from Sunday Evening

This month we are stressing Radical Hospitality. We continued our conversation about evangelism today. Pastor Ginger and I did a dialogue message this weekend. We were able to offer two perspectives on the story of Jesus and the woman at the well. (John 4) We can look at details of scripture passages or share in conversation which we did today. Your story of faith in Christ is worth sharing. I encourage you to watch for opportunities to engage someone in spiritual conversation this week. You may be used by God to awaken faith in someone's life. It's been a good day. I hope you've had a good day too. Steve

Reflections From Sunday Evening

Pastor Ginger began our August message series today. "Love Walks" shows us that the love of Christ compels us to "walk across the room" to share good news with others. The "church" word is evangelism. Often when people are invited to share thier initial reaction to the word evangelism some negative image arises. Pushy - arrogant - trying to get me to do or beleive something I am not sure about. Contrast these negative images with what we think of when asked to describe a person who has had a positive influence on our lives. We hope to help people see evangelism in the same positive light with those who have had the greatest impact on us. Evangelism is good news. We share the good news. One evening Cindy and I were with some friends at Zona Rosa. A teenager came walking past us talking on her cell phone. Her message: They are giving away free ice cream at Coldstone! That was the word all over Zona Rosa. People were telling their friends. They were telling strangers. It was good news and it was spreading fast. We got some free ice cream that evening! How could we chatter good news? - grace - forgiveness - hope - encouragement - assurance - confidence - peace - Come and receive. It's even better than ice cream. It's been a good day. I hope you've had a good day too. steve