Worth Reading

James 1:26-27

Do you come to our gathered worship service expecting God to speak to you through his Word? We encourage you to prayerfully read through the passage that will be preached prior to the service to help you prepare.

Live Like Sons and Daughters of the King

Galatians as a whole suggests that we will be tempted to compromise and deny the gospel by treating God as an impersonal Master, and not a father. We’ll try to prove ourselves to him and earn his love when he has already loved us, and sent his Son for us…

Three unusually sweet promises lie in these four verses for precious sons and daughters of God.

Commentary: Our tragedy and God's love for orphans

Caring for these children is not the job of governments or institutions; instead, it is the job of families, people and communities. As Christians, our compassion is simply a response to the love that God has already shown us.

The Election is Over. Let’s Get Political.

More than anybody, then, it’s high time for Christians and churches to turn our heads from the national news and focus our attention back to where the real political action occurs. It’s not in Washington, and it’s not through a quadrennial affair. No, no. It’s a weekly affair—and it occurs in and through our churches. Every week, our congregations gather as embassies of heaven. Every week, our pastors make a political speech, and we go out as ambassadors with a political message. “The King offers pardon for every rebel who would repent!” Every week—and all week—our churches should exemplify for the nations divine righteousness, justice, and love.

This blog was written by Andy Styer

Worth Reading

John 9

Do you come to our gathered worship service expecting God to speak to you through his Word? We encourage you to prayerfully read through the passage that will be preached prior to the service to help you prepare.

Love Your Neighbor Enough to Speak Truth: Rosaria Butterfield Responds to Jen Hatmaker

“Today, I hear Jen’s words—words meant to encourage, not discourage, to build up, not tear down, to defend the marginalized, not broker unearned power—and a thin trickle of sweat creeps down my back. If I were still in the thick of the battle over the indwelling sin of lesbian desire, Jen’s words would have put a millstone around my neck.”

[Rosaria’s response is one of four mentioned by Justin Taylor in The Only Four Things You Need to Read in Response to the Hatmakers. All four are worth reading]

It Happened to George Washington’s Church

Stories about losing rarely reach the front page, but our countercultural faith is different. We believe to live is Christ and to die is gain. Daily news of victories—in sports, in politics—obscures this truth. That’s why we need more stories of gaining through loss. Such stories are bound to continue for the faithful in today’s America.

The Falls Church Anglican has lived through such a story.

3 Truths You Should Remember, No Matter What You Do in the Voting Booth

Here are three truths about Christians and politics that are true today and will still be true after next week’s election—truths you should remember no matter what you do in the voting booth.

This blog was written by Andy Styer

Worth Reading

James 3:1-12

Do you come to our gathered worship service expecting God to speak to you through his Word? We encourage you to prayerfully read through the passage that will be preached prior to the service to help you prepare.

James 3: A Story

This short film fits well with our passage for this week, reminding us that “My brothers, these things ought not to be so”. (from the Desiring God 2008 National Conference: The Power of Words and the Wonder of God)

Befriend Those with Disabilities and Special Needs

This one fits very well with our current Sunday school class for adults and youth (grades 6-12)

I firmly believe the greatest beneficiaries of this relationship aren’t the people among us who have special needs, but those of us who get to be in their company. . .

Sometimes God shows up in the most unexpected ways.

If not for William, people in our church would know Jesus less. . .

Oh, how we need the William’s and Cade’s and Katie’s of the world to help us see the world, help us see God, and help us see reality, through their eyes.

It may be that these beautifully broken friends represent the very perspective that we need in the sometimes-difficult journey of making our peace with God.

Because we are all disabled.

And we all have special needs.

10 Things You Should Know about the Reformation

This is what’s meant by soli Deo gloria, "to the glory of God alone." There’s no room in Reformation theology for human boasting. No one can claim their salvation or their knowledge of God is down to their intellect, morality, or religion. It’s all of God from start and finish. That’s our great hope and confidence. Our salvation is founded on the certain promises of God and the finished work of Christ. And if it’s all of God from start to finish, then the glory goes to him alone.

This blog was written by Andy Styer

Worth Reading

James 2:14-26

Do you come to our gathered worship service expecting God to speak to you through his Word? We encourage you to prayerfully read through the passage that will be preached prior to the service to help you prepare.

Faith and Works

Are believers justified by “faith plus works” or by “faith alone”? The answer to this question requires that we carefully distinguish between, without separating, faith and works in the believer’s response to the gospel promise in Jesus Christ. The old adage, “He who distinguishes well, thinks well,” is most appropriate when it concerns the important question of the relationship between faith and works in the life of the believer.

My Dad, the ER, and the Culture of Death in Colorado

Well that was fast. Not even a minute into the evaluation and the doctor suggested we go ahead and let my dad go. The injuries that landed him in the ER on Sunday night did not appear to be life-threatening. He’s 75. Memory loss is his only known ailment. And yet, this doctor, who had never known my family before that moment, suggested we consider not saving our dad’s life if, “God forbid, something happens.”

9 Things You Should Know About Planned Parenthood Founder Margaret Sanger

This weekend Planned Parenthood celebrated its 100th anniversary, commemorating the day that Margaret Sanger, the organization’s founder, opened the first birth control clinic in America. Although Planned Parenthood has attempted to distance itself from Sanger’s more illiberal views, they still praise her role and annually give the Margaret Sanger Award—the organization’s highest honor—to “recognize leadership, excellence, and outstanding contributions to the reproductive health and rights movement.” (When Hillary Clinton won the award in 2009 she said, “I admire Margaret Sanger enormously. Her courage, her tenacity, her vision. . . . I am really in awe of her.”)

Who was Sanger? Here are nine things you should know about one of the 20th century’s most controversial figures:

This blog was written by Andy Styer

Worth Reading

James 2:14-26

Do you come to our gathered worship service expecting God to speak to you through his Word? We encourage you to prayerfully read through the passage that will be preached prior to the service to help you prepare.

The Bible Is Strange - Why Read It?

The Bible is strange. The events in the Bible are so far removed from us that they might as well have happened in outer space. Reading the Bible can feel like reading about an alien race and culture.

Why God’s Sexual Ethic Is Good for the World

In what sense is God’s sexual ethic not just true, but also beautiful and good for the world?

That’s the question Sam Allberry (author of Is God Anti-Gay? and a founding editor of Living Out, a ministry for those struggling with same-sex attraction), Rosaria Butterfield (author of The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert and Openness Unhindered [20 quotes]), and Jackie Hill Perry (spoken word poet and hip-hop artist) take on in this new seven-minute roundtable video.

Singing Man: The Story Behind the Viral Video of Ben Ellis

On September 7, 2016, 400 high school students from Christ Presbyterian Academy in Nashville, along with their teachers and administrators, loaded into buses and cars and drove two miles to the home of Ben Ellis, a Bible and Latin teacher in the late stages of an aggressive cancer.

The students and faculty poured out of the buses and onto his lawn, and sang worship songs. With his window open, Ben leaned forward into view and sang along. . .

This blog was written by Andy Styer