On Wednesday at 3:30 we will continue our study of the parables of Jesus. We will examine the parable of the wicked vinedressers (Matthew 21:33-46). Jesus speaks in this parable to the Jewish leadership, anticipating the end of the Old Covenant and the inauguration of the New Covenant. We will be discussing how this parable relates to us. Are there ways that we “reject” Jesus today?

This Sundays sermon will focus on Demetrius the silversmith in Acts 19. In this first person sermon we will learn how Paul’s preaching ruined Demetrius’ business and his attempt at revenge. Poor Demetrius lost his income but he had the opportunity to gain the Pearl of great price.  All he had to do was submit to Paul’s message. 

We will continue our sermon series on the Book of Acts. Thus Sunday, 1/27, we are in Acts 19. In verses 1-7 a very interesting discussion takes involving Paul and 12 “disciples.” These men believed the message of John the Baptist but had not heard the full story about Jesus. We will learn that a true Christian has received the Holy Spirit who changes us in three dramatic ways. The following Sunday (Feb. 3) we remain in Acts 19. I will be doing a first person sermon portraying Demetrius the silversmith.

Bible study on Wednesday takes us to the parable of laborers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16). A special thanks to Mark Simmons who filled in for me last week on short notice. This week’s parable seems to relate to the labor market, but the real meaning is spiritual. It tells us something important about the Kingdom of God. If you haven’t been coming to Bible study please know that all are welcome.

Richard Bowman, Pastor

Because of the weather last Sunday our carry in dinner was postponed until this Sunday (1/20). Hopefully the weather will be better by then. 

The sermon for January 20 is entitled “Paul in Athens.” The text is Acts 17. In Athens Paul proclaims the Gospel of Jesus to highly educated philosophers. Did the Athenians understand that the Gospel of Jesus  was superior to the  Stoic and Epicurean philosophies?  We will discuss the beliefs of the Athenian philosophers and how they responded to Paul. 

In our Wednesday Bible study we will examine the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, Matthew 20:1-16. If you tried to run a business based on this parable it would not work. We will look for the spiritual application of the parable. We will discover an important truth about salvation. 

So far one person has responded to the request to write a brief paragraph on “What This Church Means to me.” You can see that testimony on the web page under “testimonials.” I hope more of you will submit testimonies. 

We are all deeply concerned about Orene’s decline in health. Keep those prayers going.

This Sunday we continue our study in the Book of Acts. Our main focus will be on Paul in jail (again!) at Philippi and the conversion of the Philippian jailer. One again, as was the case last Sunday, the emphasis is on salvation. That seems to be the major theme in the Book of Acts.

Wednesday Bible study will focus on Luke 14:25-33 in our continuing study of the parables of Jesus. We will look at two brief parables. The main focus will be on discussing this question: Is there a difference between being saved and discipleship? Jesus lays down some challenging rules for living as a disciple.  Do we measure up? 

As we continue to add more new content to our website, we want to make it easy for our visitors to use.

One of the most important things we want to point out is that you can subscribe to the blog here on the site. This means if you go to the Blog tab and look on the right side, you will find a place to enter your email. If you do that, you will be automatically updated every time there is a new blog posted! This is important because our front page is static or doesn’t change. The reason we did this was to have one front page which is the same to welcome all visitors, including those who are new to our site and our church.

We have a whole list of new content we are working to add over the next few months, including information on our new Staff tab and our new World Outreach tab. We work to bring you Pastor Bowman’s weekly sermon (after we have had a few technical difficulties!) in a timely fashion.

One of the biggest things we would love to have from our congregation are testimonials about your experience with our church. You can either be noted on the testimonial, have an alias if you don’t want to use your real name for privacy purposes, or be listed as anonymous. You can submit your testimonials to us through our Contact tab.

Through the Contact tab, you can also submit questions, feedback, suggestions, and anything else you would like for the website! All content is screened by Pastor Richard and Marie Payne-Bowman.

We look forward to hearing from you!