Friendships are designed to be an active part of our sanctification. Friendships should work like spiritual rock tumblers; we each have rough spots that godly friendships help to buff out until the rough areas are gone and we are shaped more closely to the likeness of Jesus.

One day Jesus is going to return. He’s going to fix everything that is broken. He will right all wrongs. Tears will be no more and pain will be gone. Death will be no more. Take a listen and be reminded of this truth.

It’s an odd concept to be homesick for a place we’ve never been. We feel unsettledness in our souls that we fill with experiences, things, achievements, etc., temporarily filling a longing that can’t be satisfied this side of eternity. We have a greater hope for what is to come - shouldn’t we get excited and long for that promise to be fulfilled?

If you have attended a parent-child dedication before, you know what a special time it is for a us a family. But if you stood and agreed to the covenant of partnering with and supporting parents in raising their children in the gospel, I hope you didn’t take it lightly!

The mood of our culture is "be true to yourself, find your truest self within, and you do you." Is this how God intended identities to be formed? Did God purpose that we would find our pleasure in ourselves, in the identities we came up with?

When you regularly serve with a ministry team, you get to know your brothers and sisters better and you have the opportunity to see them grow in loving and serving others.

As we move forward in a post-Roe world, life-affirming organizations are even more dependent on the church to live out the kingdom of God here on earth.

This isn’t a history to rest on, it is a call for more involvement. As needs increase we should be prepared to meet those needs in even greater ways.

“You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” Even demons have knowledge of God. We must have more than knowledge alone. The Lord has convicted me of my dependence on knowledge and lack of faith recently.

If you’re like me, there wasn’t much said about the Holy Spirit. The Father is our Lord, and our Sovereign Creator. Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer. Yet, I heard very little of who the Holy Spirit is and what He does.

So what do we do when we see our brokenness and pride? We humble ourselves. We remember the truths of who God is, what He has done, and who He has made us in Christ.

This is why rhythms are so important, because they help us to see the things we are already doing as opportunities to be disciples and make disciples. Rhythms are all the normal things of life that allow us to see God’s work in us as disciples of Jesus and God’s work through us that He uses for the discipleship of others.