All (Page 2) Articles 2021 Archives

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Stooping to Serve, Not to Shame

God brings me to my knees, both in honesty and in choosing joy, as I pick up a careless mess made by the precious, but oblivious little stampede that lives within my walls.

Melissa Troyer shares the worship in stooping to clean up the messes that are part of a mom's everyday experience with little children she is trying to mold into followers of Jesus.

ToGather: Destroying Worldly Strongholds (October 31, 2021)

Our model, our hero, our example of great leadership, must always be Jesus!

Demetrius Collins and Phil Ware lead us in a virtual, DIY, worship through words and music using YouTube videos to call us to recognize Jesus' example of being a servant and how we must resist worldly standards for our leaders in the Lord's church.

Reflecting the Servant Heart of Jesus

How do you honor a servant who is not trying to be noticed but simply trying to do good things for others?

Phil Ware talks about a university honoring students for their acts of service and it leads him to wonder how we honor God's servants today.

Stand Up!

Jesus sees you, my friend, and he has a new version of you waiting to happen.

Max Lucado reminds us of Jesus' power do fresh and new things if we will respond to his command to get up and do something.

ToGather: Here, Near, and Far (October 24, 2021)

God loves all the people of the world (John 3:16) and wants us to demonstrate his love for them so they will turn from their destructive ways and be saved (2 Peter 3:9).

Demetrius Collins and Phil Ware lead us in a virtual, DIY, worship through words and music using YouTube videos to call us to recognize God's call to mission for us as we seek to be God with Skin On to people here, near, and far.

What Do We Do About Leadership Abuse?

The description of the Good Shepherd in John 10 aligns beautifully with Jesus' definition of serving and giving himself to bless us in Mark 10.

Phil Ware continues his thoughts on becoming JesuShaped disciples, this week focusing on the horrors of the litany of spiritual abuse cases in the news and how different they are from Jesus’ definition of a JesuShaped leader and godly shepherd.

A Time to Weep

What time is it in your relationship with your older friends and family? What time is it in your own life? Are you ready for closing time?

Philip Gulley talks about his dad's heart surgery and his directions for his funeral service in case he didn't survive and the lasting impact this has had on Phillip's life.

ToGather: The LORD Is Close! (October 17, 2021)

We can do great ministry in the name of Jesus and can survive all the tough challenges in life because our LORD is always close to us!

Demetrius Collins and Phil Ware lead us in a virtual, DIY, worship through words and music using YouTube videos to call us to recognize God's promise to be close to the broken-hearted and crushed, lonely and abandoned, discarded and forgotten.

Knowing God and Meeting Immanuel

Let's not settle for religion, going to church, or fast-food spirituality when God longs to fill that hole in our soul !

Phil Ware shares insights about intimately knowing God and Immanuel being real to us in our daily lives as we seek to be Jesus' disciples.

Before the Red Sea Parts

Life is as full of beauty as it is uncertainty if we open our eyes to see the divine fingerprints of grace.

Melissa Troyes writes with beauty about God’s touches of grace on a trip to New England with her family as she wrestles with the grief over an aunt who is gone too soon and the uncertainty of the future of her family and where they will live.

ToGather: Lack No Good Thing (October 10,2021)

Our ToGather time today focuses on God's great promises to bless us, but also challenges each of us to ask: What is the true source of my delight?

Demetrius Collins and Phil Ware lead us in a virtual, DIY, worship through words and music using YouTube videos to call us to recognize God's greatness and his desire to bless us with every good thing we need.

I Want to Be Like Her

Let's move beyond remembering her story; let's also commit to being like her in these four ways.

Phil Ware continues his reflections in the Gospels as he seeks to call us to continue pursuing Jesus so that we can be JesuShaped.

Our Weakness, God's Power

They laugh because they have given up hope, and hope born anew is always funny before it is real.

ToGather: Made to Glorify! (October 3, 2021)

No words can adequately describe the love that brought God to earth in Jesus, but we can celebrate this gift of grace and live to bring God the glory that is due him!

Demetrius Collins and Phil Ware lead us in a virtual, DIY, worship through words and music using YouTube videos to call us to recognize God's greatness and bring him glory and honor in all we say and do.

More?

Maybe we are too familiar with our modern-day, water-downed, version of Jesus and not in awe of great expectations that the Lord has for us?

Phil Ware continues his reflections from his gospel readings and uses Mark 5 and Mark 6 to remind us that Jesus has greater expectations of what he can do through us than we do!

Disoriented to Be Recalibrated

His hands were fiddling with his watch the whole time. He had taken it off and seemed to be trying to get it to wake up, to get it unstuck.

Ron Rose is back at the coffee shop to visit and pray and observe and be with God and discovers a dynamic new concept, sometimes God confuses to have us do a soft reboot and recalibrate our compasses!

ToGather: God's Relentless Pursuit to Bless Us (September 26, 2021)

We are loved by God, our faithful Shepherd, who will never abandon us but will rescue us and bring us safely home to him as his beloved children.

Demetrius Collins and Phil Ware lead us in a virtual, DIY, worship through words and music using YouTube videos to remind us that the LORD is our Shepherd who provides, cares, protects, and calls us home as his sheep, the guests at his table, and his belo

The Good News of Jesus Begins with a Servant

Jesus emphasized that the greatest in the Kingdom of God is a servant, and then defined his personal mission as serving those who are lost.

Phil Ware continues his reflections on his gospel studies and shares how we can become JesuShaped by becoming servants like John the Baptizer and four friends.

Helping Immigrants & Refugees Get Involved with a Spiritual Group

These displaced people need to discover Jesus' love and the love of his people.

Rhonda Underhill shares ways that newly arrived immigrants, especially older ones, can make a new home in their new world

ToGather: Waiting in Expectation (September 19, 2021)

We trust in Jesus' promise to return in victory for us and bring God's new heaven and new earth.

Demetrius Collins and Phil Ware lead us in a virtual, DIY, worship through words and music using YouTube videos to remind us of God's greatness and Jesus' promise to take us home to the Father and reveal us as God's adopted children and heal our broken wo

An Overlooked Gem?

This seemingly innocuous transitional passage in the gospel of Luke is one of those hidden gems we often overlook!

Phil Ware continues his reflections on his daily reading in the gospels, this time focused on Luke 8:1-3 and how this forgotten gem opens our eyes to the importance that women played in Jesus' ministry.

Run Away Like Jonah Days

Perhaps the biggest gift of

Melissa Troyer is having one of those days where you want to run away and hide and yet has a young child that demands attention, driving Melissa back into the strength of God!

ToGather: No Cheap Grace (September 12, 2021)

Rather than taking God's lavish grace for granted, we choose to offer ourselves to God and walk away from sin.

Demetrius Collins and Phil Ware lead us in a virtual, DIY, worship through words and music using YouTube videos to remind us of all that we have received from God through grace and how we must say no to sin because we have been so blessed!

Remembering

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21)

At YOUR Word

Do I aggressively pursue Jesus because his words reveal the truth and the heart of God?

Phil Ware focuses on Luke 5 and a few key phrases that reveal what it means to be JesuShaped!