Giving Your All

If you ever want a life lesson handed to you, just spend a few Sunday nights teaching the Adventure Club. These little ones have life in the palm of their hand. They handle situations in ways that I only wish I could. My prayer is that these little guys will always keep their heart close […]

If you ever want a life lesson handed to you, just spend a few Sunday nights teaching the Adventure Club. These little ones have life in the palm of their hand. They handle situations in ways that I only wish I could. My prayer is that these little guys will always keep their heart close to Jesus. My prayer is that they will always have the genuineness of love that they show to those around them.
This past Sunday night, one of our Adventure Club kids brought a handful of coins. These coins are put into the collection plate and then passed on to Por Los Ninos at the end of the year. We raise an amazing $150, one quarter at a time. As time to pass around the collection plate approached, this little girl noticed that the kid next to her did not have any coins to put into the collection plate. She gave one of her coins to this kid. A few minutes later she noticed another kid with nothing to put into the plate. She gave that kid one of her coins. Throughout class she did this over and over again until she had nothing left to give herself. She had given away all her coins. When prompted about how nice that was to give her coins away, she just smiled, blushed and looked down, not wanting any credit. This little girl had given all that she had so that others could have something of value.
I am reminded of the song written in 1865 that goes like this:
Jesus paid it all,
All to him I owe,
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

I am so thankful that Jesus was not stingy with His love. I am so thankful that Jesus was not afraid of the sacrifice. I am so thankful that Jesus passed His quarter to me. I am so thankful that Jesus gave His all.

Community Connections

A couple of weeks ago, I shared two opportunities that we had to connect with people in our surrounding communities. We had booths representing the church at “Hay Hoover” and Pelham’s “Fall Fun Day.” By taking advantage of these opportunities, we were able to connect...

Permission to Wonder

In the 6th grade classroom there is a large metal envelope hanging on a bulletin board, and the students know that during bible class, anytime they have a Bible / religious question pop in their mind (whether related to the topic of class, or not), they can go and...

Kidmin 101

This past Sunday night, I shared five core values that our Children’s Ministry is founded on. These values are what helps keep each event, activity, and class in line with our overall mission. The core values are: 1. Know: Our children will learn to know God and the...

Faith On a Shelf

I have this hat that my dad brought back to me from a business trip to Atlanta when I was 9 or 10 years old. You can see that I’ve worn it a lot. In fact, I wore it to just about everywhere I went during the summer when I was a kid. Church camps, grandparents’ house,...

“Jesus Loves Me”

After being led in this song by two of our young men Sunday night, I was reminded of a quotation from Karl Barth. On April 23, 1962, Karl Barth (the renown 20th Century Swiss-German, neo-orthodox theologian) spoke at Rockefeller Chapel on the campus of the University...

That’s Not a Candle

Several years ago, there was story shared about a woman from Connecticut whose power had gone out during a storm. She left her house to go to a local hardware store to purchase some flashlights, but the store was closed. She returned home and found what she thought...

The Post-Christian Problem

I attended the New Day Conference in Murfreesboro, Tennessee at the end of last week with a small group from Riverchase. It was a good conference and I left encouraged about the opportunities we have to fulfill the call of Christ to make disciples. On Friday evening,...

Josiah’s Reform

In the thirty-one years of his rule, King Josiah proved to be a faithful man of God and a great king of Judah. He served God from the beginning as a young king and grew into a greater understanding of God’s will and a determination to follow that will. He made a...

You Are What You Eat

You Are What You Eat You’ve heard the phrase, “You are what you eat.” Simply defined, it means that you should eat healthy if you want to be healthy. This phrase can trace its roots back to the early 1800’s. It came from the 1826 work The Physiology of Taste, in which...

It Is Well

Above the piano in our house is a large wood sign with the phrase, “it is well with my soul” on it. Kimberly and I purchased it during a season of our life together where we were not completely sure what the future had in store for our little family. Since then, the...