The concept of the "anam cara" comes from Celtic spirituality and refers to a person who is literally a "friend of the soul." Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 shows us some of the qualities of this deep friendship and provides incentive for us to both seek to find and strive to be such a friend to others.

Like the disciples in Mark 6:45-52, in the midst of the storms of life, we often forget the lesson of the loaves - that Jesus is Lord over all of our circumstances and has promised to meet all our needs. This message calls us back to that fundamental truth.

Like the disciples in Mark 6:45-52, in the midst of the storms of life, we often forget the lesson of the loaves - that Jesus is Lord over all of our circumstances and has promised to meet all our needs. This message calls us back to that fundamental truth.

Like the disciples in Mark 6:45-52, in the midst of the storms of life, we often forget the lesson of the loaves - that Jesus is Lord over all of our circumstances and has promised to meet all our needs. This message calls us back to that fundamental truth.

On Sunday morning, we were privileged to celebrate a baptism and communion in the same service. This gave us a chance to look at how both sacraments, baptism and the Lord's Supper, allow us in the words of Psalm 34:8 to "Taste and see that the Lord is good."

Surveys show that Americans are stressed as never before. We need some R&R to handle the physical exhaustion, the mental fatigue, the emotional tension, the relational strain and the spiritual burnout of living in these days. In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus offers us the key to true rest.

232 years ago the drafters of the Declaration of Independence produced a document that declared basic human equality, liberty and justice for all, coupled with a call to responsible freedom - they were following a great framework - one laid down in the first sermon of Jesus recorded in Luke 4:16-21. This message looks at Jesus' declaration and calls the church to follow Christ in leading this nation in the dream not only of our forefathers, but more importantly in the vision of our Heavenly Father.

This third and final message in our series on the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) focuses on the oldest son. While on the surface, it appears that the oldest son is the "good" son, deeper study shows that he is in fact the prodigal who never left home. How the father deals with him offers us a glimpse of how God feels about the modern day Pharisee.

This second in a three-part series on Luke 15:11-32 (the Parable of the Prodigal Son) looks at the radical grace and love shown by the Father in the face of the younger son's rebellion and the culture of condemnation that was directed at sinners.

Charles Dickens called the Parable of the Prodigal Son the greatest short story ever written. This first in a series of three messages looks at character of the youngest son and tries to see through the eyes of its original audience. The story of the prodigal drives home the depravity of sin, the road to repentance and the surpassing grace of God. (I am indebted to the work of John MacArthur and John Piper in preparing this message.)