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Growing up in the church in the ’80s and ’90s, I do not recall hearing a single mention of pornography from the pulpit, in youth group, or at youth retreats. ...

Table Fellowship is the practice of welcoming children to the Lord’s table during corporate worship. "Knowing that children are not ready to affirm their faith in all the doctrines of the church or assume all the responsibilities of adult membership, LaGrave Ave CRC developed an intermediate step for children who are old enough to make a heartfelt declaration of faith in Christ as their Savior and to understand the symbolic meaning of the Supper". (Stan Mast, 2009)

On Valentine’s Day, Meg gave her husband Peter his favorite candy, tickets to an upcoming hockey game, and, later at night, she wrapped herself in a special outfitpurchased for just that occasion.  ...

Thankfully, God never becomes frustrated with us. He’s patient with our impatience and continues to be faithful even though we’re easily forgetful. The tragedy is how we miss out on an invitation to experience God’s soothing, loving presence when our prayers are more focused on our problems than praying to experience Him.

from How to Read the Bibleby David PlattChurch Toolkit - Free Download As we know, God’s Word is plentifully available in the West and within the church, yet too often the ...

Individualism isn’t new. The motivation for building the Tower of Babel, to “make a name for (them)selves” (Genesis 11), is timeless and universal to human experience. What’s new is that we’re living through a perfect storm of converging trends and circumstances that are pushing a post-Christian society past a tipping point.

The Problem of Life: Waking Up to the Wonder We’ve Forgotten Claim your church kit here! Elizabeth Barrett Browning once wrote:“Earth’s crammed with heaven,And every common bush afire with God;But ...

“What does it mean to be a disciple?” I was sitting in a circle of church and ministry leaders recently, during a sort of “discipleship summit.” The question on the ...

Daily Seeds is a proven discipleship resource that works in a variety of contexts, including small groups and Sunday schools. Assuming your group meets weekly, class members should read one chapter from the 1 John study every day for 6 days. The 7th day of the week you will meet with your group to share, pray, and encourage one another with insights or struggles that group members encountered during the week’s readings.

In Boy Jesus, Joan Taylor provides us with that. Not ponderings, but expertly researched
historical and contextual details that help us make informed guesses about what Jesus’ childhood was like, how he interacted with his family, and how his community helped him prepare for his ministry.

Here are four things Boy Jesus helps us do to know Jesus better:

Free Download - Two Equals One Discussion Guide Two Equals One Have you ever looked around and felt overwhelmed at the brokenness in our world? Like you don’t even know ...

Perhaps you’ve heard of the Twelve Steps but don’t really know what they are. The coauthor of the Twelve Steps was a hopeless alcoholic named Bill Wilson who found recovery as the result of a Damascus Road–like spiritual experience in a hospital room where he was dying from alcoholism. From that day forward, Bill never drank again.

Every Christian today feels like an outsider in their own culture, and most don’t like it. To resolve that tension, they are tempted to conform to the culture, combat the culture, or cloister themselves from it. But what if we aren’t supposed to resolve the tension but live in it? What if Jesus wants us to be joyful outsiders and engage the culture?

How do we find peace in a world that feels overwhelming? For many, the struggle with anxiety is deeply personal, but the answer may be clearer than you think. J.I. ...

So as we stand in cold December, bodies and hearts leaning toward hope (because if there ever was a time to hope, something inside of us knows that now is it), and yet staring at a pile of bills or a pile of laundry or a pile of amazon boxes that all want to whisper to us: “your life would be better if you didn’t have _____” let us take a moment to receive (to absorb) that God is leading us to the same place He led David.

As the holiday season approaches, many of us find ourselves swept up in the rush of preparations, celebrations, and the hustle of everyday life. But what if this Christmas could ...