Well, parents, it is the start of another school year. I will pause for a moment of tears (joy and otherwise). I am sure there was a mix of emotion and various questions from your kids in their first week of school. The topic was their teacher, the classroom, and what happens if I don’t have time to eat lunch – my youngest suffers from this dilemma. No fault of the school, but that is a story for another time. However, Aaron did have a critical question for his parents – when is our next Vacation? Yes, he was already looking forward to some time off from the  grind  of school – before he went through the struggle! We feel you, son. As a third grader, our youngest already understands this life takes work and resilience. Maybe not to that extent, but he knows school can wear you out. This mentality is especially true when things don’t go your way or the unexpected occurs. Our faith in God can falter during this tiredness, mental fatigue, and emotional exhaustion – if we depend on our und

On any given Sunday, if your child attends our Children's Ministry Worship Service, they will experience the following: Kid friendly worship, interactive games, fellowship with other kids and leaders, and age-appropriate bible teaching while having fun! Our hope is by the time your child moves on from the Preschool ministry, they will know the following: God Made them. God Loves them. Jesus Wants to Be Their Friend Forever Then once they move on to Junior High, they know the following: I need to make the wise choice I can trust God no matter what I should treat others the way I want to be treated Our goal is to impact kids and families with the love and message of Jesus Christ so they may grow to have faith in Him forever. I shared last week the  spiritual milestones  we celebrate at our church to partner with you, the parents (spiritual leaders of the home) – that is how we impact families. What happens on Sunday mornings is how we share the love and message of Jesus Christ with o

Many of us agree that having a plan is an excellent approach to accomplishing a goal. Do you agree? Good, we can move on. In Psalms, God declares His plan for families – “He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments” (Psalms 78:5-7, ESV).   Regarding our Family Ministry, I hope you can see that we have a spiritual plan for your family. Beginning with you, the parent, we have the first, I like to call  spiritual milestone  – our  Parent and Child Dedication . We have an upcoming class on October 9th. It is the first step for parents in partnering with their church community to help their child grow in the Lord and learn to love others. The following two milestones would be  Salvation  and  Baptism  –

My home has a couch where you will hear a creak while sitting on it. You do not want to listen to this sound when you want to lay back and relax. We wonder if this piece of furniture will be able to hold up, especially after I decide to eat that extra portion of dinner! Ok, it’s not that bad; still, you wonder how much more this poor thing can take. Ever felt that way? Worn, tired, wondering how much more you can handle? We all have, and it is unavoidable. There will be moments in our life that will cause a variety of emotions resulting in a not-so-great state of mind, body, and soul.   David writes in his Psalm, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding” (Psalm 3:5, ESV). The Hebrew word for trust means to place your entire weight on something and believe that it will uphold anything. Do you show this type of trust in troubled times? Jesus tells us to love God with all our hearts, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37). To show this love to our Heavenly

My family had opportunities to live out our trust and belief in the Lord. I recall when my wife said God told her to quit her job and be home with our boys after attending a bible study. Understand, at the time, we relied on two incomes to help support our family. Then there was a time when searching for a Family Pastor position; I was given an opportunity at a church 2600 miles away (South Carolina) from our current residence (then Las Vegas, NV) at part-time pay, away from friends and family.   The church needed leadership to help grow their young family attendance. So, in both instances, we said yes. Each time there was a moment of asking ourselves, are we willing to  trust  in what God says and  believe  He will fulfill His promises?   The writer of Hebrews declares, “And without faith, it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” Hebrews 11:6 (ESV). This verse became fundamental to my wife an

Reflecting on my childhood, the wise words of Yoda, the Jedi master, came to mind – “There is much fear in this one.” I feared bees, thunder, roller coasters, sometimes the dark, open closet doors, and being late for school (none of my boys got that one). But, like most children, I grew out of these fears to only gain a new set of worries as an adult. However, as Christ-followers, we understand this truth – God is with us, not to fear. Let’s be honest, though – in moments of fear, we can falter in the trust we should have in God.   When the Midianites oppressed God’s people (Judges 6), the angel of the Lord spoke to a man named Gideon, who was hiding from the Midianites out of fear. However, the angel of the Lord told Gideon, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor” (Judges 6:12). You read this, and you wonder – uh, what? Gideon would further question if God was even with the Israelites this whole time of suffering and where all His beautiful deeds were (v.13). This statement is w