Okay, this is going to be a difficult one. It’s a bit difficult to explain and even harder to follow. Here is the general principle: You CANNOT manage the emotions of other people! You can seek to understand them, but you cannot manage them. You can’t control the emotions of others, but you can influence […]
Month: April 2019
Reflections on the Spirit 01: Why the Spirit Matters!
Who is the Spirit? Why does the Spirit matter? These are the two questions (among others) that we will ask and probe for the next 7 weeks. By the time we are done with the Sunday messages, the weekly devotional resources, and the occasional blogging, you will have studied, prayed through, and experienced the majority […]
Easter Weekend Recap by Guest Blogger Chris Smith
Easter weekend at Living Word was a beautiful celebration of the stronger-than-death love of God. Our six weekend services were a time for us to come together in worship and proclaim the death and resurrection of Jesus through song, prayer, and God’s Word. On Good Friday, we reflected on the reality that Jesus laid down his life to defeat sin […]
The Power of Example
What’s the secret of real estate? Location, location, location. What’s the secret of success? Execution, execution, execution. What’s the secret of influence? Example, example, example. I borrowed and tweaked that last one from General George Patton. The Apostle Paul understood that when he talked about the “imitation of Christ.” Paul looked to the example of […]
Brains…
I have always appreciated this thought from President Woodrow Wilson: “I not only use all the brains I have, but all I can borrow.” That’s great. I LOVE IT! None of us are as smart as all of us! That’s another quote I read somewhere, long ago. It is called advice, counsel, perspective, knowledge, insight, […]
The Power of Your Presence in the World
Here is a simple but incredibly important question: Do you tend to see yourself as “acted upon” or as “one who acts”? In other words, do you spend most of your time thinking about what is happening to you, what life is doing to you, and what impact others are having on you, or do […]
Resurrection Happens
Christ the Lord is risen today! Resurrection happens. The good things of God are set loose and run wild through the world, making all things new. Blessed Easter to everyone in the joy of the risen Lord! Pastor Brian RESURRECTION: The good things of God are running wild through the world. And through your life.
Good Friday at Living Word
Please join us tonight for the sober, and yet wonderfully joyful, celebration of God’s stronger than death love. God’s love is stronger than death. Stronger than sin. Stronger than evil. Stronger than Satan. Stronger than guilt, shame, condemnation, and fear. The cross is God victorious over all that is wrong in the world, over all […]
Remembering What God Wants!
“Discipline is remembering what you want,” said David Campbell, the founder of Saks Fifth Avenue. We quickly and easily forget what we want because we live in a world of options, distractions, and choices of endless variety. We bounce around from choice to choice and option to option, sampling much but savoring little. We feel […]
The Most Joys
I know you have heard the old (as wrong as something can possibly be) saying, “The one who dies with the most toys wins.” Who in the world ever came up with that idea? However, all we have to do is change ONE word and it becomes profoundly and delightfully compatible with Christian faith: “The […]