In this season of Christmas, I believe that an essential attitude or mindset is to be self-forgetful ...
“It is good to give thanks… to the LORD,” It’s noticeable in our culture that thanksgiving has gone horizontal....
I was asked recently, “Trinity is obviously growing, so what is your strategy for outreach?” And I believe the answer is three basic aspects of our culture. We want to know the Gospel. We believe we need the Gospel. And we seek to be related to people in our city who do not yet know Jesus....
Imagine a bottle about the size of your average water bottle in front of you, full of clear liquid. And you’re thirsty. So would you just pick it up and drink it? ...
In the wake of Hurricane Michael, residents on the panhandle are in dire need of aid. ...
We are in the midst of a lot of church planting highlights. We just commissioned our 6th daughter church, Grace Community in North Lakeland. They will launch publicly in just a couple of weeks. A...
Once again, we are confronted with the news of another disastrous situation in North Carolina, and we, as a church will do our best to reach out with the love and compassion of Jesus Christ....
School resumes soon! For some of you, it’s next week, and for those with the longest wait, it’s still only about 10 days. While our culture has set the expectation that school is this “place” where learning happens, I’d like to offer that school is only one of the places where we can learn....
Have you ever wondered why we make such a big deal about community?...
Have you ever thought something (an event, an outcome, a goal) was impossible? We humans live in the realm of our own experiences. And because our experiences are limited to our own singular life events and surroundings, there are many things that seem impossible to us....
Keep ReadingThe run-up to Easter is full of historic beliefs as we rehearse the centerpiece of our faith. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus resolutely “set His face to go to Jerusalem.” And as He did so, He soberly foretold how He would suffer, be put to death but also be raised from the dead....
Keep ReadingThe first mention of violence in the Scriptures is not in Genesis 4, when Cain murdered his brother Abel. That is the first murder. But the first violence was in the prior chapter when Adam and Eve violated God’s good design. To do violence is “to damage or adversely affect.” It’s behavior involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or someth...
Keep ReadingWe have exciting news to share with you on our Grace Abounding Maintenance Campaign! Thanks to your continued generosity the renovations continue, and we are moving forward with the projects on our list....
Keep ReadingOne of our core values as a church is that we want to be outward-faced. It’s the biblical (and Gospel) practice of hospitality. This means that we want to work, think, speak and act as if outsiders are genuinely welcome with us. After all, if you see yourself as a Christian, how did all of us start? We were outsiders worthy of condemnation and death. But God welcomed us ...
Keep ReadingI’ve just returned from our denomination’s annual church planter training conference in Orlando. It was a privilege to go in the early years of Trinity’s existence, and now I go as a trainer....
Keep ReadingIn today’s Bible reading, in 2 Samuel 23, King David thinks out loud as it were in the middle of a fight with the Philistines. He longingly said, “Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem.” So being the LORD’s Anointed, and being surrounded by loyal warriors, three of them broke through the Philistine lines and (of all things!) drew w...
Keep ReadingLast weekend we spent an evening with our daughter and granddaughter churches, united in singing and in celebrating what God has done and continues to do by His spirit and through His people in Polk County. It was an amazing time of fellowship and worshipping together with one voice lifted to our Maker. ...
Keep ReadingBack in 1992, I was preparing for ordination. A family friend (who knew little about church) asked a genuine question, “Why do you have to go through all this?” And by “all this” he was referring to 5 distinct exams, written and oral, the papers I had to turn in; and the final process of being examined first by a committee (for a total of about 4 hours) and then s...
Keep ReadingFrom Buffy the Vampire Slayer, to Harry Potter, to The Hunger Games, there is a common theme that even the lowliest, most average person (even a teenager) can actually be part of a much larger story. What if the humblest person is actually in an epic battle of good and evil with the fate of the world in the balance?...
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