BLOG––Encouraged by Faith

Whether someone is a Christian or not, we are capable of doing good things because we are all created in the image of God. So what is the difference between a Christian who does good things and a non-Christian who does good things? The answer may seem simple. It’s Jesus. But what does that...

Last summer, I was at a restaurant picking up a to-go order. I noticed the woman who was ringing up my order was limping. Out of seemingly nowhere, a thought popped into my head, “I should ask if I can pray for her leg.”  “Haha, nope. That’s weird. I’m not...

It’s not supposed to be this way Have you ever sunk into a chair or curled up in bed at the end of a long day and thought to yourself, “It’s not supposed to be this way!”. Or maybe it’s every single time you see the news. You are exhausted and exasperated. You...

Jesus is alive! He was dead, but a little while later, he is alive. “Is it true?” so many ask. Wes reminded us on Sunday that the resurrection was the starting point for the earliest Christians. Nothing else makes sense if you don’t start with the resurrection. John 20:6-9...

The Hope of Resurrection Sunday feels like a soft breeze on a warm day but comes in like a hurricane. One moment changes everything. Jesus goes from being a great teacher to being the Risen Messiah! Of course, he has been that all along, but Sunday proved it to be true. The prophecy of his own...

Throughout this past year anxiety and depression levels have shot up in our country. There seems to be something new to worry about each day from physical health and safety to the emotional weight of racial, political, and spiritual tensions. For many, the weight of the past year only added to...

If you stop to talk to anyone you know, the conversation will likely go something like this:  "How are you?"  "Oh, I'm good! Busy, but good!" COVID entered the scene and shook things up a bit but busy didn’t necessarily go away. Essential workers went about their lives with...

Throughout scripture, we are told to love our neighbor. In Mark 12:30-31, Jesus says “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second [greatest commandment] is this: ‘You shall love...

You know that feeling when you are standing in a smelly room and you are basically holding your breath for fear of inhaling whatever it is. That awful choking feeling that overwhelms you as you wait to escape. Now step outside. Fresh air. Imagine that first deep breath, the clean, fresh air...