Rap Sheet
Pastor Doug Dent
We’re all called to walk in the way of the Lord! Career criminals are known by their “rap sheet”— the long list of their arrests and convictions. Career Christians, on the other hand, should be known by their long obedience to the commandments of God. God’s commandments, laws, statutes, and ordinances are designed to keep […]
God’s Protest Movement
Pastor Doug Dent
Yes, we live in a golden age of protest, but no modern rally can achieve what God accomplished through the cross. God is “the source of your life in Christ Jesus,” says Paul, “who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (v. 30). Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption. All these benefits […]
Healing Divisions over Dinner
Pastor Doug Dent
I think Federated Church is a “dinner church.” (I know we like to eat!) We spend a lot of time around the tables in our fellowship hall. At those tables we share our stories and our worries, our laughter and our tears. We are about as diverse a congregation politically and theologically as is possible, […]
Jesus and Airbnb
Pastor Doug Dent
Jesus is more than an Airbnb host, of course; but no doubt when we invite people to come and see, to go and prepare, and to come and dine, they are going to check the reviews. Are we people who live out our faith? Do our actions match our words? What are other people saying? […]
What’s Your Why?
Pastor Doug Dent
We need a personal mission statement to remind us where we ought to be going. We have our general orders from God through Jesus and through the disciples, but each of us must discover our individual calling, our own personal mission within the mission of God. What’s your why? I encourage you to find out, […]
The Fault in Our Stars
Pastor Doug Dent
Friends, there is a fault in our stars, and not just in that blinking sky-train of satellites that is the Starlink array. The fault in our stars is whatever turns our attention from the True Star, the True North Star — he who is the source of everything good in our lives: Jesus Christ. At […]
Unexpected Gift: Christmas Eve
Pastor Doug Dent
By this point in the month of December, it may be too late to buy the perfect Christmas present for a friend or family member. But it is never too late to accept the unexpected gift that God is offering you: the gift of Jesus as Immanuel, Savior, Messiah and Lord. All you need to […]
The First Carols: The Gloria
Pastor Doug Dent
At Christmas we celebrate how God stepped toward us in Jesus. The question we must ask each day is: Will we step toward God? Will we be reconciled to God? The whole welkin is ringing with praise to God for what God did by coming in person in Christ. Let’s join the song!
The First Carols: The Magnificat
Pastor Doug Dent
While “The Magnificat” may not be on the hot list of Christmas music played on the radio during this season, it is the song that reminds us who Jesus is and what he is about. It reminds us, too, that we are called to follow him in lifting up the lowly, filling the hungry with […]
The First Carols: The Benedictus
Pastor Doug Dent
Zechariah is struck speechless because he needs to stop and listen. Perhaps we need to once again be struck speechless by the power of this story; to be silent and listen for what God, who came to us in person in Jesus and continues to work through the Holy Spirit, is up to in our […]
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