Posts by Steve Smith (Page 2)

  Psalm 85:6, “Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?” Revival.  What comes to your mind when you hear the word? The Reformation under Martin Luther in 1517? The First and Second Great Awakenings of the 1700’s and early 1800’s? The 1904 Revival that began in Wales? Not a student of history?  Then maybe it is… Week long visits to church when you were younger to hear a visiting minister? Traveling tent meetings on…

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Did you read that?  The will of God in Jesus Christ is for us to give thanks, rejoice, and PRAY without ceasing.  I have people ask me all the time, what is the will of God for my life?  I have asked the same question of my own life on a regular basis.  What if it is…

Community is dying.  It is being replaced by what some would call “individualism” and its tragic!  It is my contention that community is what is quickly becoming extinct in the western church.  That is right, the church is NOT immune to this tragedy and in so many ways the western church seems to be embracing individualism…maybe without even knowing it. You can’t read through the New Testament scripture and not be struck by the multiple “one another” passages found all…

Life, at times, can be like a good book…full of twists and turns, highs and lows, starts and stops, victories and defeats, heroes and villains…you get the point.  Each season of life can be like a new chapter in the chronicles of your life. In my life right now I am starting a new chapter.  In so many ways, I don’t want to turn the page.  The last chapter has been so good, so rewarding, so special.  Of course it…

Last night someone broke into my truck.  It happened sometime during a Wednesday night Bible Study at the church I serve.  I was in the building, the thief went to work.  This is a first for me…technically, my bike was stolen when I was a kid, but this is a first for me as an adult.  To put it mildly, I was very angry when I realized what had happened.  I felt violated! Thankfully, my wallet wasn’t taken, my credit…

I got a call late on Monday night that a basketball coach that I had coached against twice this year and played church league basketball against a few years ago collapsed and died while playing basketball with some of his players.  He was in his late 40’s or early 50’s.  My heart breaks for his family and for his players who experienced that incredible tragedy play out right in front of their eyes. I know OF this man but I…

Ready or not here we go…another year down another one begins.  What will 2017 hold? Love Loss Laughter Longing If it is anything like 2016 it will hold all of that and so much more.  It will hold first’s and last’s; news and olds; sorrows and rejoicings. Let me remind you…I know it’s cliche but I love it anyway…we don’t know what the future holds but we know who holds the future.     Some people will find a renewed…

Last Sunday the church I serve hosted a “Be the Match” bone marrow drive.  We have an amazing young man who is a great husband, father, and friend who needs a bone marrow transplant.  So, the church stepped up…and many from the community came and swabbed their cheeks and agreed to be a bone marrow donor if they “matched” this young man or anyone else who might need a transplant in the future.  The turnout was amazing.  We were told…

I had the great privilege this week of preaching to a group of people in the downtown area of the community I live in.  Many of these people are down on their luck, homeless, and in great need.  They, in my opinion, embody what Jesus referred to as the “least of these” in Matthew 25.  On Tuesday and Thursday night they can come and get some free food, get out of the cold, and hopefully hear a message of hope.…

I was about to walk into a meeting last week when I noticed someone waiting in our office area.  I didn’t know who he was, I had never seen him before but I could tell he wanted to talk.  So, I put my other meeting on hold and introduced myself.  What I found out was that he had been eating at a local fast food restaurant when he ran into one of the members that attends the church I serve.…

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