Pastor’s Blog «

Cost and Benefit

Posted on May 1, 2025 in Pastor's Blog | Tags: Everyday Faith, Following Jesus

There is this thing that people do when they are trying to make a decision on a big purchase or an investment, it is called a cost/benefit analysis. You put down the price for the item, and then list out the benefits of that thing. If the benefits are “better” than the cost, it is deemed a good investment or purchase.

We don’t do this for everything, only for the big things. As you think about following Jesus more closely, maybe it would be good to do something similar, to look at the cost of staying where we are versus the benefits that Jesus offers us in following Him more closely.

Two columns, simple, one benefit, one cost. See which seems like the better offering and make a choice based on that. It is a big decision, so it may be wise to go about it in this way. Now eventually these kinds of practices break down when applied to faith and life, but it may be a guidepost on where your heart really is, and that is worth practicing if you ask me.

Mar '25

One Bite at a Time

Posted on Mar 29, 2025 in Community Outreach, Pastor's Blog | Tags: Acts of Service, New Beginnings, Overcoming Challenges

Mar '25

In one of our recent “Scrappy Church” sessions we talked about small actions and how they can have big effects when added together. The author calls this concept eating an elephant. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Sitting down with the idea to eat a whole elephant is kind of crazy. You would be eating for weeks and weeks. But sitting down to take one bite at a time doesn’t seem so bad. You can make small progress. The goal may be the same, eat the elephant, but the pressure of doing it all right now doesn’t have to be there.

As we look at ways to make an impact for Jesus we can get overwhelmed by the number of things there are to do, the people that need to be helped, the changes we need to make and allow God to make within us, the cost financially, time, and energy which can all stack up and seem insurmountable. In that moment we can remind ourselves to take one bite. To make small incremental progress, day by day, and allow those changes to compound to get us to the place we are called to be.

One bite at a time gets us there in a much more manageable way than trying to unhinge our jaws and swallow the elephant whole. But we do all this all the time, we look at the world and its problems and think, “well, if I can’t fix it all, what is the point in trying?” It matters to the one person you got to help today, in whatever measure you got to help them, and, if we have 50 people doing small things to bless those around them every day, that will add up pretty quick. So, grab your fork and get ready to take one bite at a time. We will get this elephant eaten, slowly but surely.

Feb '25

A Message From Emily 2/28/25

Posted on Feb 28, 2025 in Christian Living, Pastor's Blog | Tags: Encouragement in Faith, Everyday Faith, Scripture Reflection

Feb '25

We just finished a Spina Bifida Clinic in Portland for Thatcher. They are able to have all his specialists come to us in one location on one day. It is super helpful for us since we need to travel to Portland, but it does make for a very long day of appointments. But really, it is the work put in during the in-between that makes progress happen in Thatcher’s life. The PT and OT appointments at home, therapies we attend, the individualized care he receives daily to keep him healthy.

This week as we finished clinic it made me think about how the same applies to our spiritual lives. We often can try to cram it all in one day a week spiritually and hope for good progress, but it is the daily spiritual tasks that are really making progress possible.

1 Corinthians 3 talks about spiritual food and the progress from spiritual milk to spiritual meat. How do we becomes more mature believers? We spend time with Jesus daily. We learn about Him, practice how to live more like Him, and study what His word says. We don’t wait for the day with the specialists like we do for clinic, but rather press forward making progress in the between.

May we continue to seek Him moment by moment.

There Will Be a Day

Posted on Aug 27, 2020 in Pastor's Blog |

Jeremy Camp has a song called “There Will Be a Day” which talks about the hope that we have in the resurrection and a new life with God in Heaven. One section stands out to me in this time, “I know the journey seems so long, You feel you’re walking on your own, But there has never been a step, Where you’ve walked out all alone.” Many of us might be wrestling with the long separation that has been caused by the virus we are trying to deal with as a country. We are not alone in these times, we have the Comforter, Counselor, and Helper present with us in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We might feel distant to other humans but the God who created us all is present with us. He longs for close connection and relationship with us and is calling out for us to come near and be held by Him in this and all our times of struggle or sorrow. Jeremy’s song reminds us that God will be faithful to us and all these things will pass away, leaving us with joy and peace in the presence of the Lord.