Category: Blogs

By Pastor Chris Symes Twice in the last month or so the Holy Spirit has showed up in worship and interrupted my sermon.   The first time occurred in the Branch service some weeks ago. Brad, as he usually does at the beginning of the service being the worship leader, greeted us gathered there in… Continue reading The Wild Goose

Just A Toy   This summer the fourth Toy Story movie is coming out. I'm sure it will be great, but the first movie will always be my favorite. Toy Story, the first full-length Pixar film, tells the story of a group of toys belonging to a little boy named Andy, and Andy doesn't know… Continue reading To Mortality…And Beyond! (Ash Wednesday Sermon)

     Edwin Friedman, famous writer and sociologist, explains that for the longest time in the racing world no one could run the mile in four minutes or less. Many great runners had tried it. The great Swedish runners such as Gunder Haag and Arnie Anderson couldn't break it. Many sports writers were beginning to… Continue reading The Four -Minute Mile

The black mark lays in the middle of the parking lot at the church I had previously served as pastor, the remnant of a tire peeling out. It’s not very big, but it will certainly be there for a long time. I never heard one remark, complaint, or cry about it, but it is unavoidably… Continue reading Tread Marks

Above the dry-erase board in Ms. Buntin's eighth-grade classroom in Taft Middle School are posted four statements: I didn't get it. I need more practice. I can do it. I can teach it. Obviously, these are displayed to give students who struggle with learning a pathway to tackle their math assignments. I like these. We… Continue reading Following Jesus with Ms. Buntin

By Pastor Chris Symes So, who's on your list? The question is not "what" is on your list? So, I'm not talking about a to-do list or a grocery list. Who is on your list? The "who" I'm talking about are those people in your circles who have not yet become followers of Jesus, those… Continue reading Who’s On Your List?

On the Possibility of Following Jesus by Pastor Chris Symes A few weeks ago in Sunday morning worship, I preached from Mark chapter eight, verses thirty one through thirty-eight, in which Jesus says this: Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny… Continue reading On the Possibility of Following Jesus

  My Favorite Word by Pastor Chris Symes If you've been around me lately you know that I have a mild obsession with the word "abide". In a conversation about faith or prayer, you are bound to hear me say it twice or maybe three times. It sort of reminds me of my younger days… Continue reading My Favorite Word

Who Do You Think Jesus Is? by Pastor Chris Symes "Who do you think Jesus is?" I asked the man sitting next to me whose Chevy Silverado I was driving. I met the man at our New Year's Eve game night at Cornerstone Sunday night at around 10. He wandered in from the brutal and… Continue reading Who do you think Jesus is?