Nehemiah 4:14 (ESV) — And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” Nehemiah 4:19–20 (ESV) — 19 And I said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and widely spread, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another. 20 In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.” It’s not hard to ..read more

Isaiah 7:9 (ESV) “…If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.’ ” King Ahaz faced a terrifying world of danger. Hostile powers plotted against Judah. A sense of dread swept over Judah; their hearts shook “as the trees of the forest shake before the wind” (Is 7:2). Into this fear the Word of the Lord brought good news. This terrifying threat would not be allowed to stand; it would not come to pass (Is 7:7).  Within this consolation, the Lord challenges us today. The Lord tells them that the only place of security is in trusting him. So it remains to this day. Judah might ha ..read more

Ephesians 5:18, 20 (ESV) 18 …but be filled with the Spirit … 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, We have so much to give thanks for. We give thanks for the grace poured out on each of us. Who am I? A reforming rebel. A saved sinner. To say I don’t deserve heaven’s love is the understatement of all time. Yet loved I am. And loved you are as well, child of God.  Thank God! We give thanks for his incredible kindness to us as a church. Nearly two years into this journey, we see his grace everywhere. We see it in the love that is ..read more

Jude 22 (ESV) And have mercy on those who doubt; Our most basic charge as Christians: Trust him. Trust the Lord who made us, loves us and cares for us. And every day we demonstrate how difficult we find that trust to be. We overflow with doubt.  Doubt shows itself in obvious ways. For example, the person who begins to wonder whether God really exists or whether Jesus really rose from the dead.  But doubt shows itself in so many other ways. When we worry that some development of life is out of control—that is us doubting God’s sovereignty. When we fear that God’s decisions will do ..read more

One of the regular topics people ask me about is our practice of voting. What are we doing when we vote? Why are we doing it? Merely American? The word “vote” naturally stirs up political connotations. It might sound like a purely American exercise, bogged down with the emotions and practices that accompany American elections. Taken in this light, it’s understandable that people might shy away from “voting” in church. There are a few ideas that help clarify what we mean by voting at Dayspring. The congregation’s role in membership We believe that the congregation possesses a special dignity a ..read more

John 6:12–14 (ESV) 12 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” After miraculously feeding this large crowd, Jesus  tells them to gather up all the leftover fragments so “that nothing may be lost.” Why were the crumbs of this great meal so important to our Savior? Alt ..read more

Take a moment and read these joyous passages: Luke 15:7 (ESV) Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. Luke 15:10 (ESV) Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15:32 (ESV) It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’ ” Do you see the theme? Heaven rejoices over sinners who repent. Sometimes repentance seems like a guilt-ridden act of will power. “I know I shou ..read more

Mark 8:34 (ESV) And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. How far removed we get from the basics. We remember first that our cross follows his. He sought us and died for us while we were yet enemies. Our salvation remains forever unearned—an extravagant gift of our loving God. But let us also remember our cross. Our Savior prepared us for what following him would be like. It would be like denying ourselves on the way to our own crucifixion. It would be the sacrifice of our desires ..read more

Mark 2:15–17 (ESV) 15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” What a wonderful passage, filled both with our folly and Christ’s beauty. We ..read more

Matthew 21:10 (ESV) And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” My biggest prayer for the non-Christian today is that they would answer an important question: Who is this Jesus? It seems that this question is often answered with either, “I don’t know and I’m not really interested in finding out more,” or, “I don’t buy any of this Christianity stuff.” To those in the “I don’t know” camp: There are certain issues that are so important that you can’t ignore. For example, no one got to just say, “I don’t know about COVID and I’m not interested in finding o ..read more