Time to Get Going!

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:19). Some days at our house, it’s hard to get everybody going. Sometimes that’s not a big deal; other times it can be fairly stressful. If we have a certain place to be at a certain time, my wife and I tell our kids when we need to leave and try to give them everything they need to be ready to go by then, whether it’s making sure they have had breakfast, know where their soccer cleats are, or have everything ready to go in their b...
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It Helps to Know When Elsa Is Going to Show Up

--Taylor Stichler, October 27, 2021. Wow! It’s hard to believe that we are in our final week of the Red Letter Challenge! I’ve had a ton of fun digging into this challenge, it's been especially rewarding to have done it with a small group together! I pray that if you have gotten involved with a small group during this challenge that you think of continuing to meet together to keep diving into God’s Word! We have a lot of resources that we would love to share with your group if you want! Duri...
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Ways to Serve

During this week of Serving in the Red Letter Challenge, it has occurred to me that we use the word “serve” in a lot of different ways. There’s the way I think we usually think of serving—giving of our time and energy and skills for the benefit of others. But there are many other ways the word “serve” enters into our vocabulary. As a tennis player, one of the most important parts of my game is my serve. If you’re watching an episode of Law and Order, you might see someone serve a subpoena. As t...
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Trusting the Reviews

--Taylor Stichler, October 9, 2021. Have you ever read the reviews of a place on Google or Yelp before? We live in this incredible time where we have deducted everything we need to know about a restaurant, store, business, or product to a five star rating system. I don’t know about you, but before I buy anything on Amazon or try a new restaurant I go straight to the reviews. It’s helpful to know what other people have to say about something you have never experienced before. Companies that sell...
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What Could Be Worse?

Our Red Letter Challenge small group has been meeting on Sunday evenings. As we began the week of Forgiving this past Sunday, our discussion naturally centered around the topic of forgiveness. One of the suggested discussion questions for our study was, “Has anybody ever wronged you more than you have wronged God?” We all knew the right answer was, of course, no. We knew we were supposed to say something like, “No, clearly nobody could ever possibly wrong me more than I have wronged God.” Bu...
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Repent, and Turn Again.

Today’s chapter in our Red Letter Challenge book contains a prayer that we are encouraged to speak daily as we seek God’s forgiveness. The prayer contains a sentence—“I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life”—which parallels the words of Peter in Acts 3:19 when he said, “Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out…” James says something similar when he wrote, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and pur...
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