Sunday Services at 10:00am
1155 Silas Deane Highway, Wethersfield
Every month, I try to spend one work day away from the day-to-day responsibilities of being a pastor. I travel to the Center for Retreat and Renewal in Simsbury and try to avoid email and phone calls for the day. Instead, I spend extended time with God, I try to bring order into the scattered pieces of my life, and I work on aspects of my job that require extended, uninterrupted time....Keep Reading
Music has a way of helping us express ourselves in ways that we might not be able to do on our own. When it comes to my worship of God, music often helps me enter into His presence and express whatever emotions are on my heart. There are songs that remind me to trust in God, others that give expression to the joy I feel in knowing Him, and still others that express the deep longing of my heart to know Him more. But the song I want to share about today is one that touches me at a depth that no other song has ever reached....Keep Reading
When I read Pastor Eric's request for people to write in and share about songs that have impacted them, I felt a nudge in my spirit. It was the kind of nudge that makes my heart race, my hands grow sweaty, and makes my mind flood with foreboding thoughts that if I were to follow through then surely I will embarrass myself. It's safer to close off my heart to avoid the hurt that transparency can welcome. I thought, “No thanks, Lord. I don't want to.” Then felt His reply, “You don't have to... but this is a good thing.” I started to reflect and write and make the connections that those two things sometimes bring about. In the end I came up with the following:...Keep Reading
I don’t remember where I heard it, but I will always remember how awestruck I felt when I first heard that music is one of the very few things we have in this life that will not pass away. In Revelation, all of God’s creation is worshipping Him, and I have since often imagined myself joining in the chorus of voices singing praises to our Lord. Though we can only imagine what that will look and sound like in heaven, I do believe that God gives us a small glimpse of this through the music we have here on earth. Music is eternal. This realization confirms the countless experiences I’ve had as music gave melody, lyrics, and rhythms to the highs and lows of my life over the years....Keep Reading
This summer, I am preaching through selected Psalms, looking at how the Psalms help us to bring all of our emotions to God so that He can help us make sense of our life. Looking back on my life, if I listen closely I can hear a soundtrack playing in the background, like a movie, marking so many key points along my journey. I can see a very young Eric, listening to the Ghostbusters record, the first one I remember asking for and enjoying. I can see middle school Eric, staying up late on New Year’s Eve to listen to Casey Kasem’s countdown of the year’s top songs on the radio. I can see high school Eric, listening to Alice in Chains and Metallica on his Walkman on the bus on the way to basketball games, trying to get himself psyched up for the big game. ...Keep Reading
There is a popular expression in evangelical circles called “preaching the gospel to yourself.” Essentially, this saying acknowledges that we often forget the truth of who God is and who we are in Christ and choose instead to live according to lies. We forget that our self-worth is not a matter of what we do or do not do, but is found in the reality that God loves us so much that His Son Jesus willingly gave His life to save us. We forget how loved we are, choosing instead to listen to the evaluations of other people. We beat ourselves up over our sins and shortcomings, forgetting that all of our sins were nailed to the cross when Jesus died, so that God sees us as perfect in Christ. We mistakenly think that we are independent creatures who can do whatever we please, forgetting that when Christ saved us, He called us to die to ourselves and to live for Him....Keep Reading
During our July and August Sunday morning worship gatherings, I will be preaching through selected Psalms, using that section of the Bible in order to help us connect in deeper ways to God. During that time, I will be using the NewLife blog as a platform for the people of our church the opportunity to share about particular songs that help them connect to God....Keep Reading
During our July and August Sunday morning worship gatherings, I will be preaching through selected Psalms, using that section of the Bible in order to help us connect in deeper ways to God. During that time, I will be using the NewLife blog as a platform for the people of our church the opportunity to share about particular songs that help them connect to God....Keep Reading
During our July and August Sunday morning worship gatherings, I will be preaching through selected Psalms, using that section of the Bible in order to help us connect in deeper ways to God. During that time, I will be using the NewLife blog as a platform for the people of our church the opportunity to share about particular songs that help them connect to God....Keep Reading
During our July and August Sunday morning worship gatherings, I will be preaching through selected Psalms, using that section of the Bible in order to help us connect in deeper ways to God. During that time, I will be using the NewLife blog as a platform for the people of our church the opportunity to share about particular songs that help them connect to God....Keep Reading
During our July and August Sunday morning worship gatherings, I will be preaching through selected Psalms, using that section of the Bible in order to help us connect in deeper ways to God. During that time, I will be using the NewLife blog as a platform for the people of our church the opportunity to share about particular songs that help them connect to God....Keep Reading