Sunday Services at 10:00am
1155 Silas Deane Highway, Wethersfield
This past Sunday, I preached on the parable of the Good Samaritan, a story that points to the sacrificial love and mercy that Jesus showed us when we were broken by our sin and headed towards eternal separation from God. This story always reminds me of a short story/drama which I read soon after I became a believer, called The Ragman by Walter Wangerin. I’ve reprinted it below:...Keep Reading
In the beginning, they came for the perpetrators of sexual assault. One by one, the women came forward and named their assailants, the ones who had violated them against their will. And giving them our support, we pronounced those men guilty, and canceled them. Next up were the racists....Keep Reading
Between the recent emphasis on the Black Lives Matter movement and the Supreme Court ruling last week that forbade job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or transgender status, there has been a lot of talk recently about human rights. Americans, whether they are people of faith or not, assume that it is a given that there is such a thing called human rights, that all people have the right to be treated as people of equal worth and dignity, regardless of any differences they might have. However, the reality is that this assertion is only objectively true if there is a God who has created all humans in His image. If you remove God, then there really is no basis for human rights. ...Keep Reading
As I was preparing for the current sermon series on suffering, loss, lament, and trust, I studied the Old Testament book of Lamentations for the first time. There is a reason that most Christians are unfamiliar with the book, for Lamentations isn’t filled with the kind of verses that get used for inspirational Facebook quotes or devotional reading (except for Lamentations 3:22-23, which reads “Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”). 99% of the verses are painful and heartfelt cries coming from a people who are witnessing their homes being destroyed and their family and friends either slaughtered or taken into captivity....Keep Reading
In my preparation for the current sermon series on lament, one reality that I have heard pointed out often by the authors I have read is that anywhere from 30-40% of the Psalms can be classified as laments, while in our modern hymnals or collections of worship songs, the percentage ranges anywhere from 5-15%. Besides seeing this as an interesting discrepancy, what might this reveal about our modern Christianity? I can think of three things: 1) We are too consumer-driven...Keep Reading
Let me begin with a confession. In my almost 14(!) years as the pastor of NewLife, I have almost entirely steered away from social and political issues, choosing to focus as much as possible on preaching the Biblical text that is in front of me on a Sunday and the people who call themselves a part of our church. I know that there are a wide range of opinions in our church on many issues, and for better or worse I have tried to stay above the fray and point people to Jesus. Having said that, I now believe that I have wrongly erred on the side of silence too often, when my voice needs to be heard....Keep Reading
One of the challenges when reading the Bible is differentiating between two fancy theological terms: historical particularity and eternal relevance. In other words, when Paul writes in 1 Timothy 2:12, “I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man,” was he addressing a unique concern in the Ephesian church (historical particularity), or was he saying something that is meant to apply to all churches in all cultures in all time periods (eternal relevance)? This challenge is one of the trickiest parts of Biblical interpretation....Keep Reading
Hi, my name is Taylor Hood. I was born June 15th, 1986, on Father’s Day, which made my Dad very happy. Although I was born with a disability, my parents didn’t learn what it was until I was 18 months old. I have Williams Syndrome, a disability that makes me learn slower. Lots of people with Williams Syndrome have many medical issues, but I am pretty healthy. ...Keep Reading
Pastor Eric recently made a request for testimonies of learning to trust God through suffering and loss. A hard ask, but one I hope we can rise to because the faithfulness of God appears in so many forms and fashions. And I believe it is through the telling of these stories, even the ones longed to be forgotten, that others can find comfort, assurance, and maybe even a step towards healing. That is my prayer, anyways, and what leads me to share my story. ...Keep Reading
This Sunday, I will begin a new preaching series on suffering, loss, lament, and trust, using Lamentation and the Psalms of lament as the backdrop. In light of this, I am replaying what I wrote on this blog on September 11th, 2007, after going through a very personal loss. “The baby died.” If there were a list of things you hope you never have to hear, “the baby died” would have to be up near the top, somewhere right above “I’m leaving you” and “It’s definitely cancerous.” Last Wednesday, as I was on the phone with Andy Hood, my cell phone began to ring, with an unfamiliar Manchester number on the caller ID...Keep Reading