This week, Pastor John hands over the TAGD keyboard to Pastor Brent Whitefield, Northpoint’s Pastor of Missions and Outreach. I am pleased to announce that our good friend Tamene Menna has completed his doctoral studies at Talbot and this week successfully defended his thesis. As of graduation in May, he will have his PhD… Continue Reading
Sermon Notes Slander Against the Savior Matthew 12:22-32 Pastor John Sloan Introduction: Can one thoughtless word or irreverent deed secure for us God’s eternal damnation even if we repent? Is there a sin that God refuses to forgive? These are questions of paramount importance. Bracketed by a miraculous healing and a revealing exchange with the… Continue Reading
Sermon Notes Mercy > Sacrifice Matthew 12:1-14 Pastor Brent Whitefield Introduction: In this passage, Jesus not only asserts his Lordship over the Sabbath, but demonstrates it by challenging the Pharisees’ merciless interpretation of the Law. Given our tendency to choose rigid legal observance to the harder work of compassion for our neighbor, we should place… Continue Reading
3.9.2017 You Pick Three Hello Family, Recently, the famed Barna Group (the research firm behind such studies as The Exploration of Faith in New York Since 9-11) published The State of the Church 2016. While I’m not a devoted student of statistics, nor do I defer to analytics to make my decisions (frankly, 91.4% of… Continue Reading
Sermon Notes The Mystery of the Easy Yoke Matthew 11:25-30 Pastor John Sloan Introduction: As he is sending out his disciples, Jesus warns them about the suffering they will certainly experience: they will be hated, disowned, and persecuted because of him. Not long before that, Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, wherein he called… Continue Reading
Sermon Notes The Destructive Nature of Ungrace Matthew 11:12-24 Pastor John Sloan Introduction: Generally speaking, Christians can be hard to please. We want what we want and we want it our way. Jesus warns against such a querulous mindset, namely, rejecting his salvation, and himself, in favor of a formula that leaves us more in… Continue Reading
God is Devoted to You Hello Family, As I sat across from a man during a recent lunch, he said to me (as he reflected on a terrible trial that he is currently going through): “If you’ve told us once, you’ve told us a thousand times, ‘God never gives up on his children; he loves… Continue Reading
This week, Pastor John hands over the TAGD keyboard to Marti Wiegman, Northpoint’s Director of Women’s Ministries. Time for “Grace” is Running Out A Special Message for Our Ladies, I ran a search on Amazon this morning for “Christian relationship books” and got 59,915 results! Clearly, relationships are an area of high priority, or at least high interest, in our lives. God himself has put great… Continue Reading
Sermon Notes Finding Our Life in Jesus’ Mission Matthew 10:34-42 Taylor Mendoza, Junior High Intern 4 Gospel Truths on the Nature of Our Mission: 01. 02. 03. 04. Sermon Slides 1. 4 Gospel Truths on the Nature of Our Mission: 2. 01. By definition, the gospel divides. 3. Read Matthew 10:34-36. 4. 02. Love… Continue Reading
This Present Struggle Hello Family, I hope you’ve found nourishment in the gospel this week. My prayer for you has been that God would “strengthen you with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy” (Colossians 1:11). Speaking of joy (or lack thereof), I got my taxes done this… Continue Reading