God in the Week - Never Late -- Monday, March 1

I do not like to be late. In fact, I prefer to be early. I'm not quite sure where that habit developed in my life, but it's something that I find at one and the same time a strength (beginning early generally gives me a feeling of being prepared) and a weakness (I find myself getting annoye...
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God in the Week - Snow -- Tuesday, December 8

I had what to me was an interesting conversation this week. It centered around whether the amount of snow recorded in a year is based on 'snowfall' or 'accumulation?' What precipitated this conversation was an unusual - to me - characteristic of Western Pennsylvania winters. Yesterday, it snowed...
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God in the Week - Hand Stamped Faith -- Tuesday, November 17

Have you ever been to an event or organization that required you to get a hand stamp? It acts like your ticket in. If there is ever a question of whether you should be there or not, you can show your hand stamp to verify that, indeed, you belong. Of course, that's all that hand stamp does. It do...
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God in the Week - Glory in Death -- Tuesday, October 27

I'm one of those 'every season' type people. There are parts of Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter that I appreciate and enjoy. The beauty of the leaves over the past several weeks has been astounding. We are blessed to live in an area where there is a plethora of differnt types of trees with the ...
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A Thankful Perspective -- Monday, April 20

Our outlook determines our outcome. With the right perspective, we can expect to live rightly. With the wrong perspective, we can expect all sorts of troubles. So what is a right perspective on life? This past Sunday we went to Colossians 1 for...
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In the Empty Tomb -- Monday, April 13

For the season of Lent, we have encouraged our congregation to sacrifice something as a reminder of the sacrifice that has been made on our behalf. During that same time, we have looked at pictures of sacrifice that God has given to us through the Old Testament. We have learned some lessons abou...

Cheap Sin -- Monday, March 30

This past Sunday, we continued our series on Pictures of Sacrifice in the Old Testament by focusing on Numbers 16. This story offered us several lessons both on a national and a personal level. We see all around us today the result of...

A Virtual Tour of the Temple -- Tuesday, March 17

This past Sunday we continued our series on 'Pictures of Sacrifice' in the Old Testament by looking at the various articles of the temple. God had a prescribed way of approaching Him. We must be cleansed. We must be forgiven. Our prayers are of...

Sermons on iTunes -- Monday, March 2

We're excited that our sermons are now not only available on our website but also can be podcast through iTunes. If you have any difficulty getting one of our sermons online, please contact our ...

The Blessings of Worship -- Monday, February 23

In Exodus 34:20 we read that God does not want us to approach Him in worship empty-handed. This past Sunday we established from Scripture (1 Peter 2:5) that to be like Jesus, we must be the place, the minister, and the offering of worship. God tells us through Scripture the attitudes that we are ...

The Heart of Worship -- Monday, February 23

Below is a manuscript of the service from February 22, 2009. We've spent the last five weeks focusing our sermons on the topic of worship. Before we conclude our series today, I'd like to take some time and summarize what God has shown us through scriptu...
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For the Men: 10 Ways to Say "I Love You!" to Your Spouse -- Monday, February 16

These items were presented at our Men's Breakfast on Saturday and there was a request to have them posted on the blog. So, here they are: 1. Learn her Love Language. If you haven't read Gary Chapman's book, ...

Cows, Cheerleaders, and the Morning Worship Service -- Monday, February 2

We asked the question this past Sunday that is sadly the flashpoint for so much turmoil in today's church-is there a particular musical style that is more appropriate for worship than others? We saw from Psalm 92, 96, and 97 that there are two styles that characterize worship of God-reverence an...
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Worship and Cheerios -- Monday, January 19

Worship. When you read that word-worship-what comes to mind? Do you think of our sanctuary? Or where you do your personal devotions? Or maybe the throne room of God? Do you hear hymns when you think of worship? Or praise songs? Or repeating choruses? Are you standing with hands raised? Or dancin...

The Gospel and Jesus -- Monday, January 12

"I love to tell the story, for those who know it best seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest. And when, in scenes of glory, I sing the new, new song, 'twill be the old, old story that I have loved so long. I love to tell the story. 'Twill be my theme in glory to tell the old, old ...

Maturity and Corn -- Tuesday, January 6

Happy New Year to all the blog readers. :-) Our topic this past Sunday was the unique perspectives that face us at the end of one year and the beginning of another. Using Ecclesiastes 7:8 we saw that 'the end is better than the beginning.' T...
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The Political Church -- Tuesday, December 16

Our study this past Sunday illustrated how rulers of this world had a significant role throughout Jesus' life-from birth to death. In Herod, we saw a man motivated by fear, anger, and paranoia. In the Sanhedrin, we saw men motivated by selfish ambiti...

No Room For Jesus -- Monday, December 8

"In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Gal...

Questions and Commands -- Monday, November 24

As we continued in our series on the Life of Christ, this past Sunday we focused our study on Luke 20. We saw in this passage that regardless of the types of questions that were brought to Jesus, He turned them around to refocus the questioners on th...

Which Jesus Do I Worship? -- Monday, November 17

In the sermon this past week we contrasted the differences between Mary worshipping Jesus through the anointing of perfume and the crowds worshipping Jesus through the anointing of praise. Ultimately, the two stories boil down to a simple question-Do...
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Nothing Between Jesus and I -- Monday, October 20

We focused this past Sunday on Jesus feeding the 5,000. As we unpacked the story, we saw that at least one relevance for us today is that our resources are ALWAYS going to be inadequate to meet the spiritual and physical needs around us. However, as w...
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Fear and Death -- Monday, October 13

You'll recall from our sermon series on the Life of Christ that God had perfectly prepared Jesus to proclaim the Gospel. As Jesus proclaims the Gospel, he gathers around Himself the most unlikeliest group of people one could imagine. He does...
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Chosen for the Kingdom -- Monday, September 29

In our Sunday series we are studying the life of Christ, focusing on events and teachings that are repeated in 3 or 4 of the Gospels. This past week, we looked at the parables of Mark 4. In many ways, the questions that are raised in chapters 1-3 are answered in the account of Jesus calming the s...
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The Unusual Crowd of Followers -- Monday, September 22

Yesterday we continued our series on the Life of Christ looking at the types of followers that Jesus gathered around Himself. Some might expect some astute theological, philosophical, ethical, political, and military advisors. We see a very different group of people as described in Mark 1-3. ...

The Temptation of Christ -- Monday, September 15

This past Sunday we began our series on the Life of Christ, focusing our study on passages that appear in 3-4 of the Gospels. We identified these passages as events and teachings of Jesus that were important enough that most, if not all, of the Gospel writers were inclined to include them. We beg...

What About the 10 percent? -- Tuesday, July 1

In this past Sunday's sermon we focused on giving using 2 Corinthians 8 & 9 as our primary passage. Paul, on a number of occasions in this passage, passes up several opportunities to talk to the Corinthians about how much they should give and instead focuses on the motivation of their giving...

Why the Transfiguration? -- Thursday, May 15

Over the last two weeks we have been studying 2 Peter 1. We saw that Peter made every effort to remind them of the things that were integral to the faith-the divine power of God in saving us, that power transforming our lives to look like Christ, and the invitation into the eternal kingdom. Peter...

How You Can Bless Your Pastor -- Friday, May 2

I found this quote on John Piper's site...he encapsulates my own sentiments exactly! Enjoy :-) How you can bless your pastor: "Lead somebody to Christ. Live a holy life. Don't lose your faith when you get cancer. Bring up your kid to love Christ. Do something radical for missions. ...

Resisting the Devil -- Monday, April 28

In response to this Sunday's message on 1 Peter 5, I got an e-mail from someone in the congregation who shared the following quote from R.A. Torrey: I came across the following from Ameri...
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The Time of the End -- Wednesday, April 9

This past Sunday our sermon focused on 1 Peter 1:3-2:3. In this passage, Peter places a strong and repeated emphasis on our living hope that produces precious faith which results in the glory of Jesus. Part o...

Look At My Hands and Feet -- Wednesday, March 26

Easter Sunday, we considered how the stories of the women at the tomb and the two disciples on the road to Emmaus applied to our own relationship with the Lord. We saw that often times, like the women, we bring spices to Jesus-things that are good in and of themselves-because we aren't expecting...
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Count Your Surprises -- Monday, March 10

J.I. Packer has an interesting article in the latest Christianity Today (sorry....no online link to it yet) in which he talks about the 'happy surprises' that God has brought into his life. These past few weeks, marking my first year at Pleasantview Alliance Church, I've been thinking of these e...
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...But... -- Wednesday, February 6

Such a little word-'But.' It would not seem to have much to offer in the way of theology-in fact, many times it doesn't even exist in the original text. There are much bigger words that seem to carry so much more weight. Words like redemption and propitiation and judgment. Surely these more impo...
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But What About God? -- Monday, January 14

Our sermon this past Sunday focused on what it means to be holy. After looking at a number of conclusions that come from a study of holiness in both the Old and New Testaments, we presented a definition. We said that something that is holy is used in the worship of God and reflects His character...
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In the Vault: From the Cutting Room Floor -- Monday, January 7

I've often times had people wonder what its like to develop a sermon. In many ways, I guess its not unlike putting together a movie (which I have no experience in) or writing a story (again, something I have no experience in). As you study your passage or topic, you bring together all sorts of i...
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No Fear... -- Wednesday, December 19

Our sermon this past Sunday was on the topic of Christ our Healer. In the sermon, we attempted to give a broad outline of what Scripture has to say about Jesus taking up our infirmities and diseases on the cross. We talked about how Jesus doesn't just save us from the penalty of sin (as our Savior)...
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Why We Need a Savior -- Tuesday, December 4

My kids and I were talking about superheroes at lunch today. With four boys in the house, there is a full array of favorites-Spiderman and Batman always seem to top the list. In the midst of this conversation on webs and bat-belts and various superhero powers, Joshua made an interesting comment....
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Some Gifts Are Missing From Under My Tree! -- Monday, November 19

I received an e-mail with a question that I thought would be easier to respond to as a blog post since there might be others with the same question. In part, the e-mail asked the following: I've been coming to Pleasantview for a few years now and have heard several sermons...

The Games We Play With God -- Tuesday, November 13

Our family has thoroughly enjoyed our move out to Western Pennsylvania. Besides the wonderful people we've met, we have been awed by the natural beauty through all the seasons (well…OK…we haven't really been through a FULL winter yet, but we have high hopes!). But, there is one part...
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Random Idol Thoughts -- Tuesday, October 30

We talked this past Sunday about the contrast between Phinehas and Manasseh-one man with a passion for the ho...
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More Diverse Than We Ever Imagined -- Tuesday, October 16

Most of the time, when we think of people serving in the church, we think of pastors or elders or the people who teach Sunday School classes; Maybe an usher or sound person or the people who are musically inclined. Not as often, but if pressured, we might think of the person who cleans the bathro...

A Different Perspective On Election -- Wednesday, October 3

The material we are going to read about is far too cerebral to not start out with a joke. So, here's something to put a smile on our faces before we talk about much weightier topics. An old farmer went to the city one weekend and attended the big city church. He came home and his wife as...
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Knowing God -- Tuesday, September 18

I lie in bed thinking about the day ahead. There's a lot of anxiety. What will happen during this conversation? If I do that, what will the consequences be? I feel the anxiety rise from my stomach. I call out to God-...
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Temptation or Sin? -- Friday, September 14

To the previous blog post this comment was added: Why is it that even when we acknowledge that we are powerless to stop sinning and can not do it ourselves, it still sometimes seems like it takes a long time until w...

A (B)reach of Trust -- Monday, September 10

In order to understand this blog posting, you will need to view this video on GodTube.com (http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=d14827b8c55d8411d821-recommendation, when it starts playi...
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Covering Our Sins -- Tuesday, September 4

Whenever we go camping, our sons end up sleeping together. Inevitably, our one son, Joshua, ends up with all the blankets. We've given him his own blanket and used king sized blankets. Apart from placing him in a separate bed-which rarely is an option-he simply ends up with them all. We pity whi...
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Fall sermon series coming up -- Tuesday, August 21

We're excited about our upcoming series! We are going to focus throughout the Fall on various components of our church's vision statement. Sermons will include topics such as: Who is God the Father and how do we glorify Him; seeing...