Vision for Worship at Harvest
My vision for Biblical Worship at Harvest is to encourage, develop, and raise up true worshippers who worship the Triune God in spirit and truth within all aspects of life; that we might be a people who grow in our understanding of God and respond by making much of Him with our lives not just music....
An Unashamed Life
Rob Maxey was a friend to as many people as he could meet. He was tireless in his service in God's Kingdom, relentless in his pursuit of teenagers for the sake of Jesus, and abounding in hope and joy and love that came from a heart captivated by the good news that Jesus forgives sinners and changes lives for eternity. He is and will be deeply missed. ...
Worship Q&A Continued
So many questions, so little time! We had over 30 questions come in on Sunday morning during our services, and of course we couldn’t get to all of them from the front. But, we can provide some brief answers to the ones that didn’t get mentioned, and that’s what we are doing here. The goal is not an exhaustive answer, but helpful, direct, biblical answers. And, we provide links to reliable sources where possible because many of these questions already have good answers....
Walk: Following Jesus together
At Harvest, "walking with Christ" is the process by which you consistently grow as a disciple in community, growing in your love for Jesus and other people. Being a disciple is never a one-person show....
Worship: It's who you are
You were created to worship. There isn’t a single soul on this planet who isn’t wired this way. We are all worshipers. The question is simply who or what you worship. People can deny God exists all they want, but far from denying His existence, they prove his existence as they live out a life of worship. ...
How to Meditate on God's Word
"Meditation" is a popular practice for many people, yet also a confusing one for many Christians. Is it OK to meditate like other people do, seeking to cleanse or empty the mind of all distractions, worries, burdens, etc? Is meditation spoken of in the Bible similar to that, or altogether different?...
Hijacked: Getting God’s word straight
There’s no denying that we each come to the Bible with our own presuppositions, biases and assumptions, and there are a slew of contributing factors. So when you come to God’s word, your commitment must be to let the Bible say what it says and mean what it means even if it changes the way you’ve always thought about it......
Don't know how you should vote? Here are 3 things you need to know.
Every presidential election season seems to create a feeling of "When will this be over?" by the time we are all actually voting. We've heard about candidates for years already in some cases, then we hear from their "camps" every day for months and months, then we hear from candidates themselves incessantly down the home stretch. This race feels, to me, to be more polarizing than any I've seen in my relatively brief 32 years of life......
Looking Back and Looking Forward
Anniversary celebrations bring perspective and expectation. Perspective of what’s God has done and expectation about what another year of walking with the Lord will produce in our hearts, in our church, and in our community. Our third anniversary has once again prompted both. People have asked me, “three years ago, is this where you expected to be?” And it’s difficult to answer that question. ...
3 Lessons, 3 Years
How could I encapsulate the top 3 lessons learned in the past 3 years at Harvest? Answer: I can’t. So, I’m ditching the idea of “top” 3 lessons, and instead want to put forward the following 3 lessons that we’ve learned at Harvest. There have just been too many lessons to count, some more significant than others. But for your consideration…...
All In
I believe there is so much that God has in store for us, but were I to sum up all that the Lord has impressed upon my heart for this upcoming year of ministry, I could summarize the focus in two words: All in! This is our theme for the year. If we’re to be the type of church that I believe God is calling us to be, it’s going to start with each and every person committing to being “All in.” This year, we’re going to get off the fence of mediocrity. We’re going to stretch ourselves beyond our levels of comfortability. We’re going to establish a clear focus on the right priorities. And we’re going to be sold out for Jesus unreservedly. ...
Thank You for Three Years
As I reflect back on 3 years of ministry at Harvest, my heart is overwhelmed with thankfulness. Were I to speak of every form of thankfulness that has welled up in my heart, I would likely never stop writing. So in light of three years of ministry, I wanted to speak of my thankfulness in 3 ways......
The Trinity
The Trinity is one of the most complex and mysterious Christian doctrines, but there is certainly a strong Biblical basis for this concept. The foundational idea is that God is one God who eternally exists in three persons. Bruce Ware summarizes it well when he writes......
Mark: Discipleship Defined
For the better part of a year, we will be studying the book of Mark together and the series title is Discipleship Defined. In light of the mission and the momentum God has been building in our church, I felt that it would be essential to define what our mission is again, which is glorifying God by making disciples. If you were to poll an assortment of Christians and ask them about discipleship, I believe......
Fall, Halloween, and a Biblical Perspective
How should Christians respond to Halloween? Do we engage or abstain... or is there really only one answer?...
Keep ReadingThe Trinity
The Trinity is one of the most complex and mysterious Christian doctrines, but there is certainly a strong Biblical basis for this concept. The foundational idea is that God is one God who eternally exists in three persons. Bruce Ware summarizes it well when he writes......
Keep ReadingWhat does a godly man look like?
Everywhere you turn, there are sermons being preached about what a man is. These sermons are not just being preached in church. They are being preached through every outlet imaginable - magazines, websites, TV shows, movies, music, shops and malls. I say "sermons" intentionally because that's exactly what they are - messages from...
Keep Reading15 Years Later: Reflecting on God’s Faithfulness after my mother’s death
My mother died on August 14, 2000, after a long battle with Non Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I was 16 at the time, about to begin my junior year of high school, and suddenly without the strongest spiritual influence in my life to that point. My mother fought valiantly and was full of faith in the Lord, knowing both that he could heal her at any moment but also that his purposes w...
Keep ReadingMark: Discipleship Defined
For the better part of a year, we will be studying the book of Mark together and the series title is Discipleship Defined. In light of the mission and the momentum God has been building in our church, I felt that it would be essential to define what our mission is again, which is glorifying God by making disciples. If you were to poll an assortment of Christians and ask th...
Keep ReadingHappy 2 Year Anniversary Harvest!
"This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes" Psalm 118:23 In February of 2013, Harvest Bible Chapel was nothing more than a pipe dream. Jeremiah captures the calling God placed on my heart well when he wrote, "If I say, "I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name," there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary wit...
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