austin's update 7/5
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the question I asked in last Sunday’s sermon, “How do we know when it’s time to take a stand for something?” In our country’s current political...
austin's update 6/21
You have to expect that I’ll write about my two-week trip to Israel in my first opportunity with the Newsletter… In short, the trip was amazing. There are so many ways that it was a rich blessing to Sara and me. We...
austin's update 5/24
A few weeks ago, Sara and I got in an argument. It lasted the better portion of an hour. The lively discussion was centered around whether we were going on a trip to Israel or a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. In case you’ve ever wondered, this is the sort of stuff we argue about, and I did...
austin's update 5/10
This last Sunday was our last Sabbath Sunday of the year. During the service, we discussed Psalm 90:12. Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Sabbath is an opportunity for us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Numbering our days is an interesting...
austin's update 4/25
My brothers and I were recently having fun thinking about movie titles that could be easily adapted to be sermon titles. We shared many laughs while we thought up these titles. Here’s a sample of what we came up with: The Faith Awakens The Big Short: A Zachaeus Story The...
austin's update 4/12
In the coming two weeks, I’ll be preaching about Sabbath. Although we’ve had Sabbath Sundays throughout the school year on the second week of each month, we haven’t always preached about Sabbath on those days. In the remainder of April, I will be emphasizing Sabbath more...
austin's update 3/29
During my preparations for Easter Sunday, I compared the various stories of Jesus’ resurrection in each of the four Gospels. When considering the life of Jesus, my typical approach is looking first and Matthew and Luke. They usually have the most detailed accounts of Jesus’ life and...
austin's update 3/15
One week ago today, our church hosted the stated meeting of our Presbytery – North Central Iowa Presbytery. It was a full, but amazing day. First, I was thrilled to see how so many people from our church stepped up to...
austin's update 2/29
This newsletter article comes to you from a rare occasion. In fact, it may be the first time I’ve ever written an article during this time. Leap Day. ...
austin's update 1/6
We find ourselves in the season of New Year’s Resolutions. Each morning, my email inbox fills up with blog articles and newsletter emails about what to resolve to do and how to do it for the new year. Meanwhile, other emails say that traditional New Year’s resolutions...