When we were in Sierra Leone Africa earlier this summer we saw some of the most unique and beautiful beaches I have seen anywhere in the world. Interestingly, the people don’t seem to appreciate or enjoy the beauty they have right next to them as much as one would think they do. I can’t help but think if I had this beach in my backyard that I’d be on it frequently. We baptized people at the beach who lived a few hundred feet from the water yet had never been in it before.

On one trip to the beach, as I stood mesmerized by the beauty of perfect blue skies, sand, ocean waves, boulder-sized rocks and mountains in the background, I couldn’t help but ask a pastor friend how it all formed in his mind. The rocks that line the ocean appear to have developed by volcanic activity. I ask him if he knew the make-up of the rocks and how they formed…and if he knew of any volcanoes in the vicinity.

He looked at me with complete sincerity and said very simply, “God is great!”

I was quickly humbled in my search for answers and reminded of a few truths:

People watching is such an art. It takes discipline and practice. If you aren’t careful you might miss something good…or you could scare people away.

In one people-watching day recently I saw…

School is back in session. Summer is drawing to a close. The excitement of fall, though not evident in the weather yet, is in the air at Grace Community Church. We launch a new series this week and it’s one I’m very excited about, because I sense the need so strongly.

5ive is a series about five hidden killers of our walk with Christ. These are things we may try to pretend don’t exist in our life, but if we are honest, we know they can destroy our joy, peace, and quality of life with God and others.

Do you struggle most with guilt, anger, jealousy, greed or pride? Take your pick. Each week we will address another issue.

This is the series you will not want to miss…and you’ll want to invite your friends.

Join us as we learn some principles to guide our hearts and lives to better places.

Ben Reed is our community groups pastor at Grace Community Church. He’s responsible for overseeing the spiritual formation and discipleship process that happens through groups at our church. (He’s doing an amazing job and is a great leader too!) We are both frequently asked to review small group materials. He does more of that than me, but this is a case where we are both friends with the author. With that in mind, Ben is guest posting here today to review Holy Vocabulary, by Michael Kelley.

Here’s Ben’s review:

In case you missed my earlier posts, I’m in Sierra Leone for a couple weeks. I will share more later, but wanted to give a quick update. We are here to teach and train pastors for Africa for Jesus and it has been an incredible experience so far. Here are 10 things I’ve observed/learned the [...]

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I had been eagerly reading the account of Moses and the Israelites on their journey to the promised land. God had provided for them each step of the way. Each morning they had their manna (bread), and in the evening they were provided quail. Now, I know that manna is a crisp and sweet tasting flaky bread type food, because the Bible tells me so.

But, what is an omer?

We are in a new series at Grace Community Church called Outsiders, looking at some characters in the Bible who aren’t as well known as other characters, yet who made huge impacts to the Kingdom. Yesterday I spoke about the disciple Thomas. Though some know him as Doubting Thomas, I prefer the title I have also heard by which I’ve also heard him referred, Thomas the Believer. In this message, I address the bottom line that doubts are not the major problem for a believer, unbelief is. Ultimately we must go from doubts to a solid foundation of faith; that God is who He says He is and will do what is best in our life.

Consider your life for just a moment. How compliant are you to the will of God for your life? Are you willing to follow God wherever He may lead? What if following God involves extreme sacrifice, which it most often will require you to do? Will you follow God then? If doing God’s will involves a total surrender of your life to Him will you still do His will?

The best you and I can do when going through difficult times is to cling closer and stronger to God during the hard times. Trusting Him through the hardest times of life is called faith. Without faith, it’s impossible to please God. When faith is displayed…God must surely smile!