Today marks one year since my dad passed unexpectedly on Easter. It's been a whirlwind this year. The tension of grieving great loss but also experiencing great life. There has been many weekends and speaking opportunities that I flat out just didn't want to do. I've had to preach through the feeling of not wanting to preach more this year than any other year. Preaching in weakness. Preaching vulnerable. Preaching from an honest place. His grace is sufficient. There was something Nathan Finochio posted months ago that has really resonated with me. I wrote it down. Found myself telling myself this when my mind was going astray. Shared this with friends who were walking through their own loss. Here it is... "Grace means nothing you had was earned in the first place. Which means nothing taken from you is evidence of God's betrayal!" 😭🙏🏽 Love you all!

I’m a big fan of one-liners. A faithful unpacking of Scripture with a right-hook one-liner is my bread & butter. I have a growing notepad of one-liners that goes back to 2011. There’s just something about them. They don’t replace good content, they amplify it. A phrase, a proverb, a sticky statement… it’s biblical. Jesus hit the Pharisees with: “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” BOOM. One-liner. The Apostle Paul hit them with: “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” BOOM. One-liner. Solomon with: “One who is full loathes honey from the comb, but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.” MIC DROP. This one-liner/phrase came from a message I preached this weekend entitled “PEOPLE.” The premise of the message was that in Philippians (the letter of joy), we see that Paul didn’t just have joy in Jesus. In the first 11 verses of chapter 1, he doesn’t even bring that up. The joy he highlights is his joy in the people. His love for people was so great, he expresses this internal tension: “I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith.” What?? Are you kidding? His love is that great for the people he’s done life with, impacted, shared the gospel with? He is torn between being with Jesus and staying? Here was the phrase I gave the church—our first ONE-LINER OF THE WEEK: “PEOPLE”: THE REASON PEOPLE LEAVE. “PEOPLE”: THE REASON PAUL STAYED.🤯 People are the reason many leave… but for Paul, they were the reason he stayed. SHARE THE LOVE…COMMENT A ONE-LINER/QUOTE/ OR PHRASE!! 😄

DYP! Love this community... I'm preaching this Sunday for Palm Sunday and working on a few key points. Palm Sunday, triumphant entry counterbalanced with Luke 9:22-26 where Jesus says, "deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow me" 1. Solidifying the TENSION at the front of the message 2. Vulnerable examples and illustrations 3. Clarity on next steps in the room and the days following. Here are my thoughts, what comes to mind for you? Any advice you have? Brief summary: Tension: we all have areas of our life where we have desire without discipline... lip service without lifestyle, celebration without surrender. Scripture: we see this on Palm Sunday -- HOSANNA -- to abandonment Luke 9 Jesus says, "if you want to be my disciple, deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow me" Closing with having everyone come forward with a piece of paper they received and nail it to the cross. This is a 30-year-old tradition at our church.