Growing Together Blog

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Written by Sparky Pritchard Friday, 13 November 2009 18:32

In John 5, Jesus is confronted and berated by the religious establishment for ignoring and violating their traditions.  But in their passion to enforce their rules concerning the Sabbath, they missed the opportunity to worship the Lord of the Sabbath!  This week I came across these convicting words from Philip Yancey that should prompt each of us to examine our hearts as we gather to worship God.

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Written by Sparky Pritchard Monday, 09 November 2009 11:05

Missions Conference is behind us … but missions commitment is before us.  What will we do with what we have heard?  What is the next step that each of us must take to become more missions minded?  Those who were part of the early church were intensely missionary in their thinking.

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Written by Sparky Pritchard Friday, 30 October 2009 19:21

God is on a mission!  And His vision and strategy is framed within the Word of God.  “Mission is not just one of a list of things that the Bible happens to talk about, only a bit more urgently than some.  Mission is, in that much-abused phrase, ‘what it’s all about.’” (Christopher J. H. Wright, The Mission of God, p. 22).  Wright goes on to define what he means by mission.  “Fundamentally, our mission (if it is biblically informed and validated) means our committed participation as God’s people, at God’s invitation and command, in God’s own mission within the history of God’s world for the redemption of God’s creation” (pp. 22-23).

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Written by Sparky Pritchard Saturday, 24 October 2009 04:41

Change is part of the world in which we live.  For instance, in my lifetime I have seen the recording industry change from vinyl Hi-Fi … to stereo … to 8 track … to cassette tape … to compact disk … to MP3s and iPod.  Communications have changed just as rapidly from letters … to telephones … to emails … to smartphones … to Facebook … to Skype … and Twitter.  Changes surround us in clothing styles … architectural tastes … entertainment options … and food services.