As a follow up to a sermon about singleness and celibacy, we interview a celibate man.
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Oct. 3 Sermon Synopsis — Singleness & Celibacy
If we're going to talk about God's design for relationships, we need to address the topics of singleness and celibacy.
Celibate Voices Worth Celebrating
This post provides brief biographical sketches (including lots of links!) of a few people who experience same-sex attraction and have chosen celibacy.
Speaking of love, let’s talk about the ‘Clobber’ Passages
If we want to steer clear of being noisy gongs, we need to understand this term: the "clobber" passages.
Sept. 26 Sermon Synopsis — If We Have Not Love
On Sunday, September 26, God spoke to us through 1 Cor. 13. In particular, we were challenged to hold the tension between having convictions and expressing them in love.
Sept 19 Sermon Synopsis — Identity in Christ
Our identity in Christ has profound implications for how we navigate relationships.
The Objectives of ‘Relationships by God’s Design’
This is the first of many blog posts during our Fall 2021 series — Relationships by God's design
July 15, 2024
Visiting the Archive
Drew PoppletonAt this point, most of the content saved here is archive material from past sermon…
July 15, 2024
April 8, 2023
A Review and a Reminder
Drew Poppleton
Now that we’re on the final day, it’s time to reflect on the journey with…
April 8, 2023
April 7, 2023
The Most Tragic Type of Fig Leaf
Drew Poppleton
As we come to the end of this religious activity (i.e., Lent & this devotional),…
April 7, 2023
April 6, 2023
About following a foot-washing God
Drew Poppleton
In order to embody the humility that Jesus embodies, we may need to have a…
April 6, 2023
April 5, 2023
Regarding the Passion of our Lord
Drew Poppleton
In order to embrace Holy Week and the God we encounter there, we may need…
April 5, 2023
April 4, 2023
Do we want to resemble the Pharisees or imitate Christ?
Drew Poppleton
As Paul says in Ephesians 4, we should forgive in the way that God has…
April 4, 2023
April 3, 2023
This one might be hard for some to hear.
Drew Poppleton
If you struggle with stubbornness, you may be too stubborn to hear today’s message!
April 3, 2023
April 1, 2023
Do you have any “good” behavior that stems from “bad” motives?
Drew Poppleton
When we do the right things for the wrong reasons, it’s likely that God wants…
April 1, 2023
March 31, 2023
Introducing a fruitful concept
Drew Poppleton
This post introduces a term that is very helpful in describing the human condition and…
March 31, 2023
March 30, 2023
Sometimes pruning can unbind us from the past, freeing us for the future
Drew Poppleton
It’s one thing to feel remorse. It’s another thing to wallow in regret.
March 30, 2023
March 29, 2023
Can you see people as Jesus sees them?
Drew Poppleton
In order to see people as God sees them, we may need the Vine-grower to…
March 29, 2023
March 28, 2023
Do you ever please people in order to have your emotional needs met?
Drew Poppleton
What would it look like to be satisfied in God?
March 28, 2023
March 27, 2023
Regarding unrealistic expectations
Drew Poppleton
Surely, God wants us to be mindful of unrealistic expectations we have—both of ourselves and…
March 27, 2023
March 25, 2023
Living the tension of being both great and small
Drew Poppleton
God wants to prune both pride and despair—two extremes that fail to capture our God-given…
March 25, 2023
March 24, 2023
Maybe you’re too much of an adult??
Drew Poppleton
Today, we explore what it might be like to shed an adult perspective in favor…
March 24, 2023
March 23, 2023
Would anyone ever describe you as captious?
Drew Poppleton
Some of us carry negativity with us everyone where we go. It’s time for God…
March 23, 2023
March 22, 2023
I’m sorry, what was that you said?
Drew Poppleton
We live in a distracted age. God surely wants to prune us of some of…
March 22, 2023
March 21, 2023
Putting in the Work
Drew Poppleton
One of the things to be pruned: our desire not to be pruned.
March 21, 2023
March 20, 2023
Is that you? or the mask you’re wearing?
Drew Poppleton
Today, we ask ourselves this: are we false in our presentation of ourselves to God,…
March 20, 2023
March 18, 2023
March 17, 2023
Giving up our attempts to earn favor
Drew Poppleton
Today’s devotion draws our attention to a false version of the Gospel: attempts to earn…
March 17, 2023
March 16, 2023
Are there good forms of complaining?
Drew Poppleton
Are you prone to complain? If God pruned that negative habit, what positive habit might…
March 16, 2023
March 15, 2023
Who’s in control here?
Drew Poppleton
It can be hard to accept all the things that are outside of our control….
March 15, 2023
March 14, 2023
The one who believes in him will never be put to shame
Drew Poppleton
To truly engage this one, we will need Spirit-driven courage.
March 14, 2023
March 13, 2023
Do you engage modes of protection that aren’t part of God’s Design?
Drew Poppleton
Sometimes, we need to protect ourselves from real threats. Other times, our modes of protection…
March 13, 2023
March 11, 2023
Lord, Prune from Us the Lies of the Evil One
Drew Poppleton
Today’s devotional leads us straight to the prayer the Lord taughts us … a…
March 11, 2023
March 10, 2023
Does God want to prune our version of sanity?
Drew Poppleton
In order to become a fool for Christ, we’ll have to let God excise our…
March 10, 2023
March 9, 2023
Pruning a False Image of the World
Drew Poppleton
Today’s devotional encourages you to consider that you might also have a false image of…
March 9, 2023
March 8, 2023
Pruning False Images of Others
Drew Poppleton
We continue with the theme of pruning false images. Today, we consider our false conceptions…
March 8, 2023
March 7, 2023
Pruning False Images of Ourselves
Drew Poppleton
Today, we continue with the theme of pruning false images. This time, it’s false images…
March 7, 2023
March 6, 2023
Pruning False Images of Who God Is
Drew Poppleton
What is your mental perception of God’s nature? Is it accurate? What subconscious beliefs do…
March 6, 2023
March 4, 2023
Eliminating the Need to Keep the Peace
Drew Poppleton
The subject of today’s pruning devotional is peacekeeping — not to be confused with peacemaking….
March 4, 2023
March 3, 2023
Reticence … Really? … Yes, really!
Drew Poppleton
Today, we take on part of our false selves. Although, you may not always see…
March 3, 2023
March 2, 2023
Who Do You Trust?
Drew Poppleton
What does it look like to reverse one of the primary tragedies of the garden?
March 2, 2023
March 1, 2023
The Comparison Game
Drew Poppleton
Yesterday’s entry was about the blame game. Today’s is about an equally unhelpful game we…
March 1, 2023
February 28, 2023
Do You Play the Blame Game?
Drew Poppleton
From the very beginning, human beings have excelled at placing blame. May God, in his…
February 28, 2023
February 27, 2023
Living into Our Relational Design
Drew Poppleton
Today’s devotional builds off of yesterday’s sermon by focusing on a core aspect of relational…
February 27, 2023
February 26, 2023
Sundays in Lent
Drew Poppleton
On Sundays in Lent, we will not have a pruning devotional. This post explains why,…
February 26, 2023
February 25, 2023
Judge not, lest you …
Drew Poppleton
Today’s topic is an obvious one—one that Jesus directly addresses in no uncertain terms
February 25, 2023
February 24, 2023
Do Not Be Afraid
Drew Poppleton
With this devotional, we start getting into more difficult topics. May the Lord have mercy…
February 24, 2023
February 23, 2023
An Easy Win???
Drew Poppleton
This first devotional is designed to facilitate an easy win. … or is it??
February 23, 2023
February 22, 2023
Giving Something Up for Lent
Drew Poppleton
This first devotion will be unlike the others. It’s an orientation to what will follow.
February 22, 2023
February 21, 2023
Looking Back … Looking Ahead
Drew Poppleton
Although this update was sent out via email on Feb 21, it is also posted…
February 21, 2023
November 3, 2022
In Review: The 1st Series of the Ministry Year
Drew Poppleton
Pastor Drew explains how our first sermon series of 2022-23—Plant-based Theology—lays the ground work for…
November 3, 2022
October 25, 2022
Recap: Our Biblical Literacy Class
Drew Poppleton
This blog provides a recap of the 5-session class recently led by lead pastor Drew…
October 25, 2022
September 8, 2022
The Disruptive Power of Questions
Drew Poppleton
At the end of six months of questions, we took stock: how has God used…
September 8, 2022
April 13, 2022
The Transformative Power of Questions
Drew Poppleton
In this post, Drew Poppleton lists some of the ways that questions, especially questions from…
April 13, 2022
March 2, 2022
Welcome to Day 1 of 40
Drew Poppleton
This post contains the first passage for our 40-day journey AND an explanation of the…
March 2, 2022
December 24, 2021
Waiters Who Wish
Drew Poppleton
This final devotional is a post based on Revelation 22, the last chapter of the…
December 24, 2021
December 23, 2021
Stars … Lighting the Way
Guest
Journeys always involve waiting—waiting for the destination. Miraculously, we have stars to guide us.
December 23, 2021
December 22, 2021
Becoming “Friends of Time”
Guest
Waiting involves time, and we tend to have an uneasy relationship with time.
December 22, 2021
December 21, 2021
Procrastination — A Form of Waiting?
Andrea Poppleton
Procrastination is a form of waiting. … God says a lot about waiting. What might…
December 21, 2021
December 20, 2021
Groaning for Glory
Drew Poppleton
As we wait for the fullness of time, creation waits with us (and has something…
December 20, 2021
December 17, 2021
Transformed in the Waiting
Guest
While we await his second coming, what sort of transformational process is he calling you…
December 17, 2021
December 16, 2021
Waiting Together
Andrea Poppleton
Today, we explore a central theme from the story of Ruth and Noami.
December 16, 2021
December 15, 2021
Weighty Waiting—the Value of Waiting
Guest
Sometimes, we consider waiting a waste, but what can be learned if we bear the…
December 15, 2021
December 14, 2021
Embracing Lament: Waiting in Angst and Hope
Drew Poppleton
Come explore the relationship between the biblical art of lament and the waiting of Advent.
December 14, 2021
December 13, 2021
December 10, 2021
A Prayer about Waiting; A Prayer for Help
Guest
If you wanted to pray a prayer in this season of waiting, here’s what that…
December 10, 2021
December 9, 2021
Strengthened in the Waiting
Drew Poppleton
In the waiting, God can feel distant, but as the Hebrew word qavah conveys, our…
December 9, 2021
December 8, 2021
Holy & Godly Waiting
Guest
This devotion explores 2 Peter 3 and how God’s perception of time gives us insight…
December 8, 2021
December 7, 2021
Waiting with Those Who Are On in Years
Guest
What can we learn about waiting from the lives of Zechariah & Elizabeth, Simeon, and…
December 7, 2021
December 6, 2021
Pregnant Waiting
Guest
Two pregnancies … two times of waiting … two chances for us to learn about…
December 6, 2021
December 3, 2021
Faithful Waiting
Guest
The story of Abraham and Sarah provides us with a compelling example of how our…
December 3, 2021
December 2, 2021
The Weight of What We’re Waiting For
Guest
Phil Ellis guides us through a poem by the great English poet Malcolm Guite.
December 2, 2021
December 1, 2021
Eagerly Waiting
Drew Poppleton
Come explore Hebrews 9:28, a verse that directly addresses our Advent theme.
December 1, 2021
November 30, 2021
Purpose in the Meantime
Drew Poppleton
Have you ever considered the relationship between music and the “waiting” of Advent?
November 30, 2021
November 29, 2021
Invited to Wait
Drew Poppleton
This first devotional includes an invitation, both from Pastor Drew and from Jesus.
November 29, 2021
November 20, 2021
More Exploration of Identity
Drew Poppleton
It’s SO IMPORTANT to know the source of our identity. This post examines an unhelpful…
November 20, 2021
November 17, 2021
A Few Passages We Didn’t Cover
Drew Poppleton
This blog post covers some major stuff we didn’t cover because Relationships by God’s Design…
November 17, 2021
November 16, 2021
Synopsis of the Whole Series
Drew Poppleton
This post lists all nine sermons from this series, providing links to each sermon summary.
November 16, 2021
November 15, 2021
Nov. 14 Sermon Synopsis — Design, Disruption, & Redemption
Drew Poppleton
Since most sermons were based on Genesis 2, it was time to look at the…
November 15, 2021
November 8, 2021
Nov. 7 Sermon Synopsis — Relational Faithfulness
Drew Poppleton
On Nov. 7, we looked at Matthew 5:27-30 — a vision Jesus cast for God’s…
November 8, 2021
November 4, 2021
Two Other Stories
Drew Poppleton
In this post, I introduce two prominent Christian voices in conversations about sexuality
November 4, 2021
November 3, 2021
Processing the Content
Drew Poppleton
In this post, I encourage people to watch the recent video & sermon, and then…
November 3, 2021
November 1, 2021
Oct. 31 Sermon Synopsis — Tying It All Together
Drew Poppleton
In this sermon, we addressed same-sex relationships through the lens of all the previous texts…
November 1, 2021
October 28, 2021
Returning to the Clobber Passages
Drew Poppleton
Back on Oct. 1, I said we’d return to the Clobber passages for examination. That’s…
October 28, 2021
October 25, 2021
Oct. 24 Sermon Synopsis — A Great Mystery
Drew Poppleton
On October 24, we took at look at Ephesians 5:21-33, Paul’s advice to wives and…
October 25, 2021
October 21, 2021
Revisiting Our Concerns and Hopes
Drew Poppleton
Back in August, a group gathered to name ‘concerns’ and ‘hopes’ heading into this series….
October 21, 2021
October 20, 2021
Marriage & the Image of God
Drew Poppleton
The October 17 sermon covered three ‘goods’ of marriage. In this post, we cover a…
October 20, 2021
October 18, 2021
Oct. 17 Sermon Synopsis — The “Goods” of Marriage
Drew Poppleton
In part 2 of Genesis 2:18-25, we looked at the three goods of marriage: procreation,…
October 18, 2021
October 14, 2021
Reminders and Resources about Identity
Drew Poppleton
This post is a reminder about important pieces stressed in the first sermon … as…
October 14, 2021
October 13, 2021
Genesis 3 — Depravity, Disaster, & Disordered Loves
Drew Poppleton
It’s hard to address Genesis 2 without immediately mentioning Genesis 3. The latter has A…
October 13, 2021
October 11, 2021
Oct. 10 Sermon Synopsis — A Helper Fit for Him
Drew Poppleton
On October 10, we dove deep into the Hebrew phrase ‘ezer kenegdo’—a helper fit for…
October 11, 2021
October 9, 2021
A Conversation with Wes Hill
Drew Poppleton
As a follow up to a sermon about singleness and celibacy, we interview a celibate…
October 9, 2021
October 4, 2021
Oct. 3 Sermon Synopsis — Singleness & Celibacy
Drew Poppleton
If we’re going to talk about God’s design for relationships, we need to address the…
October 4, 2021
October 3, 2021
Celibate Voices Worth Celebrating
Drew Poppleton
This post provides brief biographical sketches (including lots of links!) of a few people who…
October 3, 2021
October 1, 2021
Speaking of love, let’s talk about the ‘Clobber’ Passages
Drew Poppleton
If we want to steer clear of being noisy gongs, we need to understand this…
October 1, 2021
September 27, 2021
Sept. 26 Sermon Synopsis — If We Have Not Love
Drew Poppleton
On Sunday, September 26, God spoke to us through 1 Cor. 13. In particular, we…
September 27, 2021
September 24, 2021
Sept 19 Sermon Synopsis — Identity in Christ
Drew Poppleton
Our identity in Christ has profound implications for how we navigate relationships.
September 24, 2021
September 22, 2021
The Objectives of ‘Relationships by God’s Design’
Drew Poppleton
This is the first of many blog posts during our Fall 2021 series — Relationships…
September 22, 2021