Faith When Facing Unfulfilled Dreams

by Tim Terpstra

The story of Abraham remind us of the realities that this life is filled with disappointment and unfulfilled dreams.  Abraham and Sarah left home with only a promise and a pocketful of faith. Along the way to experiencing what God had promised them, they instead suffered through days, months, and years of an empty home […]

Living as if Christ is Supreme

by Tim Terpstra

This past Sunday morning we spent time examining what the author of Hebrews about the supremacy of Jesus Christ. Why exactly should Christ be the focus of our daily life and activities? Why should knowing Christ and regarding Christ as the highest treasure of life be catamount?  The author of Hebrews initially described Christ as the heir of all things. […]

Finding Contentment in all the Seasons of Life

by Tim Terpstra

My first thirty-nine years of life were spent in the Midwest. While there is variation between the flat cornfields of Iowa and the flat plans of North Dakota, to an outsider, they might look identically green. Indiana has a few more trees, Wisconsin a really big river (the Mississippi), and North Dakota has, well, it has […]

Picture Perfect

by Tim Terpstra

Selah Moment – Picture Perfect The advent of digital pictures removes much of the surprise and disappointment in photography. Before digital pictures, opening a package of newly developed pictures was often a mixture intrepidation, frustration, and occasional delight.  The package might contain a handful of useful poses, along with shots of closed eyes, back of the heads, […]

A World Ruled By God

by Tim Terpstra

Selah Moment – Our world often seems to be ruled by the gods, perhaps not the ones that were thought to have ruled the ancient world, but certainly the gods of power, greed, prejudice, lust, and pleasure appear to control modernity.   The god of the sexually liberated leads to a celebration of a hook up culture and abortion rights; the god of greed exploits […]

Advent is God with Us

by Tim Terpstra

The advent is not an independent event to be celebrated on it’s own, but it is rather the dawning of God’s promises to His people.  In the middle of despair and hopelessness, God came to His people in fulfillment of the promises that were made to Adam and Eve in the Garden, to Abraham, to David, and […]

Pokemon Go! Identity, Community

by Tim Terpstra

The recent Pokemon craze has swept Phoenix, and probably most of the world that has access to smart phones.  One recent Sunday morning, the normally empty park behind the community center where the church meets was full of gamers braving the summer heat, looking down at their phones, attempting to find treasures in a game […]

Repentance and the Promise of Restoration

by Tim Terpstra

Selah Moment –  Our Sunday morning scripture reading has taken us through the story of ancient Israel’s often tense relationship with God.  The book is filled with betrayal, judgment, and promise of a future hope.  God’s people had chased after other gods, rejecting the covenant God had made with them.  Judgment followed their fickle love. […]

Devastation and Gospel Hope in Phoenix

by Tim Terpstra

This past week brought word of another tragic shooting of a police officer who serves our community in the valley of the sun.  While there has been increased attention to methods of law enforcement and police brutality, by all accounts Officer David Glasser was indicative of most law enforcement, selflessly protecting his community. He was […]

The Future of the Church

by Tim Terpstra

I was recently reading through Genesis and was encouraged and challenged when considering the construction of the Tower of Babel.  Following  the destruction of the world through a flood, the population would soon recover through the family of Noah.  These descendants soon committed themselves to the development of a monument to their greatness.  The edifice […]