Posts with the tag “teaching-summary”

Much of the stress of 2020, and the beginning of 2021, revolved around authority.  Authority to deal with Covid-19, the scope of police authority, and of course authority in Washington D.C. and the au...  Read More

Three ways of responding to enemies:Way 1: The Way of Power -- retaliation, violent oppositionWay 2: The Way of Passivity -- ignoring or fleeing from harmful actsThe Third Way: The Way of Jesus Christ...  Read More

Watch or listen to Aaron's weekly teaching on Facebook or UPPC.org.Colossians 1:15-23Question from today's teaching: 1) When religion and tradition are not centered in Jesus, they are unhealthy.  Have...  Read More

On this fourth Sunday of Advent, we continue our season-long meditation on "Incarnation."The adjustments we've had to make during the Covid pandemic have including at least some degree of isolation fr...  Read More

You may not be surprised to learn that the word "Christ" is used in reference to Jesus...a lot.  (It's not even Jesus' last name!)  The word appears around 500 times in the New Testament!  But it is n...  Read More

The word “incarnation” isn't one we see or hear very often.  But it's more familiar than you might think.  In the middle is its root, carne.  It means "flesh."  So “incarnation” means “in the flesh.” ...  Read More

Dr. Bo Helmich took our meditation to the end of the book of Isaiah this week as we welcome Advent and the anticipation of Jesus, the Messiah!  Advent basically means "coming," and contrary to the cul...  Read More

"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil" (From 1 Timothy 6:6-10, NIV).Paul wrote these words to Timothy, who was leading one of the new groups of Jesus followers in Ephesus.  But is it t...  Read More

Nehemiah's city and people are in disarray.  Sound familiar?  #2020.So he must gain people’s trust during unprecedented times.  How does he do it?  He gives of himself.This month we are focused on one...  Read More

Here's a quick recap of the story of Nehemiah so far:The people of Israel have been exiled to Babylon, then Persia.  The exile lasted about two full generations!  Imagine: if that happened to you, wha...  Read More

You'd think it'd be easier for people to SHARE.  Right?  First of all, parents spend so much time trying to teach kids to share that surely parents must be freely sharing with others all the time.  Wh...  Read More

"For when I am weak, then I am strong."These words of the apostle Paul have blessed (and perplexed) countless people throughout the ages.  For a man of Paul's background and calling as an apostle of J...  Read More

Summer projects -- they're a lot of fun to start, but often hard to finish.  That must have been true to the Nth degree with Nehemiah, the city wall of Jerusalem, and the much larger and harder projec...  Read More

Which is easier?A) Conceiving a childB) Raising a child in a Christ-centered, loving homeA) Building a church facilityB) Leading a church to becoming a healthy expression of God's love in communityA) ...  Read More

Walls are hard to build.  The most famous wall in the world -- the Great Wall of ________ (see, I told you it was famous) -- took 1800 years to build.A few centuries before Jesus, Nehemiah was a Jew w...  Read More

New season, new series!  Having concluded our spring/summer series on Joshua, it's time for us to lean into what it means for a scattered people to reunite and rebuild.Because we're STRONGER TOGETHER....  Read More

Six months into our "covid adjustments," it's important that we all make time to count the cost to us.  What have we lost?  It's important because unless we're intentional about it, the losses can com...  Read More

Marathon runners say that something interesting happens between about miles 18 and 22.  People "hit the wall."  People have to discipline their minds to stay focused on their goal of finishing, and be...  Read More

Joshua 22 is a study of accusation and explanation, in two parts.Part One: CIVIL WAR2 1/2 tribes of the 12 tribes of Israel had made a deal with Moses, blessed by God, to settle on the EAST side of th...  Read More

As the 12 tribes of Israel were given their portions of the new promised land in Joshua 19, one has to wonder if they ever argued about whether or not it was fair.  Human nature says they would have. ...  Read More

30 years ago, I became a kind of "fugitive" or "refugee" right in our building at UPPC!  I was in junior high and at an all-night lock in.  It was fun, except I had a run-in with a couple bigger, toug...  Read More

This week we looked at a text in Joshua that many of us prefer to skip over: Joshua 10:28-31 and following verses.  After the defeat of Jericho, subsequent battles were fought in a more familiar and v...  Read More

Note: I'm excited to summarize the message brought today  by our new parish associate, Rev. Dr. Martha Greene.  Make sure you don't miss her powerful message at UPPC.org or UPPC.org/media. We all have...  Read More

RESPONSIBILITY.  It's a word we all learned as children but may not use enough in our daily adult lives, or our lives as the Church together.The question of responsibility is: "When is the time for ac...  Read More

Joshua 6:2-52 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. 3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for s...  Read More

A few weeks ago we entered into this journey through the book of Joshua, and Pastor Aaron asked the question: What rivers do you have to cross?  “Crossing the river” is a powerful and long-standing me...  Read More

Joshua chapter 1 is like a pistol start to a race at the beginning of the story of Joshua.  It happens quickly but is crucial to the rest of the book.Many times in life, it is essential to keep the “b...  Read More

When in your life have you taken a journey into “uncharted territory?”  Moving home?  Going to college?  Starting or ending a relationship?  Facing an illness?  Starting a family?This is the situation...  Read More

Happy Easter!Needless to say, this has been a strange time in our world, and certainly in the church.  Most of us have never experienced an Easter Sunday when all the church buildings were closed!  An...  Read More

When Jesus and his disciples entered Jerusalem, people thought they were ready for him. But he did something that should still surprise us today.Matthew records the events in chapter 21.  It was not j...  Read More

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a staggering amount of change in our society and world.  And with that change comes loss.  And with loss comes pain.  So regardless of so many details about the crisi...  Read More

Sometimes plans change.  While we have been excited to continue the "Bigger Table" series, the impact of coronavirus on our community has compelled us to do some teaching on the source of our hope.  I...  Read More

Let's face facts.  We, as a society, have become deeply polarized.  Wait, it gets worse.  It appears that the Church at large, the people who say they follow Jesus, is also divided, but has even contr...  Read More