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LoveFirst Coast Everything we do is about inviting, encouraging, equipping, and releasing people to live life on the

10/03/2026

I get to preach tomorrow in Orlando at Woodbury Pres. (Service starts at 9am if you want to join) and I'd appreciate your prayers. I'll be preaching on Acts 4:32-5:11 - a section historically twisted by political types to coopt the Christian faith to support their preferred systems. Here's a short response to all of that: About the early church: it was not communism but community. It was not socialism but freely sharing resources for others. It was not capitalism but faithful stewardship of resources. It was not authoritarianism but a demonstration of entrusting trustworthy leaders. It was not theocracy, rather it was the kingdom of God displayed on earth. If you found yourself living in a community like that, you would find it both compassionate and liberating but not liberal. You would find it sober and self-controled but not conservative. You would find it inconsistent with the ways of the world. It is what happens in a community is formed by the Spirit of God to love God, to love one another, and bless the world, and the community says "YES!". It's a demonstration of the way of Jesus, a picture of the Kingdom of God. AND chapter 5 should serve give pause to any of us who are tempted to avail ourselves of the movements of God to promote ourselves and decieve his people.

05/07/2026

I cannot say how fantastic it was to have a front row seat to see lives being changed by Jesus at Northeast Florida Great Banquet 71. If you get the chance to attend a 72-hour Great Banquet/Walk to Emaeus/Cursillo - go.

04/03/2026

God is good!

02/04/2026

God is good and full of grace!

09/09/2024

Humility Month Day 40: Who Makes All Things New?

“Begin with the end in mind”. That’s good, common sense. Playing on that idea, the Bible ends with the beginning in mind. What was lost in the Garden is made new and better in the New Jerusalem. And our future and our home is there... but we can’t drag our pride in with us. This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Get a Bible and work through the prayers, scripture reading, questions, and devotional reading below. May the Lord bless you as you do so. And may the Spirit of God work in each of us to shape us to be a little more like Jesus, today.

--- Praise God with Me: (1)
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come,
and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead,
and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood,
and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father,
to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

—Revelation 1:4-6, NRSV
--- Let us read and reflect on Scripture:
A little background: Revelation 21 and 22 are the last two chapters of the Bible. The work of God is wrapped up and Jesus declares, “Behold, I am making all things new!” Much of the imagery here is pulled from Genesis 1 – 3 with references to the gospels and prophets. The curse reverses. God’s people are comforted. What was lost is made new. Things will be set right in our relationship with creation, with others, with ourselves, and with God. It is a picture of shalom restored. Read and reflect on who God is and what God will do and look for our part in the on-going story!

Come Holy Spirit, help us to accept who we are. Remind us who you are!
Revelation 21:1-11,21:22-22:5

--- Answer these four questions:
What does this passage say about God?
What does this passage say about people?
As a result of this reading, what is one step God is inviting you to take?
Who is one person you will tell about that step today?

--- With a Heart of Prayer, Let us Respond: (2)
God is King! Let the earth be glad!
Christ is victor; his rule has begun. Hallelujah!
The Spirit is at work, renewing the creation.
Praise the Lord!

--- Let’s Gather Wisdom from One Who Walked with Christ before us: (3)
Perhaps it seems rather crude to describe glory as the fact of being “noticed” by God. But this is almost the language of the New Testament. St. Paul promises to those who love God not, as we should expect, that they will know Him, but that they will be known by Him (I Cor. viii.8) It is a strange promise. Does not God know all things at all times? But it is dreadfully reechoed in another passage of the New Testament. There we are warned that it may happen to any one of us to appear at last before the face of God and hear only the appalling words: “I never knew you. Depart from Me.” In some sense, as dark to the intellect as it is unendurable to the feelings, we can be both banished from the presence of Him who is present everywhere and erased from the knowledge of Him who knows all. We can be left utterly and absolutely outside—repelled, exiled, estranged, finally and unspeakably ignored. On the other hand, we can be called in, welcomed, received, acknowledged. We walk every day on the razor edge between these two incredible possibilities. Apparently, then, our lifelong nostalgia, our longing to be reunited with something in the universe from which we now feel cut off, to be on the inside of some door which we have always seen from the outside, is no mere neurotic fancy, but the truest index of our real situation. And to be at last summoned inside would be both glory and honour beyond all our merits and also the healing of that old ache. - CS Lewis

--- Let us surrender this day to God who blesses us and calls us to be a blessing: (4)
You go no where by accident. Wherever you go, God is sending you. Wherever you find yourself, God has a purpose for you being there. Christ Jesus, who lives in you by the power of the Holy Spirit, wants to do something in you and through you wherever you find yourself. I encourage you to believe this. And as you go forward, may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face shine on you. May the Lord be gracious to you, and give you peace. Amen!

Sources:
(1) From Revelation 1:4-6 NRSV as found in The Worship Sourcebook, 2004, Faith Alive Christian Resources.
(2) From Our World Belongs to God, st. 2 as found in The Worship Sourcebook, 2004, Faith Alive Christian Resources.
(3) From The Weight of Glory by CS Lewis.
(4) From the Halverson Benediction by Dick Halverson combined with the Aaronic Benediction from Numbers 5.

09/08/2024

Humility Month Day 39: Is He Worthy?

Who is like our God? This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Get a Bible and work through the prayers, scripture reading, questions, and devotional reading below. May the Lord bless you as you do so. And may the Spirit of God work in each of us to shape us to be a little more like Jesus, today.

--- Praise God with Me: (1)
God, in chorus with the most magnificent creatures, we declare
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,
Who was, and is, and it to come.”
With the greatest of mankind, we proclaim
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory, honor, and power.
For you have created all things, and by your will they have existed and were created.”
Be glorfied in our study this morning!

--- Let us read and reflect on Scripture:
A little background: Revelation 4 and 5 provide a scene of on-going worship around the throne of heaven. (Sorry for the long read, but the chapters are relatively short.) Keep in mind that Revelation is apocalyptic literature filled with images and symbols. In today’s reading, Jesus – the Lion of Judah – is depicted as the Lamb who has been slain. Don’t get lost in the number 7. That number plays a major literary role in the letter. Just pay attention to how this worship service unfolds. Notice where Jesus is and consider where we will be in the congregation. Finally, notice what the text says about the work of humanity.

Come Holy Spirit, help us to accept who we are. Remind us who you are!
Revelation 4 and 5

--- Answer these four questions:
What does this passage say about God?
What does this passage say about people?
As a result of this reading, what is one step God is inviting you to take?
Who is one person you will tell about that step today?

--- With a Heart of Prayer, Let us Respond: (2)
Lord Jesus, this text says you were slain, and by your blood you have ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth. Oh Lord, let that include us, and let us never forget who we are called to represent. Let us represent you faithfully.

--- Let’s Gather Wisdom from One Who Walked with Christ before us: (3)
The shepherds of the Alps have a beautiful custom of ending the day by singing an evening farewell to one another. The air is so pure that the songs can be heard for very long distances. As the sun begins to set, they gather their flocks and begin to lead them down the mountain paths while they sing, “thus far has the Lord helped us. Let us praise his name.” Finally, as is their beautiful custom, they sing to one another the courteous and friendly farewell “Goodnight! Goodnight!” The words then begin to echo from mountainside to mountainside, reverberating sweetly and softly until the music fades into the distance.
Let us all call out to one another through the darkness until the night becomes alive with the sound of many voices, encouraging God’s weary travelers. And may the echoes grow into a storm of hallelujahs that will break in thundering waves around His sapphire throne. Then as the morning dawns, we will find ourselves on the shore of the “sea of glass” (rev 4:6) crying out with the redeemed hosts of heaven, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power for ever, and ever!” (Rev 5:13). “This my song through endless ages, Jesus led me all the way.” “And again they shouted “Hallelujah!” (Rev 5:13)

--- Let us surrender this day to God who blesses us and calls us to be a blessing: (4)
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
To receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!
To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
Be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!
Amen!

Sources:
(1) From Revelation 4:8 and 4:11
(2) From Revelation 5:9-10
(3) From Streams in the Desert by LB Cowman, published in 1925
(4) From Revelation 5:12 and 5:13

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