December 2018

The Barrier Destroying God

I remember very clearly one winter night when my daughter was little. It was around bedtime, and, as was our habit, I let her pick out a few books for me to read to her before turning off the light. One of the books that she pressed into my hands was a new one to […]



Parenting Tips From the Christmas Story

As Christians, We worship a God who is so much higher and bigger than us that we, as His followers, have to become very comfortable with mystery. And there is a lot of mystery surrounding the Christmas story, and perhaps the most mysterious moment of all is when Mary’s God came to be conceived in […]



Building on the Wrong Side of Eternity

Throughout the month of December we will be studying different aspects of the Christmas story at State Road Church, and in this message we will turn in our Bibles to Matthew 2 to do a character study on the life of Herod the Great. Sometimes we learn from witnessing the good example of others and […]



What’s In a Name?

As the song says, “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.” From my office window the pine trees across from the church are covered in a sugar dusting of snow, and my spotify playlist is playing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” I love this time of year! Special food, special music, special gatherings, […]



November 2018

Marks of a Delivered People

Vincent Van Gogh, of course, is one of the most famous painters of the nineteenth century, and arguably one of the most famous painters of all time. At the Vincent Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam they have on display many of Van Gogh’s best-known masterpieces. In the basement of the museum, however, there is an […]



Building a Theology of Church Membership

We will be take a break from our Esther series this Sunday. Instead, we pose the question, “What’s the deal with church membership?” This study will coincide with the announcement of our next round of church membership classes. If you are not already a member of State Road, please prayerfully consider whether or not God […]



Building Your Own Gallows

I love watching westerns —Unforgiven, The Good the Bad and the Ugly, Tombstone, High Plains drifter, Fistful of Dollars, Pale Rider— I love them all! My favorite scene in just about every western is the climactic when the hero confronts the low-down, dirty bad guy. Westerns always have a showdown scene, Right? The hero is […]



Going to the King

One of my favorite things about this time of year is costumes. I like the funny and creative ones best. I admire folks who make their own homemade outfits, but as a father of five I definitely understand why most will opt to just pick one up at Walmart instead. The appeal of costumes seems […]



October 2018

Such A Time As This

In this message, as we continue our study through the book of Esther, we dive into what is arguably the most commonly quoted chapter of the book, Chapter 4. As news of Xerxes’ edict, which has condemned all the Jews to death, spreads Mordecai mourns bitterly, and Esther becomes aware that she is uniquely well-positioned […]



A Certain People

In this message the plot will thicken as we continue our study through the Old Testament book of Esther. In our study of chapter 2 we witnessed the unlikely rise to prominence of Esther, a Jewish orphan girl who is chosen by King Xerxes to become the next Queen of Persia. God had a lot […]