Articles

Brothers and Sisters, A few weeks ago, I mentioned how I ran into one of the kids from our child care ministry at a Daddy-Daughter dance. There I was, cutting a rug with Sophie, when this little girl saw me…

Brothers and Sisters, If you hadn’t noticed, God has blessed us with a steady stream of new visitors over the past few months. The Lord is on the move at Hickory Grove and our sanctuary has been fuller than we’ve…

This past Sunday, we considered our church’s mission statement: we are a loving family who glorifies God by building people up in Christ. In the family of God, we love one another best when, in our words and deeds, we…

Brothers and Sisters, Can one moment in time reveal the deep truths of eternity? Can one spot on the globe contain a revelation so comprehensive that it spans the universe? According to the 18th-century German philosopher, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, the…

“Peace,” my friends and I used to say as we bid each other farewell with two fingers stretched sideways across the chest (the way the cool kids flashed the peace sign). In the early church, believers traded the same greeting…

Brothers and Sisters, I once had lunch with an atheist friend at Ikea and was utterly perplexed when I saw him bow his head before a plate of Swedish meatballs. He told me he was “giving thanks.” Interesting, I thought.…

This past Sunday, we considered the kindness of God in Christ. Like I said, that kindness is no static thing. The Book of Ruth is showing us that the dynamic, extravagant kindness of God does not merely come to us;…

Brothers and Sisters, I read an article earlier today on some of the myths we believe about grief. One of them stuck out to me: “God will never give you more than you can handle.” Have you ever heard that…

Brothers and Sisters, This week, mortgage rates crossed 7% for the first time since 1998. This came on the heels of aggressive intervention from the Fed to try and control inflation. You may not care too much about mortgage rates,…

Brothers and Sisters, As the son of hard-working parents who grew up in the Portuguese countryside, I come from very self-sufficient stock. This has been a great blessing to me, but my ingrained penchant for hard work has also made…

Brothers and Sisters, A child of the 80s, I grew up watching the Muppet Babies. My favorite character? Gonzo, the blue oddball with the long curly nose. Why? I’m not sure. Perhaps, I saw myself in him. He was weird,…

Brothers and Sisters, In preparation for a reading group I’ll facilitate this fall (there are still spots open if you’re interested), I’ve been rereading St. Athanasius’ classic, On the Incarnation. On his first page (p. 49 of my edition), he…

Brothers and Sisters, In my devotional reading this morning, I was arrested by this verse in 2 Corinthians 1:11, You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us…

Brothers and Sisters, I was hacking away at my keyboard this morning when my son’s little face popped around the corner. It was only 6:40 (20 minutes before the kids’ official wakeup time), and he knew the only way I’d…

Brothers and Sisters, In this past Sunday’s sermon on the ninth commandment, we took some time to consider the words we share on social media. By way of follow up, I thought I’d offer a few questions to help us…

Have you ever heard of “stolen valor?” This term is used to describe individuals who pretend to have served in the Armed Forces. You can find channels on YouTube that specialize in calling this sort of thing out (though, I…

Brothers and Sisters, In this past Sunday’s sermon, we looked at the seventh commandment: you shall not commit adultery. Naturally, this meant we spent a fair amount of time on sex and sexuality. One of the topics I wish we…

Brothers and Sisters, Two weeks ago, I sent you a brief overview of the upcoming General Assembly, along with specific items of concern that were facing our denomination as our elders gathered from all across the country. Now that I’m…

Brothers and Sisters, No doubt you’ve heard about the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas that left 19 children, 2 teachers dead, and an entire community in utter agony. It’s difficult to know what to say in light…

Brothers and Sisters, This past Sunday, we considered God’s prohibition of image worship (Ex 20:4-6). We had just enough time to cover one of the two big reasons why this is so important: God is the only one who gets…

Brothers and Sisters, This past Sunday, we continued in our series on the Decalogue with a sermon on the first of the ten commandments: “You shall have no other gods before me.” We learned that, because the human heart is…

Brothers and Sisters, I’m sure you’ve heard about the unprecedented leak of a draft opinion written by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito indicating the majority’s intent to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. This would end half…

Brothers and Sisters, This morning, I found myself in Esther 7 for my daily devotion. In case you haven’t read Esther in a while, that’s the chapter where evil Haman gets his comeuppance. Thanks to Esther, his plot to kill…

Brothers and Sisters, Yesterday, two of my fellow elders and I made the trek down to Lawrenceburg, TN to visit a former member of Hickory Grove. This man came to us as a graduate of Harvest Prison Ministry and left…

Brothers and Sisters, Today is Maundy Thursday—the fifth day of Holy Week. Today, God’s people traditionally remember Jesus’ washing the disciples’ feet (John 13:1-20) and sharing the Last Supper (Matt 26:17-29; Mark 14:12-25; Luke 22:7-23). That last meal, of course,…

Brothers and Sisters, You’ll be glad to know our family enjoyed a smooth trip on Tuesday, delightfully interrupted by lunch with friends in Indianapolis and punctuated with a warm reception from other friends north of Chicago. We’ve greatly enjoyed their…

Brothers and Sisters, I’m still a catholic. What an odd and alarming thing for an ordained presbyterian minister to say. After all, I’ve taken vows that commit me to the Westminster Confession—a quintessential expression of Protestant faith that takes Roman…

Brothers and Sisters, In anticipation of our upcoming officer nominations, I’m dedicating a string of letters to the basics of presbyterianism. Last week, I wrote about the truth, goodness, and beauty of our polity. Today, I’ll briefly share about the…

Brothers and Sisters, First off, thank you for your prayers… and spare medical equipment! I’m happy to report that my foot is much, much better than it was this weekend. I was convinced that I’d torn or broken something, yet…

Brothers and Sisters, No doubt, you’ve all seen pictures, read news stories, and watched commentary about Lia Thomas and her* victory at the NCAA Division I swimming championship last week. There is much to lament here, and I believe we’re…

Brothers and Sisters, This past Sunday, we considered Phil 4:1-9 and the peace of God. You’ll recall we spent a few minutes talking about anxiety (v. 6) and what God would have us do with it. Anxiety is a complicated…

Brothers and Sisters, This past Sunday, we considered what it means to be citizens of heaven whose temporary abode remains here on earth. Our great challenge, we saw, is to live in accord with our heavenly citizenship and eschew those…

Brothers and Sisters, If you pay attention to the church calendar, then you’ll know that today is what Christians have long called Ash Wednesday—a day of prayer, fasting, and lament over our sin. Ash Wednesday ushers in the liturgical season…

Brothers and Sisters, In anticipation of our upcoming officer nominations, I’m dedicating a string of letters to the basics of presbyterianism. Two weeks ago, I wrote about the truth, goodness, and beauty of our polity. Last week, we looked at…

Brothers and Sisters, In a few weeks, we’ll be inviting our members to nominate church officers. I’ll have more to say about that soon. For now, I’d like to use my next few weekly letters to go over the basics…

Brothers and Sisters, I first began writing this letter for 2/2/22 on a Tuesday. What does that have to do with anything? Nothing, but it seemed like something that needed to be said. Moving on… This past Sunday, we learned…

Brothers and Sisters, On Sunday, we considered how to live as citizens of the earthly city in a manner consistent with our heavenly citizenship (Phil 1:27-30). Our three marching orders, we saw, are to stand firm in one Spirit, strive…

Brothers and Sisters, This past Sunday, we considered (among other things) the life we have in Christ. As I reflected on that this week, I was reminded of the first question/answer in the Heidelberg Catechism: What is your only comfort…

Brothers and Sisters, Suzanne and I are big fans of the show, Blue Bloods. One of the things that strikes me about that show—much like any other cop show—is how devoted partners can be to one another. That devotion, of…

Brothers and Sisters, Christmastide greetings to you all! First off, I’d like to share two things on the near and slightly-less-near horizon: If you think you’d like to teach Sunday School, please let me know! Now that we’ve covered exciting…

Brothers and Sisters, When I was a younger man, I struggled with the need to control everything that happened. The overachiever par excellence, my unspoken motto was, “If it’s meant to be, it’s up to me.” You can imagine how…

Dear Fellowship of the Perpetually Tired, My name is Kenny Silva, and I’m the new pastor of Hickory Grove Church—you know, the one where Covenant Family Child Care is located. My family and I are thrilled to join this community.…

Brothers and Sisters, I must confess I don’t know how to answer the question I posed in the subject line of this email. To echo what St. Augustine said about time: if no one asks me, I know what joy…

Brothers and Sisters, Back when our son had just been born and I was still selling real estate, I had a pair of clients who loved to match my travails in early parenthood with war stories about their dog. I…

Brothers and Sisters, Apart from what you see and hear on Sundays, my two pastoral “weapons” of choice are a pot of coffee and the written word. The time will come for us to share the former. For now, I…