This past week has felt quite different for us as we moved to staff primarily working from home. We have a small crew of people on-site each day to keep things there running smoothly and we are all hard at work to keep our ministry moving forward. Our staff has quickly adjusted to virtual meetings as we check in as a group each morning and then again most afternoons to continue intentionally praying for you. One of our prayers for all of us at First Free comes straight from Psalm 90: “So teach us to number our days that we might get a heart of wisdom.” We pray that you are using these days to allow the gospel to grow deep in your hearts and go wide through you as you look for opportunity to have conversations with people who may not know Christ....Keep Reading
In 2016, the memoir, When Breath Becomes Air, was at the top of the New York Times Best Seller list. It is the memoir of Paul Kalanithi, a young neurosurgeon. As he reflects on a terminal illness that eventually takes his life, he writes, “I began to realize that coming in such close contact with my own mortality had changed both nothing and everything... The fact of death is unsettling. Yet there is no other way to live.” ...Keep Reading
One of the reasons I decided to cover the Psalms while we’re not able to gather together for corporate worship is because the Psalms teach us how to pray in all seasons of life. It is my prayer that you will grow in prayer during this strange and difficult season of life. Praying is difficult all the time. Our minds wander, we get in a rut, we even get bored. Prayer is especially difficult when we’re living in difficult days. We may not be sure what to pray. That’s where the Psalms come in. ...Keep Reading
A lot can change in a week, right? As we continue to adapt to the COVID-19 situation we’ll be providing a weekly email update which will also be posted here on our blog. As we said last week, we are willingly submitting to our local restrictions and abiding by CDC guidelines. This now means we won’t be gathering as a church through May 1 and will watch for changing guidelines. But while we can’t physically gather, our mission continues...Keep Reading
It is with great love and care that we have made the hard decision to cancel all events for the next two weeks, through March 28. Decisions beyond that time frame will be made and communicated as we continue to respond to this situation......Keep Reading
As news and details surrounding the new coronavirus (COVID-19) are rapidly changing, we want to let you know our leadership team is monitoring the situation closely. We highly value gathering together for worship and are currently moving forward with all planned activities. We also are continuing to evaluate the situation daily with these three priorities in mind:...Keep Reading
It’s been a little over two weeks since we concluded our Loving the Lost sermon series. Where are you at with evangelism? Is it still on your radar, or is it “out of sight, out of mind?” Our goal all along has been sustained growth in loving the lost. We want every believer to make evangelism part of their daily life. Short-term enthusiasm is great; long-term habits are better....Keep Reading
How do we live as Christians in a world that is not our home? 1 Peter answers this question. Even though we live in relative ease as Christians in American society, if we’re trying to bear witness at all for Christ, we will face trials of various kinds....Keep Reading
We’ve mentioned quite a few resources in our evangelism series, and several of you have asked for our staff book list. I’ll just mention a few. All of these have influenced the way our staff thinks about evangelism, and they also have the advantage of being bite-sized and easy to understand...Keep Reading
Where you live is no accident. Do you believe that? I know it might seem inconsequential, but the truth is, wherever you live is the place God has sent you (John 20:21). Your neighborhood is the key place where you are called to exhibit the love of God, care for your neighbors, and welcome others just as the Father has welcomed you....Keep Reading