Pastor Quinn • September 10, 2023

A Church Willing to Say Hard Things

Imagine, late one night, you notice the house across the street is on fire. You see no activity inside. You say to yourself, “Pounding on the door in the middle of the night might scare the family. I’m sure they’ll realize what’s going on eventually.” Ridiculous! You would never do that! To let a family sleep while flames surround them would be cruel. Your inaction would make you a killer. The truth is you would pound on their door at 3:00 AM, screaming. You would throw a brick through their front window if that was what it took to warn them. You would not care if it startled the family. This is a matter of life and death! Love compels you to do whatever it takes.


God wants the people of his church to be willing to say hard things to people when that is what is necessary to save them from an even worse type of fire. Warning against sin is not easy. It upsets people, even offends them. But saying hard things is the loving thing to do when it is a matter of eternal life and death.

What Helps In Life Fails in Death

By Pastor Quinn • September 14, 2025
In a sense, prayer comes naturally to us. We want so we ask. We hurt so we cry out. We are frustrated so we vent. We are blessed so we give thanks. Natural! What does not come naturally, however, is a proper understanding of the privilege of prayer. Prayer is a privilege, based entirely on the unique and unearned relationship we have with God, our Father. And the purpose of prayer is really not to tell God what we want, but to claim that which God wants for us. Prayer provides the opportunity to bring our will into conformity with God’s will, not the other way around. This week, we give our undivided attention to what God says about this access we call prayer. Along with Jesus’ disciples we say, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1).

Count the Cost

By Pastor Quinn • September 7, 2025
This week Jesus’ sharp words expose our desire to pursue comfort and avoid pain at all costs. Jesus explains that following him will be hard. Jesus’ disciples will be called to let go of things they love and embrace things we naturally loathe. Jesus promises that discipleship comes with crosses—a unique type of pain. So, Jesus tells us that we must count the cost of following him. He wants us to do that now, ahead of time, rather than waiting until we are in the heat of the moment and emotions are running high. However, our calculations must not only consider what we might give up for Jesus. They also entail calculating what we get through him! When we perceive the infinite blessings we find in Christ, the decisions we just make, while difficult, will be clear. Whatever is lost as we follow Jesus pales in comparison to what we gain.

The Door is Very Narrow

By Pastor Quinn • August 24, 2025
We tend to think of mission work as being “over there,” something done in a far-away place. It is good and right to support foreign mission work with our prayers and offerings. However, something is off if we allow our appreciation for “over there” mission work to take our eyes off the mission that is right before us. Here is the two-fold reality worthy of our undivided attention this week. First, if we have seen the grace of God, we will serve as witnesses for Christ. Second, we need not cross the ocean to share the gospel. We can simply cross the street. In our various callings— parent or grandparent or sibling, friend or neighbor or coworker—God will provide one opportunity after another to serve as the witnesses Jesus has made us to be. So, let us continue to pray for and support “over there” mission work. But let us also give our undivided attention to the mission that God had placed right before each of us.
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