Posts by Billy Arnold (Page 4)

This past Tuesday our staff office team had a review and evaluation time of the summer events, programs, teaching, and ministries we had as part of the life and LifeWay for the summer of 2023. It was productive for review, but far more importantly we had to ask ourselves ‘was it productive when we measure our goals. So… what was our goal? The goal was our theme for all things post Easter (May – August). The theme was Engage! Engage…

Over the whole summer, beginning in June, we have spent time with 6 Spiritual Habits for a growing and thriving Disciple of Jesus… This Sunday August 27 we will look at the 7th on our list… When you use and hear the word “Worship,” most of us think of music, singing, or even we might call it “going to church.” But it is far beyond this.  As you come this Sunday morning, spend some time looking over and contemplating Romans…

You should know by now that we will once again (2nd weekend in a row) NOT be worshipping in our building, but instead this week we will be at the sports field at Saghalie Middle School Federal Way (close to Fred Meyer) for an outdoor service joining with a few other churches. We did this last year, and it was wonderful, so we are doing it again.  But what is “Desna Cup?” Why is it called that? What is the…

We have identified 7 Spiritual Habits for a Christian that we are teaching all summer long. Most of us would all agree pretty easily that (1) Prayer and (2) Reading the Bible are an easy fit. We may or may not actually do it regularly, but it is easy to agree that we should and would like to learn to do it better. We would even easily agree that “Gathering” (or simply put — be at church gatherings regularly) fit…

Acts chapter 2 and Acts chapter 4 with the last few verses from each of these has always been a picture of what a church gathering should look like. I have heard teaching lessons all my life from these sections. I have also taught these passages many times dating all the way back to my high school days. Whenever church members have needed a good example of what a church gathering is to look like, this is where we most…

Did you know that there is a spiritual habit of “Gathering?”  This is the label that we give it in our church when we include it on the spiritual habits list.  Some might use the term “meeting” or “assembling” or “get-together,” or even “fellowship.” But I would use the basis for this spiritual habit from two major Scripture passages in the Bible… Look these passages up before you come to service this Sunday and use the filter of the importance…

A huge thank you to our guest speaker for the last couple of Sunday’s, Scott Brewer. If you did not get a chance to be at the services, you can listen to those messages via our website. Scott spoke to us out of his years of experience on how to grow strong with a consistent prayer life. This week Alvin and I have also led what we are calling a “LifeWay Prayer Lab” where we have laid out some practical…

Last week Alvin wrote an article, then preached a sermon on Sunday to help launch us into our summer plan. He used the word “Discipline” — a word that most of us don’t like very much. We all know we need it, but it is just too hard! We just don’t seem to have enough willpower. It often just takes too much work, right? But most of us really know we need it in several areas of life. Why do…

This Sunday I am going to teach the last in this series “Knowing God,” but by saying this, please understand, there is NO WAY that we have come to end of what it means to Know God. We have taught about 35 Sunday’s using this headline “Knowing God.” We have taught a great deal from Exodus, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Matthew, John, and Hebrews… and have looked carefully at many other Scriptures as well during this whole academic year. Some of us…

The Shema: Deuteronomy 6:4     “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one.  Love the Lord your God   with all your heart,  soul, mind  and strength.” In the days of Moses, just before they were to cross the Jordan River to enter the promised land, the people of God – the Covenant people Israel – were given this command that we find in Deuteronomy 6:4. It is famous in the Jewish world and called “The Shema.” This literally means… “listen!”…

What a joy it is to be a parent. Well… most of the time, right? Just this week I saw on Facebook another one of our families who is celebrating their little babies month by month birthday. It’s that cute photo of the infant laying on a blanket surrounded by those 12 numbers with a circle on how many months old they are now. Those are the cutest photos and what a joy it is to celebrate. This coming Sunday…

Hebrews 12:22    But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.  We are blessed to live in a part of the world that has mountains to our east (the Cascades) and mountains to our west (the Olympics). For those of us who live in the Puget Sound region, the major attraction is of course Mt Rainier. Standing 14,411 feet above sea level, it is the 3rd highest peak in the lower 48 states, and when…

I hated track in High School! Now know this about me. I ran track all through High School, but I can honestly say I never really liked it. Why? Because it just flat out hurt too much!  At the same time I was (and still am) inspired by great track athletes. I love watching the Olympics when we see displayed on the field those that push themselves to a whole new level. I love to watch the endurance races –…

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.” I actually enjoy walking through a cemetery and looking at the head markers. No, I am not morbid, but it is interesting to reflect on what you find out about the lives of those who have gone before us. The most fascinating ones are the really old dates (especially any in the 17 or 1800’s) but the brief description of what…

When I was a young boy, we were living in central Texas, 180 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico. But we had lots of family members who lived right at the coastline in the city of Corpus Christi. I had two grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins all there. In August of 1970, when I was 13 years old, those Corpus Christi grandparents took us on a bit of a road trip in their station wagon (yes, it looked liked…

Are you in favor of the Death Penalty? Is there any crime that is worthy of a Death Sentence? This question might be challenging for you. Here are three somewhat typical answers: I am not about to try to answer this question right here for our legal system and for our society, but this is essentially the major issue and question that needs to be addressed when we dig deeper into our Bible in Hebrews chapters 9 & 10.  I…

When the colonial leaders of early America officially broke ties from British rule (you better all know that date…July 4th, 1776!) they called themselves a new nation that had a new national identity. These early founders of our nation based this very difficult decision that led to the Revolutionary War upon what they called “the unalienable rights” that every person should have. They stated that these ‘rights’ were not just a nice idea, but that the Creator God Himself had…

We are all taught that certain places where we show up demand some kind of proper etiquette in our behavior. Patty and I had the amazing opportunity over 20 years ago, to be tourist in Rome. Of course, we visited as many of the classic historical sites as possible… the Roman Colosseum, The Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, St Peters Basilica… But I looked forward the most to spend time at the Sistine Chapel. The room is surprisingly…

One of the few times I have ever been under a surgeon’s scalpel is when I was in High School, and I had a tonsillectomy (I hope I spelled this correctly!). I came down with a very bad throat and the doctor determined that my tonsils were the problem, and they had to come out. I know that many of you have had some pretty big surgeries in your life, and my tonsils just don’t compare to many of you,…

Knowing God: The God of REST When was the last time you thought to yourself… “I need a break!! I need some REST!… I need a VACATION!” If you are like me, when those cruise ship brochures come in the mail, or those vacation sales to nice warm sunny beaches arrive in my e-mail box, I like to look and dream a little. I think to myself how nice that would be to just relax with no cares and enjoy…

A couple of years ago I bought a magazine about “off grid living.” I have always enjoyed that kind of thing as I have done a good bit of backpacking over the years. I love the mountains and I love figuring out how to make life work in a naturel setting. But as for the magazine, maybe I was considering moving off the grid, as it was during the covid lockdown time, and I thought to myself, “if I’m going…

I have another Hollywood movie analogy for you this week… “Angels and Demons,” the 2009 film with Tom Hanks as the main character. Last week it was the Truman Show with Jim Carrey!  What we know of Angels is usually from a Hollywood movie. (are you thinking to yourself… ‘Billy, you watch too many movies!” I actually did not see Angels and Demons as it looked too dumb for me – but don’t tell Tom Hanks!) This coming Sunday I…

In the 1998 film, “The Truman Show,” that starred Jim Carrey, it was about a man Truman who thought he lived a ‘normal’ life, but it was in a box.  From birth to adulthood his life was on camera 24/7. It was the ultimate reality show for the audience as they kept the TV on all the time to see what Truman was up to.  Truman had no idea that he was being filmed. The world that he lived was…

Knowing God: The King’s Royal Speech In our study series we have titled “Knowing God,” we are now at the place in the story where God gave the Ten Commandments to His people. Moses brought tablets down from the Mountain of God with God’s handwriting on them of these Ten Commands for His people to follow. You will recognize the Ten Commandments at least in part, and we know them in Scripture as the ‘LAW OF GOD.’ But much of…