Happy 37th Anniversary, ParkwayHills

 

The Winter Of Our Soul

Good News. Great Joy. All people!

The Shepherds received a message that never grows old.  It is a message for all people.  After they found the baby, the Christ, they told everyone they met about what they had been told and seen. This was evangelism 101, and... they got it right.  

Would to God we might do the same.  

Merry Christmas - 

Pastor Sam 

https://youtu.be/aY5bbcpi8Co?si=JMDzBXOTjjsqObSx 

Good Friday - Redeemed

Our effort will never be enough to pay for our sins. Only Christ could do this. We call Friday of Passion Week 'good' because the Son of God paid the ultimate price for 'our' good. We are redeemed! Forgiven! Holy! Justified! Set free! Adopted and reconciled to God! Good Friday, indeed!

Pastor Sam

Holy Wednesday - A Day to Worship

On Wednesday of Holy Week, the Bible records that Jesus remained in Bethany and dined with his disciples at the home of Simon the leper. There he was lavishly worshiped by a woman with an alabaster box of precious ointment. Judas also betrayed Jesus on Wednesday - two stark events so obviously juxtaposed.

Pastor Sam

Holy Tuesday - 'The Withered Tree'

On Tuesday of Holy Week Jesus returns with his disciples from Bethany to Jerusalem and... to the Temple. As they travel, they encounter the fruitless tree Jesus had cursed the day before. It was now withered and dried up. Once in the temple we see that Christ was really citing evidence of the same condition in the religious leaders of the day - calling them 'whitewashed tombs.'  

Today's devotion reminds us to heed the warning of a dried-up tree and a whitewashed tomb to become those who bear fruit in Christ.

Pastor Sam

April 15, 2025

Monday of Holy Week - A House of Prayer

On Holy Monday Jesus cursed a barren fig tree, drove the money changers out of the temple, and answered questions meant to accuse Him by the religious leaders who were against Him.  Reflecting on this day and its application to us, we should look to our own house of worship - the sanctuary of our heart - regarding the purpose of God's temple (which is Christ in us), making our house, the house within our hearts, one of prayer. 

Pastor Sam

'A Winter Word: God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things'

In this video, I share Psalm 139, the life of David, and a bit of my personal story to remind us that God knows us and chooses to use us, ordinary though we are, to accomplish His plans and declare His glory.

Blessings, indeed!  

Pastor Sam

A Word for 2025: Circumstance and the Goodness of God

Happy 2025, FRIENDS. 

In this video, I share a word and reminder regarding our faithfulness to God and His promises, regardless of circumstance.  

I have discovered that faith in God is not always easy, especially for those tempted to live as if 'we' are in control. This said, here's a message for ALL of us.

Pastor Sam

September 11, 2024 - Twenty Three Years & Not Forgotten

Twenty Three years ago today I was in New York City, staying at 7th and B Avenue in New York City's Lower East Side. In this video, I share a few thoughts from my journal regarding this day that changed all of us.

Pastor Sam

Things I Learned from Dad - A Fathers Day Reflection

My Dad passed from this life to heaven 35 years ago this July. I still miss him. But, I am grateful that so much of who I am today came from his influence. Dad loved Jesus and he loved us, and that love impacted me greatly.  

In this video I share a memory - a story of my first communion - and Dad's advice to me as a brand new Christian that I just follow him. 

From Easter 1989 to Easter 2024 - He is Risen, Indeed!

Palm Sunday, 2024

Palm Sunday reminds us of how quickly we can turn from worship of God to other things. In this video, I share a few thoughts on how our understanding of this can open some new doors.

Pastor Sam 

Who are you? God knows - and that's good!

In Genesis 32, vv. 24 - 30 we find the story of Jacob wrestling with God. 

So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”

But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

The man asked him, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,” he answered.

Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”

Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”

But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.

So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

When God asked Jacob, 'What's your name?' It was a question really asking... 'Who are you?' The answer was known by God - but Jacob's admission of the truth became his place of beginning.  

Check out my video for a few words of encouragement on how answering this for ourselves can become our place of beginning as well.  

Blessings, 

Pastor Sam 

Happy New Year & The 'Goodness' of God

As we begin 2024 we would do well to remember that the 'goodness' of God is a blessing that goes beyond our circumstances. It is a gift (grace) that draws us to God by giving us the eyes and the heart to see that - no matter what happens - God continues to pursue us with His mercy, love, and promise. (Psalm 23)

Check out my video to hear a few thoughts as to why I believe this will be essential to any who might find true joy in 2024.

Blessings, Pastor Sam

Finding Joy at Christmas

The Joy that came with the advent of Christ was not circumstantial. It was spiritual - and something we all need. Good tidings of great joy for all people was a message announced to lowly shepherds referencing more than a baby. This was Emmanuel! And this was...

Joy, indeed!  Pastor Sam 

A Word and Reminder Regarding Israel and Our Hope

In light of the recent and horrific events taking place in Israel, many have asked me how this might relate to Christ’s return - if at all. To be clear, Israel has been brutally attacked in a most despicable and cowardly way by a terrorist group that uses Gaza and other territories as a shield for their evil. However, for those who seek and are praying for Crhist's return, here’s a word of encouragement and hope regarding what we cannot know and... what we can. 

God is sovereign over all things. Israel will not fall, but stand. And salvation in Christ is sure. 

Praying for Israel -

Pastor Sam 

‘Calling out the Called’ - a message for all time!

Here's an encouraging video on the calling of God and the blessedness of our salvation in Christ.  Indeed, He is calling still - as I often say, 'calling out the called' - and it is our joy, great and only task to hereald this news. 

Sam 

A Life of Legacy

As I reflected today on our national remembrance of the attack upon our nation on 9.11.21, I wondered over the difference this has meant - not just to our nation, but to me.  Check out my video below for my thoughts about how this event, as well as my decision to place my faith in Christ, has impacted the life I want to live and the legacy I hope to pass on. 

Pastor Sam  

An August Greeting and Update from Pastor Sam Dennis

Friends, 

This summer, thanks to your support and prayers, we have been blessed to see so many come to faith in Christ. 

Check out my video sharing an update on our 2023 Mission to Brazil - as well as our plan to cruise the Adriatic Sea in the fall of 2024 and visit the sites of the early churches as we learn of the missionary journeys of the Apostle Paul.  

Blessings, 

Pastor Sam