Sermon: “Baltimore, Why?”

1 John 4:7-21

At first it seemed like footage from a movie.  Or maybe the news from a country full of unrest.  But the images were next door, literally.  A member of our church, Josh Banks, saw the flames out his apartment window on Monday night as parts of an urban farm burned.   Like many of you, I have gotten calls and emails from people in other parts of the country, and even from Cuba, worried about my family and concerned for our church and our city.

We all should be concerned for our city.  Continue reading “Sermon: “Baltimore, Why?””

Sermon: “Knowing God” Preached by RE Hunter Boggs

This coming June, it will have been 5 years since my wife and I made the move from Louisiana to Baltimore, Maryland. In these 5 years, our family has grown from 2 to 5 (counting the cat) and we, like everyone, have experienced our share of joy and tragedy, of highs and lows, of loving our home and also of dreaming of someplace perhaps a bit more roomier, of loving this city and dreaming of a place maybe a little warmer in the winter. My wife followed me here to live many hours away from all family and friends to make a life in a new place while her husband was too busy working on the medical wards, and to raise two small children while her husband was often away on business trips or working late hours in the clinic. In June, as you may know, our time in Baltimore will have come to an end. We will be leaving to take a position in Birmingham, Alabama which will fortunately bring us closer to our biological family, but will unfortunately take us away from our “family” we have come to be a part of up here.

When you come to the end of a thing or a time period in life, it allows you the opportunity to be excited about the future…to look forward to the unknown, the possibilities, to what lies ahead. But just as importantly, it gives you the opportunity to look back and to reflect on what has happened during the time that is drawing to a close, to examine how those experiences have changed or shaped you (for better or worse), and to see how (and why) you have changed from the man or woman you were at the start of your life chapter, and compare it to the person you are today. Continue reading “Sermon: “Knowing God” Preached by RE Hunter Boggs”