We are now in Lent, a forty-day season of soul-searching and spiritual growth preparing for Easter. It is a time to ask deep, meaningful questions about faith and the bigger picture of life. I hope you will take advantage of the great classes now being offered at Woodmont on Wednesday nights. I also encourage you to read and reflect on Paul’s letter to the Philippians, also known as “the Epistle of Joy.” All of us long to experience more joy in our lives. David Brooks raises the following questions in his book The Road to Character:......

Read More

...

Read More

We will begin the Lenten season this Wednesday night in the sanctuary with an Ash Wednesday service at 6:30 p.m. Lent is the forty-day period leading up to Easter. I hope you will take advantage of the excellent classes being offered here at church between now and Easter – Spiritual Leadership, Romans, & the Enneagram. Dinner is also offered each week at 5:30 p.m. Lent is a time to dive deep, do some personal reflection, give certain things up, and grow. We are now living in interesting times. Many people are concerned......

Read More

Jim Hester and the nominating committee have been working very hard over the past month. I want to thank everybody who submitted nominations this year. We have had many excellent candidates to discuss and consider. The guiding questions the committee has been asking are: Are they in worship regularly? Are they involved in a small group or Sunday school class? Do they exhibit leadership ability? Do they support the church with time, talent, and treasure? Leadership in a church like Woodmont is essential. We count on our leaders to take their role seriously and be......

Read More

A few years ago, I had an insightful conversation with a well-known therapist in Nashville who has been in private practice for decades and has helped many families through infidelity, mistrust, suicide, alcoholism, addiction, and the unwanted challenge of managing children who decide not to grow up. This counselor has certainly seen it all over the years. We were discussing the older brother in the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15) and how he became filled with jealousy and anger, bitterness and resentment when his younger brother returned home and his......

Read More

Valentine’s Day is Friday, so we see lots of messages around love this week. In his book Practicing the Way, John Mark Comer says this: “Love is the acid test of spiritual formation. The single most important question is, ‘Are we becoming more loving?’ Not are we becoming more biblically educated. Or practicing more spiritual disciplines? Or more involved in church? Those are all good things, but not the most important thing.” Ultimately, the goal in life is to become more loving. Comer says, “Would the people who know you best say you are becoming more loving, joyful, and......

Read More

Hunter Mobley will be back to speak in the Woodmont chapel at 6:15 p.m. this Wednesday night, Feb. 5, on “The Enneagram, Love, and Relationships.” Consider this an early Valentine’s event with a dinner before in Drowota Hall at 5:30 p.m. It’s been said before that we are mysteries unto ourselves. Many people lack self-awareness in our culture. The Apostle Paul writes to the Romans: “I do not understand my own actions, for I do not do what I want but I do the very thing that I hate.” In other words,......

Read More

Many of us have been reading and studying John Mark Comer’s book Practicing the Way to go along with our current sermon series. In the book, Comer says, “The call to apprentice under Jesus is not a call to do more but to do less. It’s not addition but subtraction.” Many people have a hard time with this concept. Comer later continues, “The elephant in the room is that the vast majority of us have far too much going on to ‘add’ Jesus into our overly busy schedules” (pg. 60). Comer makes......

Read More

I invite you to join me this week in praying for our nation and for the new administration that is now in place. This Sunday, January 26, we will talk about boundaries and how we can safeguard our relationships in life. The quality of our relationships is directly tied to the quality of our lives. Because we are social creatures, we long for intimacy and connection with each other. The absence of this in a marriage or relationship can lead to major challenges. Relationships take work and effort. They cannot be put......

Read More

The wildfires in the Los Angeles area have been devastating over the past week. The images we are seeing on TV and social media seem surreal. Woodmont is doing some important things to help at this time. We provided sandwiches for those working on the front lines. Farrell is heading up a pajama and underwear drive. Remember, so many have lost all of their belongings. You can drop them here at church this week or Sunday. You can click here to make a financial contribution. We will continue to do whatever we can to make a......

Read More