a disciple's blog

Two young men were out cave exploring when they found what appeared to be huge bear tracks deep inside a long tunnel. They bravely decided to keep going, but they moved ahead slowly and cautiously, keeping their eyes and ears open in case a bear lurked nearby.

Suddenly, from behind a large rock formation jumped the biggest, meanest looking grizzly bear they had ever seen. The bear stood up on his hind legs, beat his chest, and roared so loudly that it sent a terrible sound echoing off the walls of the cave.

Scared to death, the two young men decided to run for their lives. They took off on a dash for the daylight. They had a little bit of a lead on the bear when one of the guys dropped to the floor of the cave and started untying his boots. He whipped his backpack off and took out a pair of running shoes and began lacing them on his feet.

His buddy yelled at him: “Hey, man! Whatta ya think you’re doin’? Let’s get outta here! We don’t have much of a chance of outrunning that bear as it is!”

The guy on the floor hopped up and began sprinting toward the cave’s exit. He turned and yelled over his shoulder: “I don’t have to outrun the bear. All I gotta do is to outrun you!”

Do you ever feel like people treat you like bear bait? When the going gets tough, they get going. They claim they love you until it costs them something and then, they leave you behind.

If we are going to be a "Great Church", we need to "Continually Practice Agape Love for One Another" (Guideline #8).

Join us this Sunday as we continue our sermon series "God Given Guidelines for Growing a Great Church". We'll discuss the Meaning, Model and Ministry of Agape Love. Our text will be 1 John 4:7-12.

Have a blessed week!

Hey Everyone,

Just a quick note to apologize for not keeping up with "Sermon Previews". If you notice the date of the last Sermon Preview post, it just happens to coincide with my wife and kids starting their summer vacation.

Over the past two weeks Parkway Community Church has continued the sermon series, God Given Guidelines for Growing a Great Church. We've discussed that to be a great church we need to "Maintain a Spirit of Harmony"(Guideline #6) and have "Every Member Involved In Ministry" (Guideline #7).

As a family we've been busy hanging out together, going to the movies, shopping and looking for a house to buy here in Florence, AL. We just made an offer on a home (pictured) and had it accepted; now we wait for approval from the mortgage company. We hope to hear some good news tomorrow.

Please be in prayer that God's will would be done. While we love the new house, we want God's will done in all areas of our life.

I'll be posting more pictures of the house on my Facebook page should we get approval for the loan.

God Bless,

Pastor Larry

What do you think could be accomplished if we all decided to walk by faith?

Join us this Sunday morning as we talk about stepping out with a Bold Faith. We'll be looking at what a bold faith requires and what the results might be when we walk by faith. Our text will be Hebrews 11.

Sunday promises to be a wonderful time of worship and learning and don't forget that the Phillips Family will be in concert Sunday night at 6:00 pm. Invite a friend.

Have a blessed day and we'll see ya Sunday!

Are you serving God with excellence or are you just giving Him the leftovers of your life?

This Sunday we continue our sermon series "God Given Guidelines for Growing a Great Church" with Guideline #4 - Excellence: Do Your Best in Every Area of Service. Our text will be Malachi 1:6-14.

I understand that it's easy to get off track. Sometimes we're in such a hurry taking care of all the "real important stuff" in our lives that we forget to think about God and giving Him the first fruits of our labor.

Well, it's time to slowdown. It's time to get intentional about serving God with EXCELLENCE!

God gave us the best He had; His own son Jesus Christ to suffer and die for our sins.

Will you offer Him any less than your best?

Join us this Sunday for a "Most Excellent Worship Service".

This Sunday we'll return to our sermon series "God Given Guidelines for Growing a Great Church". We'll be looking at Guideline #3: Develop Christ Centered Leaders that Lead by Example.

To be a great church, we have to have Christ centered leadership. We have to develop leaders that will guide our congregation for years to come; who are respected by all who know them and who are sold out for the cause of Christ.

But what does leadership look like? We could spend a month of Sundays talking about leadership but this Sunday we'll focus on the "Character of Leadership" and the "Capabilities of Leadership".

Our text will be 1 Peter 5:1-4. Join us this Sunday as we discuss God's view of leadership.

See ya Sunday!