“Rebellious children can break the hearts of their parents…But when they wake up and turn back, your love needs to be standing at the door with arms wide open.” –The Love Dare for Parents, Day 36 You might know the story of the prodigal son. The son that wanted his inheritance before it was time. He wasted it all on …
A look at the prodigal son reminds us of the perfect example of a father who loved both his children – when one was faithful and when one was unfaithful. This picture of grace will help parents teach their children that, even when the day comes when they don’t live in our house, our children are never too far away …
In the American culture, it is increasingly more difficult to keep children focused on Jesus during Easter and Christmas. When bunnies, eggs, candy, gifts, reindeer, and a fat man sliding down your chimney is thrown at them at all times, it is a challenge to reorient their thinking to the things of God. You don’t want it to become, “Let’s get …
Happy Easter! Jesus is risen indeed! Coming off of a great Good Friday service, we had two incredible morning services today. Both services were full of eager worshipers celebrating Jesus. Jeff had mentioned how we weren’t going to do anything unique today, but just what we do every week – let the Word guide us and lift Jesus up. And …
A few weeks ago, I was trying to get a read on Jeff’s Easter message and asked him, “Is there anything unique or special that you want me to do for our Easter services?” Jeff replied, “What we do every week is unique and special: we let the Word drive our services and lift Jesus up. Do that. If we …
Tonight is the night! We are celebrating this Good Friday by our worship event entitled “Knowing Jesus.” You still have time to join us! Doors open at 6:30 and the service will start at 7. No childcare provided, but we would love for you to bring the whole family. The service will be piped out to the commons area if …
I’ve had some great conversations since Sunday’s sermon. God used his Word and his Spirit to show areas in need of change in the lives of our church. It’s been incredible to hear what people are doing as a result of God’s Word (James 1:22). If you didn’t get to hear the message, you can check it out below. If …
OK, so I know this is not an official church sign, but I had to share this one. I think I have found the way to cure children of all things bunny and egg related when it comes to Easter. The sign reads: ANAL EGG HUNT APRIL 12 10AM FREE FAMILY EVENT “But, Dad, I don’t want to go to …
Preached at North Side Baptist Church on April 13, 2014 from Romans 6. As we focus this week on Jesus’ death and resurrection, we must remember this: Jesus didn’t die so that we could continue in sin. His forgiveness does not hand us a free pass to indulge in sin for the rest of our lives. Here are some stats …
What a special Sunday morning! We were blessed to have the Erskine Gospel Choir lead us in worship this Sunday. Tobe Frierson and this great group of students always do such a great job of bring energy and passion when the come. Since gospel music is really my favorite genre, and I would say that bass is my primary instrument, …
North Side spent months going through 1 Peter and 2 Peter. 1 Peter’s message is all about suffering well for the name of Jesus. 2 Peter’s message is all about being on guard against false prophets. It was a challenging time in the life of our church. This edition of Short Sermon Saturday addresses both in under 3 minutes and …
“Like arrows in the hand of a warrior or the children of one’s youth” (Psalm 127:4). On the battlefield, arrows can hit targets beyond the archer’s physical reach. The analogy from Ps. 127:4 reveals that in our lives, our children can do more for the Kingdom of God than we can if we love them according to God’s instructions. Think …
Well, at least they aren’t hiding where they stand. This church sign states: DO YOU WANT A LIBERAL CHURCH? JOIN US. Many churches hide what they are for or hide what they are against. At least this church makes it clear. Think about this: If your church was described in one adjective, what would you want it to say?
Join us on Good Friday as we celebrate the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ with a special night of worship. North Side Worship composed this music to help tell the entirety of the life and message of Jesus Christ. They have led this worship event before at North Side as well as other churches, college campuses, and even …
This weekend we celebrated my baby girl’s birthday. Gloria is another year older and we have officially entered the terrible twos. This is normally a dreaded time of parenthood as the child begins to learn the art of testing the parents. Has she begun to test us? Sure. We have our set of challenges as any parents do. But these …
It was a great Sunday as we completed our “Stand Fast” series from 2 Peter! As we completed our DNOW weekend, the Peak band led us in worship this morning. I love this solid, dedicated group of teenage worship leaders. They always do a great job and today was no exception. They began by leading us with “You Are My …
Short Sermon Saturday features Matt Chandler of The Village Church. In this 2-minute clip, taken from preaching at the Catalyst Conference a few years ago, he delivers a not-so-feel-good message that following God may end badly for some of us. We are not promised health, wealth, and prosperity. Instead, we get Jesus. If you notice in the video below, he …
Last Sunday, we sang “We Rejoice” from the “Stand Firm” project. This energetic tune has been one of our church’s favorite. In fact, as we worked on it, I told the band, if you aren’t dancing when you sing it, you are doing something wrong! The song started with 1 Peter 4:12-19 as we studied through 1 Peter. The Scripture …
Confession: I used to dislike hospital visits. Fresh out of college, I came on staff at North Side and was immersed in a training program. It wasn’t one in a classroom or one that had a syllabus, but it was one that provided a new situation weekly in which I was forced to learn what to do. My first week …
While you are either attempting to trick people or to avoid being tricked today with April Fools’ Day pranks, I thought you might enjoy this church’s sign. It reads: “APRIL 1ST HAPPY EVOLUTIONIST DAY” Even if they are interpreting Psalm 14:1 and Psalm 53:1 to have “fool” synonymous with “evolutionist,” I’m not sure how much good this does. It might …
When Amanda went away for 2 days for a conference, I had the privilege of watching all 3 bambinos by myself. In addition to some planned fun, cutting down a couple of trees, I also tried to maintain the house as clean as my wife’s preferred standards. That involved making the children work for food. Gloria has gotten real messy …
After a weekend full of allergies and voice exhaustion, I had nothing but a raspy, squeaky, hoarse voice to lead our church with today. I made a comment in one of the services that, “Even on my best day, I’m not be able to give an adequate sacrifice of worship to my Father.” I truly mean that. How do you …
I wanted to give you an edition of Short-Sermon Saturday. It’s a couple of minutes to really challenge you. This one comes from David Platt as he addresses how guys need to grow up and become men.
This one isn’t even their fault. Located in Flippin, AR, this church sign never had a chance. One look at their website and they seem to be a real caring congregation. The name of their town is just simply funny to me.
In the last year, I have had many opportunities to speak with congregations about the need for family discipleship. While I love speaking with eager parents who want to apply the teaching immediately within their context, I also have this burden for empty-nesters. In every situation, I have had someone whose children are out of the home say, “I sure …
I am a glutton for punishment. My wife was out-of-town this weekend at a home school conference, and I wasn’t looking forward to missing her, but I also wanted to plan some unique things for the kids and I to do. I then started wondering if there was something we could do to surprise her when she got back. Flying …
Today was a busy and yet great day. I actually had the privilege to be ministering in one way or the other in 3 different ways today. Love seeing what God is doing in lives around me. North Side I didn’t get to be at North Side this morning, but I put a lot of Bible study, prayer, and preparation …
03.23.14 – Travis Agnew – Morning Worship Service from Sermons & Videos on Vimeo.
I’m a fan of gospel music. That is, music that focuses on the gospel. Regardless of the art form, I always appreciate any genre that explains the truths of God’s Word (Col. 3:16) and does so in an excellent manner (Ps. 33:3). A few years ago I was introduced to Reach Records’ KB who was performing at a Passion conference. …
If you weren’t aware, Fred Phelps has died. (CNN) — Fred Phelps — the founding pastor of a Kansas church known for its virulently anti-gay protests at public events, including military funerals — has died, the church said Thursday. The 84-year-old died of natural causes at 11:15 p.m. Wednesday, according to church spokesman Steve Drain. Phelps founded Westboro Baptist Church of …
Special day. In our attempt to be faithful to 2 Peter and in our desire to protect the flock, we have been digging in deep concerning false teachers. We started our services today by singing “He Is Exalted” and “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name.” After this opening time, we huddled up in smaller groups for a special time …
Dr. Danny Akin is the President of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. While a great intellectual gift to the Church, he is also a husband and father. That role has also served as a gift to the Church. Watch this interview with him and his son that Dr. Russell Moore conducted concerning “Raising Boys to Be Godly Men.” Great practical and …
Many folks are celebrating Lent currently leading up to Easter. Lent was created by the Catholic Church hundreds of years after Jesus as a way to deprive oneself of certain things to focus more on Jesus. While other folks outside of the Catholic Church celebrate it now, it is not a biblical command. Even though I don’t practice Lent, this …
This weekend, North Side had a great Marriage Getaway at Ridgecrest Conference Center. It was a fun time and a powerful time. My own marriage was strengthened and it was great to connect with other couples as well. Since I was out-of-town on the day our staff elders divvied up teaching topics, I knew that I was going to get …
Knowing the characteristics of false teachers helps us determine who to guard ourselves against. This was an incredible focus for us today as we discussed the truth about false teachers. On Spring Forward Sunday, the church was still eager to go deeper! We began our worship service by singing “Sing and Shout” and “Holy.” During our offering time, we watched …
I have heard mixed reviews over the weekend concerning the Son of God movie that was released. The work of Mark Burnett and Roma Downey has been anticipated by many following the History Channel’s The Bible series which was very successful. I have heard three camps of thought concerning the movie: “It’s the most incredible thing I have ever seen.” …
As I prepared to speak in chapel at North Greenville University today, I decided to preach from John 15 about abiding in Christ. In my prayer time for this sermon, I felt the need to address the consumerism that is infecting the Church today concerning Christians attaching themselves to churches, groups, personalities, or resources instead of the true Vine – …
I remember the day when I realized that this blog had reached a new level of success. Someone told me, “My mom saw your blog on Pinterest!” I had arrived ;). The reason I was getting some increased traffic was due to my posts on Obadiah’ date night and Eli’s date night that they had with their mom. Trying to …
You must be logged in to post a comment.