South Main Baptist Church

Tribe Mission Trip Day 2

Today we painted the home of a family from Grace Church in Edinburg, even though some of us have never done anything like that before. You could tell the mom, Ana, was so grateful by the look on her face. Mr. Jorge and Mr. George from Hearts4Kids taught us about the community and influenced us to keep serving.

Tribe Mission Trip Day 1

Our day started bright and early with homemade Texas waffles, then we packed our lunches and loaded up the bus. On the way to our worksite at New Wine Church, we jammed out to some tunes and had a karaoke party. Today we partnered with Mr. Jose and his son, Mr. George, who are with Hearts4Kids.

Lenten Devotion, Saturday, April 16 2022: By Angela Spoede

Sweet Aroma of Christ Early on in my journey as a disciple of Christ, God used a stranger—a man I had never met and have never seen again—to profoundly impact my view of my calling as a Christian. I was visiting at the hospital and feeling a little depressed and overwhelmed by the suffering there.

Lenten Devotion, Thursday, April 14, 2022: By Martha Doolittle

A New Thing

At last, my final trip home. The culmination of six months of dread and anticipation: Two and a half months of planning and preparation as deeply veined and craggy as the terrain outside the window of my cross country journey and a daily choice to anticipate miracles and blessings in the unknown of every step.

Lenten Devotion, Tuesday, April 12, 2022: By Finley Walton

Hold on to Love….

By Finley Walton

Lenten Devotion, Saturday, April 9, 2022: By John Wade

Pancakes, Car Lines, and Bag of Donuts

By John Wade

Lenten Devotion, Thursday, April 7, 2022: By Angela Bell

Not My Will, But Thine

When I was growing up, my small rural church of fewer than a hundred congregants held spring and fall revivals often. But, the year when I was in fifth grade was different. I was ten and I had not yet made a public profession of faith—something that concerned my mother greatly.

Lenten Devotion, Tuesday, April 5, 2022: By Chairein Jackson

BAD WEATHER, By Chairein Jackson Storms can be scary; high winds, heavy rain, poor traveling conditions. If a storm is bad, it can conjure different elements at the same time.

Lenten Devotion, Saturday, April 2, 2022: by Earl Brewer

Becoming Children of God

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— John 1: 12, NIV

Lenten Devotion, Thursday, March 31, 2022: By Andrea Hoxie

The Day the Light Came On

I was born into a family of church people. My paternal grandmother was the widow of the pastor of Greater Mount Lebanon Baptist Church, four blocks down the street from my childhood home.

Lenten Devotion, Saturday, March 26, 2022: By Brandon Wheeler

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

As I reflect on the importance of Lent, I think about God’s faithfulness toward me, and remember the ways God has prepared me through each season of my life so far to be who I am today. I try to remember that my goals or needs may be relatively small or short-term in the big picture.

Lenten Devotion, Thursday, March 24, 2022: By Margie Ehlers

Because I Have Been Given MuchBy Margie Ehlers

Cheese. It is one of my favorite foods and the first thing I ever gave up when I decided that I should give something up for Lent. To be honest, I had not taken the time to reflect, or even pray, about why I was giving up one of my favorite foods.

Lenten Devotion, Saturday, March 19, 2022: By Bright and Gifty Benfor

You are Never Alone

According to legend, every Cherokee Indian boy was required to spend a night alone in the forest as part of the rite of passage to manhood. The soon-to-be man was taken into the forest by his father who blindfolded him and left him alone overnight. The boy was not allowed to cry out for help and could not remove the blind until morning.

Lenten Devotion, Thursday, March 17, 2022: By Stephen Bedford

A Time to Regroup

After graduating from college with a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree I was fortunate to land a nice position at a high school as their choir director. I wasn’t much older than my students, but for those first four years I was having success and a great time. Then, after a few years, for reasons I still don’t understand, the tides began to turn.

Lenten Devotion, Tuesday, March 15, 2022: By Linda Gardner

With Gratitude for my Personal Lampstand

South Main Baptist Church has been a lampstand in my life for almost forty years.

Lenten Devotion, Thursday, March 3, 2022: By Shannon Dove

WHY LENT? Growing up my church did not participate in Lent. As far as I could tell, first we shopped for Christmas, then we shopped for Easter. I still knew what Lent was because I had friends who gave up Coca-Cola, or ice cream, or, most notably, “listening to The Beatles because that is a huge sacrifice for me...

End of Year Need: $280,201.78

With only two days to go, we still have a hill to climb. We started December needing to give over $1.1 million in order to meet our budget. That the need is now under $300,000 means most of the people reading these words have already given generously. Thank you!
           

Monday over Coffee: A Shift in Perspective

Need a Word of Encouragement?

A Shift in Perspective

Lenten Devotion, Saturday, March 27, 2021: By Sally Reed

LENTEN DEVOTION Saturday, March 27, 2021 Home for Hope and Healing By Sally Reed Gracewood rescues children and their single mothers, ensuring a bright future by providing home, hope, and healing.

Monday over Coffee: Tactics for Racing

Need a Word of Encouragement?
Tactics for Racing

ADVENT DEVOTION: Thursday, December 17, 2020

 Finding Sanctuary in 2020
By Doug Durand

ADVENT DEVOTION: Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Sanctuary from a Child’s PerspectiveBy Charlie Funderburk

Monday over Coffee: Float

South Main's Family Ministry Responds to Missions Needs

Though our campus has been closed, nothing evidences the continued ongoing nature of the work of our church like our August and September Family Ministry’s effort we called, Curbside Service.

Bloom Where You Are Planted

Jeremiah 29:7

Pondering the Pandemic

By Susan Torn Young

The Covid-19 pandemic has been easy on me. I have a husband, a family, grandchildren I don’t have to home school, I have friends, I have facetime. But most of all, I have real time. Time to reflect, time to catch up on business things and legal things, and time to do projects that I would have never done.

Steve Wells’ Homily at George Floyd’s Memorial Service

Pastor Remus Wright and Co-Pastor Mia Wright, family: I am humbled to be asked to be here today.

The Apostle John, whom Jesus called the “beloved Apostle,” wrote in his first epistle:

Healthy Relationships

Over the past several months, as our family has hunkered down and socially distanced, like every other family, we found ourselves faced with more together time than we’ve ever had.

Missing the Farm

Spending time with loved ones is an important family value in our house. For us, that looks like game nights or dinners with friends on the weekends, spending Sundays and Wednesday nights at SMBC, or soaking up beautiful days with the family at our farm in Brenham.

You are Not Alone

This has been an especially tumultuous week in our country. The murder of George Floyd again exposed the glaring injustices experienced by our neighbors and brothers and sisters in Christ of color throughout our nation’s history. If you and your Sunday School Communities found yourselves hurting, angry, exasperated, or unsure of what to do, you are not alone.

Faith vs. Fear

The 23rd Psalm is one of our most familiar scriptures. But there’s a line in that passage which had me confused for a long time. It says, “…though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” What does that even mean? How can you NOT fear evil? Evil is mean and hateful and ugly and painful!

When Not to Worry

I’ve always been a worrier. My parents worried something bad might happen to me every time I left the house. I worried they might be right. I worried what my peers and others thought about me. Did I say or do the wrong thing? Looking back, I spent a lot of my youth worrying. As an adult, I’ve channeled worrying into a desire to be prepared for any possibility.

Living our Faith During Difficult Days

 “Blessed are the Pure in Heart, for they will see God” – Matthew 5:5 Like a lot of you, since the stay-at-home order was given, we haven’t seen as much of our kids and grandkids.

Parenting in a Pandemic

I have turned my alarm clock off. The sun starts to come in through the bedroom window and I wake up, haphazardly looking at my watch to see if it’s actually time to start the day. For a second I try to remember what day it is.

Mustard Seed

Mustard Seed

…I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed you can say to this mountain, “move from here to there” and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. – Matthew 17:20

Lenten Devotional, March 9: By Pat Hardesty

“Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” -- Mark 9:24

It used to seem pretty easy to follow Jesus’ words on forgiveness and judging others:

Lenten Devotional, March 6: By Emily Gwaltney

Most people in the church know that when they have been wronged, the right thing to do is forgive that person. But we could benefit from intentional reflection on this act that is the basis for God's relationship with each of us. What does it mean to forgive? To forgive is to give up the desire to punish.

Lenten Devotional, March 5: By Chandler Vaughn

By Chandler Vaughn

The Lenten Season invites those of us on this particular walk of faith - on this journey of seeking to comprehend the Christ - to contemplate deeply upon the meaning of His sacrifice and the mysteries of the intersection of divinity into human history.

Lenten Devotional, March 3: By Stephen Fox

“The LORD said to me, ‘Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.’ So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley.” -- Hosea 3:1-2

Advent Devotional December 25: Written by Matt Walton in 2019

Sometimes we need to look back in order to see clearly. We need to remember. When we remember, we perceive our present circumstances with a redeemed clarity.  The hymn, “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” reminds us that the God who has helped in the past is the hope of all our years to come. The Psalms are replete with songs that urged God’s people to look back and remember.

Advent Devotional December 24: Written by Isaiah Zamarripa in 1999

After his conversion, Paul became a good example of having the more abundant life. One of his experiences portrays this beautifully. While shackled in the dark depths of a Roman dungeon, he prayed, he sang, and he was delivered. As a result, the jailer and his family accepted Jesus Christ. Then he washed Paul and Silas’s wounds and set a meal before them. 

Advent Devotional December 23: Written by Jeanette Heard in 1988

One of the great joys of Christmas when working in the SMILE program is seeing the blessed season every year as if it were for the first time through the eyes of some young Japanese women who have never before heard the glorious story. 

Advent Devotional December 22: Written by Carl Wilks in 1992

Romans 5:1-5

Advent Devotional December 21: Written by Mary Lucille Jackson Rogers in 1992

The busy, hurried days before Christmas are over. The shopping has been done and the packages wrapped. The Christmas tree has been decorated. Around the house there are symbols of Christmas, ornaments, and decorations. The Christmas baking has been done. Pre-Christmas parties have been attended and given. The choirs have sung inspiring Christmas music.

Advent Devotional December 20: Written by John Unger in 1995

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Christmas of 1991 lives in my memory as a world pulled asunder. We were in the first crushing weeks following the December 1 accidental death of our 17-year-old son, David. With a sharpness that I thought was gone, David’s death had brought back the memory of our daughter, Cathy, who died two days after Christmas many years before. 

Advent Devotional December 19: Written by Dorothy Daniels in 1996

Luke 2:11

Advent Devotional December 18: Written by Charles Lively in 1996

Psalm 46:10

Advent Devotional December 17: Written by Betty Phelps in 1989

Matthew 2:2b

The verse popped into my thoughts as I read the invitation to write one of the Advent devotionals this year. Since I haven’t been able to forget it, I reflected on it more seriously. 

Advent Devotional December 16: Written by Rique Carson in 1999

Matthew 18:3-4 

As we go through the Christmas season, we need only to look at children and see how excited they become as all the events unfold. That enthusiasm becomes infectious. Before long, entire families, including adults, are excited too! Most of us can remember our childhood being enhanced with the coming of Christmas. The Christmas season brings out the child in all of us. 

Advent Devotional December 15: Written by Ward and Carolyn Hill in 2001

“Did you talk to Jesus?” When our oldest grandson was just two years old, as he was playing he passed through the room where his mother was making a telephone call, and naturally he wanted to know whom she was calling. 

She answered, “I’m calling the church.”

Advent Devotional December 14: Written by Sarah Lee (Cole) in 1998

As I was thinking about Christmas and the Advent season, I was trying to find a brief way to express what Christmas means to me. What one word best expresses my feelings about Christmas? Is it Giving? God gave me the greatest gift I will ever receive when He came to earth to live among men. So joyfully we give gifts at Christmas; and I give and give and love every minute of giving.

Advent Devotional December 13: Written by Wanda Jackson in 1988

Luke 2:10 

A few years ago, at a family gathering, someone dragged out the old videos of Christmases past. At first there were giggles and grins at how young everyone looked, how much they had changed, and how pretty everything looked in our house...especially the Christmas tree. 

Advent Devotional December 12: Written by Roberta Torn in 1988

It was a week before Christmas in 1979, and I was visiting my friends at M.D. Anderson Hospital. The decorations were all up, and a high school choir was singing carols in the hallway. Even old Santa Claus was ringing his little bell as he went into each room, where a Polaroid picture would be taken of the patient with Santa. It was a “fun” time for even terminally ill cancer patients. 

Advent Devotional December 11: Written by Kenneth Chafin in 1977

Christmas is a very special time of the year for everyone. There is so much color and music and laughter and festivity. At South Main Baptist Church there are so many enjoyable activities during Christmas sponsored by a host of various groups. 

Advent Devotional December 10: Written by Thad Roberts in 1977

Psalm 100:1-5

Advent Devotional December 9: Written by Bill Menger in 1991

Herod feared the coming of the Christ Child, for it posed a threat to his own earthly power. To counter the threat, Herod ordered the massacre of children in Bethlehem. 

Until 1975, I thought today’s world was more civilized, but soon learned that satanic forces will use any means to combat the truth of Jesus Christ. 

Advent Devotional December 8: Written by Betty Sellers in 1989

Matthew 2:7-12

Advent Devotional December 7: Written by Bill Kolter in 1988

Elaine is at Camp Ozark; Mary Neil is packing to go to San Antonio for the Convention; Kenneth is measuring shelves for his most recent dwelling; I am “on call” this weekend; and Martha is bugging me for this devotional - now about two weeks overdue.

Advent Devotional December 6: Written by Gene Vickrey

I remember as a boy shaking the presents under the tree, trying to guess what was in the packages. 

I remember the Christmas I got a new bicycle. 

I remember the cold snowy night that I got up my courage and proposed to Alberta. 

I remember the interest in reaching the goal for our World Mission offering every Christmas. 

Advent Devotional December 5: Written by Miriam Collins in 1988

2 Corinthians 5:15 Curled up on the big iron double bed watching my mother brush her luxurious dark hair, I was nervously trying to ask the BIG QUESTION as casually as possible. (I guess I was almost six).

Advent Devotional December 4: Written by Sharon Nickel in 1988

Matthew 2:11

Advent Devotional December 3: Written by William (Bill) Turner in 1987

Luke 2:15

 A few miles may have separated these shepherds from the Event which would change the world! Wisely, they decided to travel those miles, check it out, and look into the face of history for themselves.

Holy Week Devotional: Easter Sunday, April 21

By Steve Wells, Pastor

John 20:15

Holy Week Devotional: Saturday, April 20

By, Dolores Rader, Minister to Families

Job 14:1-14; Matthew 27:57-66

It is Saturday. The evening before, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus’ body down from the cross and laid it in a tomb cut out of rock. The despair and anguish of those who believed must have created a palpable, near-suffocating heaviness. Hope was lost. All was lost. 

Holy Week Devotional: Friday, April 19

By Matt Walton, Minister for Discipleship

Psalm 22; John 18:1-40; 19:1-37

Holy Week Devotional: Thursday, April 18

Remember

By Carey Cannon, Minister of Music

Exodus 12:1-14a; Luke 22:14-30

Holy Week Devotional: Wednesday, April 17

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot

By Greg Funderburk, Minister for Pastoral Care

John 13:21-35; Matthew 27:1-10 

The despair of Judas is an event in Holy Week that often evades deeper scrutiny. His is a wilderness that often escapes our sympathy. Are there some barren wilderness places from which there is no return?

Holy Week Devotional: Tuesday, April 16

He Leadeth Me...But do I follow?

By Susan Moore, Minister of Administration for Communications

John 12: 27-38, 42-50

Holy Week Devotional: Monday, April 15

Take Hold

By Brad Jernberg, Minister of Administration for Operations

Mark 14:1-9; Isaiah 42:1-9

Holy Week Devotional: Palm Sunday, April 14

Palm Sunday

By Steve Wells, Pastor

Matthew 26:35–27:54; Psalm 118 and Psalm 22

Lent Devotional: Friday, April 12

In the last few years, I have experienced a wilderness, which at the time seemed unbearable. The darkness covered any glimmer of hope and the pain seemed to swallow me up. I have experienced the wilderness of addiction followed by the light of recovery, of loneliness followed by loving community, and of loss followed by abundance.

Lent Devotional: Thursday, April 11

By Alice Ketchand

The wilderness times in my life, whether triggered by outside challenges or not, were marked by a deep sense of inner emptiness or lack, a sense of something of God being deeper and beyond me. This sense has motivated my spiritual seeking throughout my life.

Lent Devotional: Wednesday, April 10

By Trey Westerburg

Lent Devotional: Tuesday, April 9

By Jessica Horton

"But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." -Isaiah 40:31

Lent Devotional: Monday, April 8

Four summers ago I had reached a point in my battle with addiction that I needed to get help. I checked into wilderness therapy, a forty-day treatment program that required complete immersion into wilderness living. This could not have been further from my comfort zone. Growing up, my family never went camping. My outdoor skills and experience were exactly zero.

Lent Devotional: Friday, April 5

By Everett DuBroc

Lent Devotional: Thursday, April 4

"To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight, and find that the dark too, blooms and sings." – Wendell Berry

Lent Devotional: Wednesday, April 3

By Jane Benesh

Lent Devotional: Tuesday, April 2

The Wilderness of our Everyday Life

Lent Devotional: Monday, April 1

Living in the Weeds

By Krystol Wheeler

Lent Devotional: Friday, March 29

By Tate Shannon

Lent Devotional: Thursday, March 28

 By Josie Adney

Lent Devotional: Wednesday, March 27

Hope for Dry Bones
Wilderness. Living in the wilderness. Wandering in the wilderness. For many years I felt I was wandering aimlessly in the wilderness. I lost my career and calling due to deteriorating eyesight. I struggled pursuing other artistic outlets. I gave myself shingles and then descended into depression, all because of a simple genetic disorder.

Lent Devotional: Tuesday, March 26

By Mollie Musgrove

Lent Devotional: Monday, March 25

In the Highways, In the Hedges

Lent Devotional: Friday, March 22

By Nick Woolley

Lent Devotional: Thursday, March 21

By Anna Bernal

Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9

Lent Devotional: Wednesday, March 20

Still the Wilderness?
Occasionally, weep deeply over the life you hoped would be. Grieve the losses. Then wash your face. Trust God. And embrace the life you have. --John Piper

Lent Devotional: Tuesday, March 19

I don't remember the last time I was physically lost. It had to have been at some point driving in Houston before the introduction of GPS on cell phones. I remember having to carry a set of maps in my car to get around in the city. Now, all I need to do is speak where I want to go and the phone plots my path.

Lent Devotional: Monday, March 18

My mom's parents lived in a small town called Lazbuddie, about an hour and a half northwest of Lubbock where I attended Texas Tech University. God led me to Texas Tech so that I would have 4 years with my Granna and Papa. The weekend I graduated from college in December of 2012 was the last weekend I spent with my maternal grandmother. She passed away a few weeks later.

Lent Devotional: Friday, March 15

By Nathan Moeller

My own road through the wilderness deals not so much with sin and straying from God, but a life torn apart and forged into something new. At the outset of this journey, I stepped into the unknown with a few close friends and family by my side, but God knew I needed more. Much, much more.

Lent Devotional: Thursday, March 14

Mustard-Seed Faith
Luke 13:18-19: "What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches."

Lent Devotional: Wednesday, March 13

Abundance in the Wilderness
Over the past several years I've had the privilege to visit the Middle East, much of it the same wilderness where the children of Israel likely wandered. I can't even imagine what that would have been like. You are in the middle of nowhere. You can look for miles in every direction and see nothing but desert. It is desolate - hot, barren, dry.

Lent Devotional: Tuesday, March 12

By Daniela George

Lent Devotional: Monday, March 11

By Louis Gomez

“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness…” Matthew 4:1.

Lent Devotional: Friday, March 8

Finding your way through the wilderness isn't hard if you have a good map and compass (or smartphone). However, orienteering skills are not always perfect metaphors for life. I know my family and SMBC blessed me with a good guide and a firm foundation in setting a plan for my life. I was given every navigational tool necessary.

Lent Devotional: Thursday, March 7

Known
By Angela Bell

When I was growing up, I didn't know what I wanted to be, but I knew who I was. I got a lot of "You seem to know yourself very well" comments.
It's true. I did. I still do.

Lent Devotional: Wednesday, March 6

John 14:5-6
Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life."

ADVENT DEVOTIONAL DECEMBER 24: BLESSED GIVING

By Josie Adney

In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

Acts 20:35

ADVENT DEVOTIONAL DECEMBER 23: THE JOY OF JESUS

Fourth Sunday of Advent

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13

ADVENT DEVOTIONAL DECEMBER 22: A PILGRIMAGE

By Stephen Fox

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the East came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him.”

Matthew 2:1-2

ADVENT DEVOTIONAL DECEMBER 21: LOVE YOUR GOD

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all

ADVENT DEVOTIONAL DECEMBER 20: CHRISTMAS GIFTS

They entered the house and saw the child in the arms of Mary, His mother. Overcome, they kneeled and worshiped Him, then opened their luggage and presented gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 

Matthew 2:11 (The Message)

This year I have already received a gift more precious than gold, or frankincense, or myrrh. My health was restored.

ADVENT DEVOTIONAL DECEMBER 19: HOW THE WISE MEN FOLLOWED GOD'S WARNING

By Pat Gray

On coming to the house, they saw the young child with Mary, His mother, and fell down, and worshiped Him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto Him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.   

ADVENT DEVOTIONAL DECEMBER 18: MORNING STAR

By Chase McKnight

ADVENT DEVOTIONAL DECEMBER 17: WE'RE IN GOOD COMPANY

An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” 

Luke 2:9-10

ADVENT DEVOTIONAL DECEMBER 16: COMMUNICATION 101

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 

I Corinthians 13:1

ADVENT DEVOTIONAL DECEMBER 15: THE BABY JESUS

For a child has been born for us, a Son given to us; authority rest upon His shoulders; and He is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

By Jeri Kuhleman Heath

ADVENT DEVOTIONAL DECEMBER 14: THE JESSE TREE

I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; with my mouth, I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.

ADVENT DEVOTIONAL DECEMBER 13: WAITING FOR CHRISTMAS

By Matt Walton

ADVENT DEVOTIONAL DECEMBER 12: GROWING UP WITH ADVENT

Whoever is patient has great understanding, but one who is quick-tempered displays folly. 

Proverbs 14:29

By Charlie Funderburk

ADVENT DEVOTIONAL DECEMBER 11: AN UNEXPECTED TURN

When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

ADVENT DEVOTIONAL DECEMBER 10: MARY TRUSTED GOD, AND SO SHALL I

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

Proverbs 3:5

ADVENT DEVOTIONAL DECEMBER 9: A CAROL FOR JOSEPH

It was December 2008, and we were days from welcoming Duncan into the world. One of the final scheduled church events was a Wednesday night carol sing. It was our first Christmas with the new Celebrating Grace Hymnal when a curious youth requested the carol “The Hands That First Held Mary’s Child.” As we sang through these verses, I found myself overcome with emotion and incapable of singing.

ADVENT DEVOTIONAL DECEMBER 8: JINGLE BELLS

Always be joyful. 

I Thessalonians 5:16

ADVENT DEVOTIONAL DECEMBER 7: SHARED FEELINGS OF THE SEASON

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:22, 25 NIV

ADVENT DEVOTIONAL DECEMBER 6: ARE YOU READY?

By Bill Anderson

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and His name shall be called Emmanuel” (which means, God with us). Matthew 1:22-23

ADVENT DEVOTIONAL DECEMBER 5: REFLECTING THE PAST, LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

By Angie Durand

Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things. Philippians 4:8

ADVENT DEVOTIONAL DECEMBER 4: GLORY OF THE LORD

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 

Luke 2:8-9

ADVENT DEVOTIONAL DECEMBER 3: EVER-PRESENT LOVE

The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14 

ADVENT DEVOTIONAL DECEMBER 2: PREPARE

By Phyllis Waggoner

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to all men.

Luke 2:14

ADVENT DEVOTIONAL: FOREWORD

By Pastor Steve Wells

Advent is the season in which we wait for - and then celebrate God‘s gift of Christ and of salvation. But waiting for Christmas morning is different for us than it was for those who awaited the Messiah in ancient times - they did not know when He would come.

A Tribute to South Main from Steve Scott

I first walked through the doors at South Main 29 years ago this fall. 18 years old, just a few weeks into my freshman year at Rice, I walked up to the third floor of the Loessner building, where the church offices are now - then education space: painted concrete block walls, tile floors - and into Toni Richerson’s Sunday freshman-sophomore Sunday School class.