08/18/2025
The Power of Presence
This last Sunday I had so much more to share than time to share it. The last Emotional Management Technique was to stay present in the process. Just as Jesus stayed with the woman who was judged and found guilty by the angry crowd, we stay by our children and our friends, especially when they need us the most. Here a couple of examples and a biblical insight that reiterate that point for us parents and for we who strive to be faithful friends.
The first example is what we’re going to call the Bike-Wobble Moment. Say your child is learning to ride without training wheels.
Instead of holding the seat the whole way or stopping every time they start to tip, you jog alongside — close enough to catch them if they’re going to fall hard, but far enough for them to pedal, wobble, and correct themselves.
While you’re jogging alongside you might offer small, steady encouragement: “You’ve got it… keep looking ahead… good correction!” And they learn to balance without you taking over.
Or consider the Tough Homework Assignment. Your middle schooler is frustrated with a math problem.
Instead of solving it for them, you pull up a chair and say, “Let’s read the problem together.”
You ask guiding questions, help them think out loud, and keep your tone calm even if they’re flustered.
By staying at their side — without doing the work — you help them push through frustration and discover they can solve it themselves.
So where does this precedent of being a calming and guiding presence come from?
Try Exodus 14.
When Israel is trapped between Pharaoh’s army and the Red Sea, God doesn’t just teleport them to safety. He stays present in the process with a pillar of cloud and fire, holding the enemy at bay while Moses parts the sea. The people still have to walk the long, intimidating path between walls of water — but they’re never alone in it.
One of the last things Jesus says to his disciples has always been one of the chief promises of God—at least for me. “Lo, I will be with you always, even until the end of the age.” To be able to make and follow through on that promise throughout your child’s first 18 years is about as powerful gift any parent or grandparent or friend can give!
Archived Posts
Gandhi and the Sugar
I wasn’t preaching Sunday, Reverend Jackie Chandler was. And she talked about the power of influence you get when you practice what you preach. This famous illustration came to mind. It fits Jackie’s points quite well. Enjoy!
Not Just for Parents
Our current sermon series is about How To Talk Parent, but it doesn’t require any of us to be parents to appreciate the bits of wisdom OUR parents shared with us growing up.
If Not Higher
Here’s a story I wanted to use when talking about ‘what you do when no one is looking’ yesterday. It’s a wonderful illustration of what Jesus was saying in Matthew 6:1-6—do what you do because of who you want to be, not so that others will take notice and praise you.
The Perfect Church
There is an old joke about the perfect church. We talked just a little about the perfect pastor, but turnabout is fair play. It goes like this:
The Clothes You Wear
Sunday I talked about Joshua the High Priest having his filthy clothing replaced by a cleaned and beautiful garments. I also used the illustration of a boy becomes a dragon—who ‘wears’ dragon scales—and is stripped of those scales in order to be restored to a boy. In fact, I could have done the whole sermon around all the clothing imagery in scripture.
What just missed the cut for Sunday’s Sermon
Naaman’s servants may actually become one of the hidden gems of the sermon. They say, essentially: “If the prophet had told you to do something difficult, you would have done it.”
One of the Longest Benedictions I Ran Out of Time to Share
Maybe you know the story of how Joseph and Mary accidentally left Jesus at the gas station on their way home from Jerusalem. Well, not the gas station bathroom in Jesus’ case. Joe and Mary are far down the road before they realize Jesus isn’t with them...