News, Photos, Neighbors, Serving Cris Escher News, Photos, Neighbors, Serving Cris Escher

Cris and Ed Bock to Tallahassee

Trip To Florida Capital.

Eb Bock and Pastor Cris Escher went to Tallahassee with Alzheimer's Community Care to promote Alzheimer's care in Florida.

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News, Photos, Neighbors Cris Escher News, Photos, Neighbors Cris Escher

Elvis at Grace on Valentines

Fun time with Elvis

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Sermon Series, News Cris Escher Sermon Series, News Cris Escher

The Way: Finding Meaning in the Gospel of John (Teaching Series)

There are certain indicators that we are on The Way with Jesus Justice, Spirituality, Relationships, Beauty, Freedom, Truth, and Power. But what If we do not live up to these ideals, our societies and individual lives become unbalanced, creating anger and frustration that divide us from ourselves and from God. Come and see how The Way seems broken but how easter vision can bring many along the way of Hope.e. Let’s acknowledges the problem and then explore how we can respond with both grace and truth.

There are certain indicators that we are on The Way with Jesus Justice, Spirituality, Relationships, Beauty, Freedom, Truth, and Power. But what If we do not live up to these ideals, our societies and individual lives become unbalanced, creating anger and frustration that divide us from ourselves and from God. Come and see how The Way seems broken but how easter vision can bring many along the way of Hope.

Wednesday Services during lent 2023

Our Wednesday Series through Lent

Amazon Link

Purchase the Book

 
 

Reading Plan
The readings for Sunday

  • 2/19/23 - Justice

    • Exodus 17:1-7
      Hebrews 12:12-15
      John 4:5-26, 39-42

  • 2/26/23 - Love

    • Jeremiah 1:4-10
      1 Corinthians 13:1-13
      Matthew 5:38-48

  • 3/5/23 - Spirituality

    • Deuteronomy 26:1-11
      1 John 3:11-18
      Luke 4:16-21

  • 3/12/23 - Beauty

    • Isaiah 52:7-12
      Hebrews 13:1-16
      Matthew 13:31-35

  • 3/19/23 - Freedom

    • Exodus 19:1-6
      1 Corinthians 9:19-27
      Luke 4:1-13

  • 3/26/23 - Truth

    • Exodus 19:1-6
      1 Corinthians 9:19-27
      Luke 4:1-13

  • 4/2/23 - Power

    • Exodus 19:1-6
      1 Corinthians 9:19-27
      Luke 4:1-13

  • 4/9/23 - John’s Easter

    • Exodus 19:1-6
      1 Corinthians 9:19-27
      Luke 4:1-13

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[Sunday] Easter - The Way
[Sunday] Easter - The Way

It’s still dark, but she goes to check on the tomb. Fear strikes her heart as she sees the stone is rolled away! Has this weekend possibly just gotten worse? As she lies weeping at a situation that is beyond repair, the gardener of the sun, moon, and stars, who cultivated everything in 7 days, whispers joy of new creation in the form of her name, "Mary."

Good Friday - The Cup - The Way
Good Friday - The Cup - The Way

Good Friday service. The Cup

[Sunday] Power - The Way
[Sunday] Power - The Way

God created the world and gave us dominion over it. However, we do not always use that dominion in a beneficial way, using too much sometimes, while other times not enough. Even Peter struggles to get this right, but Jesus still loves him to the end.

[Sunday] Truth - The Way
[Sunday] Truth - The Way

Of all the ways of Jesus, we expect truth to be the least broken. But, our relationship with truth isn't quite as straightforward as we might expect. We are invited to be ambassadors of truth, not by defending it but by embodying new creation, faithfully pointing people to Jesus, and showing that self-giving love is the most powerful force in the world.

[Sunday] Freedom - The Way
[Sunday] Freedom - The Way

We can hear the cry of our hearts for freedom, but once we have freedom, it's so tempting to just curl in on ourselves. Jesus, however, constantly gives to us from his abundance.

[Sunday] Beauty- The Way
[Sunday] Beauty- The Way

What makes something beautiful? Is it a look or maybe a feeling? When John writes to his people, he invites us to the creation then shows us beauty in the resurrection.

[Sunday] Spirituality - The Way
[Sunday] Spirituality - The Way

Often when we think of spirituality, we think of something that is intensely personal. But what if it looks more like vines and jokes than solemn and alone?

[Sunday] Love - The Way
[Sunday] Love - The Way

Weddings are beautiful places of love, but so often we discover the brokenness of that love way too quickly. So where is unbroken love? Maybe it's the rebuilding of the temple in 3 days.

[Sunday] Justice - The Way
[Sunday] Justice - The Way

We see so much hurt and injustice in society, and we cry out for a better way. But even that search for something better often leaves behind a trail of hurt. Perhaps justice can find its place in the creation story and the recreation of the gardener.

The Way: Finding Meaning in the Gospel of John (Teaching Series)
The Way: Finding Meaning in the Gospel of John (Teaching Series)

There are certain indicators that we are on The Way with Jesus Justice, Spirituality, Relationships, Beauty, Freedom, Truth, and Power. But what If we do not live up to these ideals, our societies and individual lives become unbalanced, creating anger and frustration that divide us from ourselves and from God. Come and see how The Way seems broken but how easter vision can bring many along the way of Hope.e. Let’s acknowledges the problem and then explore how we can respond with both grace and truth.

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Sermon Series, News Cris Escher Sermon Series, News Cris Escher

Vanishing Grace (Teaching Series)

Christians have proclaimed the good news about Jesus for centuries. But the good news isn't sounding so good these days, at least to some. Let’s acknowledges the problem and then explore how we can respond with both grace and truth.

Christians have proclaimed the good news about Jesus for centuries. But the good news isn't sounding so good these days, at least to some. Let’s acknowledges the problem and then explore how we can respond with both grace and truth.

Amazon Link

Purchase the Book

 
 

Reading Plan
The readings for Sunday

  • 2/19/23 - Justice

    • Exodus 17:1-7
      Hebrews 12:12-15
      John 4:5-26, 39-42

  • 2/26/23 - What Can We Do About It

    • Jeremiah 1:4-10
      1 Corinthians 13:1-13
      Matthew 5:38-48

  • 3/5/23 - Who are the Grace Dispensers

    • Deuteronomy 26:1-11
      1 John 3:11-18
      Luke 4:16-21

  • 3/12/23 - Is it Really Good News?

    • Isaiah 52:7-12
      Hebrews 13:1-16
      Matthew 13:31-35

  • 3/19/23 - Holy Subverses

    • Exodus 19:1-6
      1 Corinthians 9:19-27
      Luke 4:1-13

  • 3/26/23 - Holy Subverses

    • Exodus 19:1-6
      1 Corinthians 9:19-27
      Luke 4:1-13

  • 4/2/23 - Holy Subverses

    • Exodus 19:1-6
      1 Corinthians 9:19-27
      Luke 4:1-13

  • 4/9/23 - Holy Subverses

    • Exodus 19:1-6
      1 Corinthians 9:19-27
      Luke 4:1-13

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Vanishing Grace (Teaching Series)
Vanishing Grace (Teaching Series)

Christians have proclaimed the good news about Jesus for centuries. But the good news isn't sounding so good these days, at least to some. Let’s acknowledges the problem and then explore how we can respond with both grace and truth.

[Sunday] Beautiful News - Vanishing Grace
[Sunday] Beautiful News - Vanishing Grace

Jesus was tempted in the wilderness in every way that we are. This story right at the beginning of Luke's gospel foreshadows the way it ends: Jesus taking all our sins and struggles and giving us grace and victory over them all. Now that we have been freed, we can live knowing that grace is for all.

[Sunday] Beautiful News - Vanishing Grace
[Sunday] Beautiful News - Vanishing Grace

What does beautiful news look like? Perhaps, it looks like ordinary, dare I say, small things, like providing for someone who's hungry, loving your spouse, and being a good neighbor. Perhaps these small things provide the cooling shade of a great tree for us to rest under.

[Sunday] Love Laid Down - Vanishing Grace
[Sunday] Love Laid Down - Vanishing Grace

This is how we know what love is, that He laid down his life for us. This love is like a cool breeze on a hot day, good news when surrounded by the bad, and liberty to the oppressed.

[Sunday] Uncomplicated Love - Vanishing Grace
[Sunday] Uncomplicated Love - Vanishing Grace

The young man who pushed aside his family now thinks of only their love as he longs for the pig feed. We tend to make love more complicated that it needs to be, but perhaps its simple.

[Sunday] Wells of Grace - Vanishing Grace
[Sunday] Wells of Grace - Vanishing Grace

Jesus was sitting by a well, and she showed up. All by herself, she carried with her the weight of so much struggle. While it would be so easy to belittle her, Jesus instead is a well of grace that is like a cool drink of water on a hot day. Maybe we can be like that.

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I Like It, So God Would Too

Egocentrism in Believers’ Estimates of God

Egocentrism in Believers’ Estimates of God

Read The Whole Article at I Like It, So God Would Too - Mockingbird (mbird.com)

eligion is often seen as a moral compass — it is frequently used by believers as a guide to doing and believing the right thing. People may disagree on social issues like abortion, same-sex marriage, and the death penalty and back their opinions by invoking God as the ultimate advocate of their beliefs. But how do people reason about God’s beliefs? In an interesting set of six studies by Nick Epley and colleagues, it was argued that people are remarkably egocentric when asked to infer about God’s beliefs — that is, people seem to draw on their own beliefs about these issues when asked to infer what God’s beli……………………………………..

Read The Whole Article at I Like It, So God Would Too - Mockingbird (mbird.com)

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Christmas & Brain Heath Seminar Photos

Great Christmas season at Grace

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Mark Driscoll and My Desert Temptation

It’s not every day that I’m near the church of a man whose rise (and fall) was the topic of so much controversy.

Read the rest at Mark Driscoll and My Desert Temptation - Mockingbird (mbird.com)

We were driving our rental car around cactus-lined streets on the first day of our snowbird getaway to Scottsdale, Arizona when we realized exactly where we were. We were only a few blocks away from a place of podcast infamy and evangelical intrigue: Trinity Church — AKA, Mark Driscoll’s new church.

It’s not every day that I am near the church of a man whose rise (and fall) was the topic of thousands of Twitter threads, blog posts, and podcast episodes about podcast episodes. That Sunday, we learned, Driscoll was starting a new sermon series titled “Real Romance: Sex in Song of Songs.” Perfect…………………………….

Read the rest at Mark Driscoll and My Desert Temptation - Mockingbird (mbird.com)

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Vanishing Grace Together Groups

Meeting together to talk about Grace

New Together Group Weeks Released Sunday at 11am

We are stronger together and any challenge is better when helped.
I encourage you to meeting with other people to watch each week’s video and go through the discussion questions.

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Week 5 Vanishing Grace Together Groups
Week 5 Vanishing Grace Together Groups

Holy Subversives

Week 4 Vanishing Grace Together Groups
Week 4 Vanishing Grace Together Groups

Is it Really Good News?

Week 3 Vanishing Grace Together Groups
Week 3 Vanishing Grace Together Groups

Who Are the Grace Dispensers

Week 2 Vanishing Grace Together Groups
Week 2 Vanishing Grace Together Groups

We have a Problem

Week 1 Vanishing Grace Together Groups
Week 1 Vanishing Grace Together Groups

We have a Problem

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Ringing in the New Me

Life has changed, but have I really changed?

Read whole article at Ringing in the New Me - Mockingbird (mbird.com)

t’s the time of year when our New Year’s resolutions slowly begin to unravel. It doesn’t usually happen all at once, of course. A cheat day here, a provoked outburst there, compounded by the multiplication of days and weeks, and what once felt possible eventually becomes fanciful. Even my best intentions can’t always hold up to the temptation of a Chick-fil-A milkshake. 

Every new year is filled with hopeless optimism that I can truly change. At the beginning of this year, I took time to look back and reflect on all the ways that my life is different than it was just 365 days ago. I moved to a new state, I got a new job, I got engaged. Life has changed in some sizab………………………

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Sermon Series, News Cris Escher Sermon Series, News Cris Escher

The Book of Advents (Teaching Series)

The Christmas season is filled with so much tradition, but so often we feel tired and frustrated by our attempts to fulfill our own desires. However, the Bible is the book of advents, the book of new beginnings when we see God come in a new way to save us all.


Abraham just received the best promise from God - it’s like he can do no wrong. However, his life still falls into struggle and troubles, and when he and the promise, Isaac, climb the Lord’s mountain. Abraham truly sees the advent of God for himself.

Reading Plan
Read around the readings for Sunday

  • 11/27/22

    • Genesis 18:1-15
      Romans 4:18-21
      John 8:48–58

  • 12/4/22

    • Genesis 28:10-17
      1 Peter 3:15-22
      John 1:43-51

  • 12/11/22

    • Exodus 3:1-15
      Hebrews 3:1-6
      John 6:32-40

  • 12/18/22

    • Joshua 1:1-6
      1 Peter 1:3-9
      Matthew 24:36-44

  • 12/25/22

    • Isaiah 52:7-10
      Titus 2:11-15
      Matthew 1:18-25

  • 1/1/22

    • Isaiah 63:7-14
      Galatians 4:4-7
      Matthew 2:13-23

  • 1/8/22

    • Isaiah 60:1-6
      Ephesians 3:1-12
      Matthew 2:1-12

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[Sunday] Following Light - The Book of Advents
[Sunday] Following Light - The Book of Advents

The Magi followed God’s light of a star. Wait, those foreigners were following God’s light? Surely God’s people will follow the light rather than going back to darkness.

[Sunday] Simeon - The Book of Advents
[Sunday] Simeon - The Book of Advents

Simeon waited his entire life to see the Christ. 

[Sunday] Prince of Peace Christmas - The Book of Advents
[Sunday] Prince of Peace Christmas - The Book of Advents

Joseph is a righteous man, yet he is having to deal with the surprise pregnancy of his bride to be. But here we see the Prince of Peace Shining though Joseph.

Christmas Eve- Advent of Emmanuel
Christmas Eve- Advent of Emmanuel

Throughout history God has come to be with us which culminates with Jesus at Christmas.

[Sunday] The Promised Christmas - The Book of Advents
[Sunday] The Promised Christmas - The Book of Advents

Joshua stands on the edge staring into the land filled with such promises for a perfect future. But what if you get your dream and desire and just shoot your eye out?  Perhaps, then it will be a beautiful Christmas

[Wednesday] Advent at Grace 3
[Wednesday] Advent at Grace 3

Bring your Christmas Stories. Stories from your past, Your favorite story. Really anything to put us in the Christmas spirit.

[Sunday] Christmas Cheer for All to Hear - The Book of Advents
[Sunday] Christmas Cheer for All to Hear - The Book of Advents

They knew the script, it had been written for them for years and years. Yet one day they heard a voice singing a song of fire, and that song changed everything.

[Wednesday] Advent at Grace 2
[Wednesday] Advent at Grace 2

Best Christmas Pageant Ever Tonight!

[Sunday] A Shady Stone - The Book of Advents
[Sunday] A Shady Stone - The Book of Advents

Jesus saw him not in the grandness of his spirituality but in the shade of a tree, and God saw Jacob not in his pursuit of grandness but in the lowness of a stone pillow. The advent of God comes not in the grand things but in the shady stones.

[Wednesday] Advent at Grace 1
[Wednesday] Advent at Grace 1

Lots of Christmas Carols and stories about Holiday Foods from around the world.

[Sunday] Promises, Troubles, and Automobiles - The Book of Advents
[Sunday] Promises, Troubles, and Automobiles - The Book of Advents

Abraham just received the best promise from God - it’s like he can do no wrong. However, his life still falls into struggle and troubles, and when he and the promise, Isaac, climb the Lord’s mountain. Abraham truly sees the advent of God for himself.

The Book of Advents (Teaching Series)
The Book of Advents (Teaching Series)

The Christmas season is filled with so much tradition, but so often we feel tired and frustrated by our attempts to fulfill our own desires. However, the Bible is the book of advents, the book of new beginnings when we see God come in a new way to save us all.


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Sleeping in Church

When Sanctuary Is Safe

Read whole article at From Issue 21: Sleeping in Church (https_mbird.com)

As a preacher, I can proudly say that I’ve never bored an audience so thoroughly that someone fell asleep and fell out a window. (“Fell asleep,” okay, yes. But never “fell out a window.” I know, it’s a low bar.) I plan to give the apostle Paul a little dig about that if, as I hope, I get to meet him someday………………….

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FLGA Middle School Gathering Photos

Great time this year

Pastor Cris, Coli, Pam, and Kyler had fun at the FLGA Middle School Gathering

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Photos, News, Kids, Neighbors Cris Escher Photos, News, Kids, Neighbors Cris Escher

Photos from Reformation Pot Luck

Fun Times with Trivia

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