Dear St. Andrews Family,

What do you long for? What excites you? You can probably come up with an answer or two for that, right? Hitting that ski jump at 30 miles an hour excites me. Getting that mischievous glance from your spouse across the room? Anticipating finally getting that vacation to Bermuda?

Let me change the question for a moment. Not what do you long for or what excites you, but what motivates your every move? Is there is even one thing? Family? Wealth? Happiness? All good motivators I think. Hebrews 11 implies that the great people of the past longed for one thing: a better country—a heavenly one. Do you long for heaven? Let’s talk about that this week. I want to inspire, encourage, and excite you about our mission and our future.

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Pastor Jace

Dear St. Andrews Family,

We don’t always find ourselves in the best circumstances.Remember that Abraham was asked to leave everything familiar, was asked to wait for a long time for a child, and he likely lost his dad in this difficult journey. I want to give you some advice from Scripture this week about lookingpast the circumstances, going forward in hope, and putting your faith in the right thing (person). I hope this will be encouraging. Enjoy your week. Oh, read Hebrews 11:8-16 if you get a chance and start thinking about it. Maybe pray that God will work wonders in your heart.

Pastor Jace

Dear St. Andrews Family,

I realized over the last few years how much of mysecurity was wrapped up in my family. I fear deep down that maybe it’s also wrapped up in my bank account, my job, how many “likes” I get on FB and my abilities to play sports, talk gooder, and attract women (none of which are reasons to brag I understand). I wonder what my security is really based on.

This week I want to examine what you are looking at asyour security, as your foundation. And I want to look at Abraham who looked to a city with foundations, whose builder and maker was God. This little summary is in Hebrews 11:8-10 and I would love for you to take a look if you have a chance. I am ready to hear from God this Sunday and I hope you are too.

Pastor Jace

Dear St. Andrews Family,

Perhaps you are one of those people who dismisses warnings easily. The aspirin bottle says to only take two without consulting a doctor, but puh-leeze, like you really consult a doctor. The cigarette pack says smoking leads to cancer, but you ignore it. You know Coke leads to obesity and diabetes, but you need your fix. I get it, I ignore a lot of warnings too.

In Hebrews 11:7 we are reminded that Noah was warned about a flood, and he listened. He had faith even though it didn’t make much sense. There are a lot of warnings given to us in the New Testament; I wonder if we hear and heed them. This won’t exactly be a hellfire and brimstone sermon because that’s just not me, but this is a call to hear the warning of God. To have faith. I hope you will worship and ask God to speak and for you to listen.

Pastor Jace

Dear St. Andrews Family,

Maybe I shouldn’t admit this to good Christians, but a few years ago I rocked out with thousands of other people to “Pour some Sugar on Me” and “Hysteria.” Most of the people were drunk or high, but I was loving Def Leppard completely unintoxicated (because I am a goody two shoes). It was awesome. But there was a problem. My seats were so far away that I could barely see them. I wanted to get up close and really see them. I wanted to be right there with them but alas, my nosebleed tickets were $90.00 and I wasn’t about to spend anything more to get up close.

If you really love something, don’t you want to get up close? To draw near?

This week we will talk about the faith of Enoch who seemed to be so close to God that one day God just took him home with him. That’s some amazing nearness. I wonder what it would look like for us to draw near to God. Let’s read Hebrews 11:5-6 and think about that this week.

Pastor Jace

Dear St. Andrews Family,

It's “Give of your Best” Sunday and I have a sermon that I have shared with every church I have pastored. It’s a sermon to remind you that God is ready and He is moving, and He wants to do something with you. The text comes from I Samuel 14 about Jonathan and his armor bearer. The title is simple:

“Perhaps the Lord will work in our behalf”

We don’t know what He is going to do, but I imagine it is pretty amazing. But we know our call—we have to move, we have to risk, we have transform. Are you ready? Let’s dream about what God might do.

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Pastor Jace

Dear St. Andrews Family,

For the sake of my own ego, I like to think that I am kind of extraordinary. I mean, the Broadhurst name will go down in history. Extraordinary, yep, that’s me.

Okay, maybe not.

You know what? Abel wasn’t all that extraordinary, and he got included in the hall of faith in Hebrews 11:4. How did that happen? The answer: He did what was right. Simple, ordinary, not-all-that-amazing just doing what God said. That’s not sell all you have go to the Kenyan slums kind of faith. That’s not give-up-your-job-and-focus-on-caring-for-orphans kind of faith. It’s just a simple faith…doing what is right. And his legacy is still known thousands of years later. Maybe extraordinary acts aren’t always what God is looking for. Let’s talk about that this.

Pastor Jace

Dear St. Andrews Family,

Perhaps you are one of those Christians who is very certain of their view of creation. Maybe you are convinced that it happened in 6 literal 24 days and it was created out of nothing. Fine, I get it. And that is cool with me. Hebrew 11:3 seems to say something about this, so yeah, I am going to have to say something about this too. But, the truth is, it doesn’t really say much of anything about it. So, while I will talk a little bit about it, I really want to emphasize the point of the author: while it doesn’t always seem like God is fulfilling his promises, BAM, then He does. This is a passage about encouragement, not about creation. See if you can see it when you read it. We will dive in together here. I hope it’s encouraging. Praying for all of our hearts to be moved this coming week as we hear from God.

Pastor Jace