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Imagine you had a bad attitude that lasted a week, and then for the rest of your life that was the only thing people remembered about you. That would be so unfair. Sadly, that's essentially what happened to the Apostle Thomas. In John 20:19-29 we read that Thomas spent seven days questioning whether Jesus had risen from the dead. His funk only lasted a week, but to this da...

Good morning ACC and Happy Resurrection Day! I can't begin to say how much gratitude I have for our church. I can honestly say ACC kept me from losing my mind. I found myself so lost and in deep despair about my finances and health. And yes, I have a loving family (siblings and very close first cousins) but they also were struggling. They helped us out plenty of times and...

The most common type of psalm in the Bible is the psalm of lament. And this is good news! A psalm of lament in ancient Hebrew is a song of sorrow, in which worshipers pour out their heartbreak and grief to the Lord. One third of the songs in the book of Psalms fits into this category. In the laments we hear the psalmists say things like: "How long,LORD? Will you forget m...

A Prayer for Today Need a prayer to pray today? Try this one, written by Reinhold Niebuhr: God, give me grace to accept with serenitythe things that cannot be changed,Courage to change the thingswhich should be changed,and the Wisdom to distinguishthe one from the other.Living one day at a time,Enjoying one moment at a time,Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,Taking...

ACC Family: Our usual plans for Holy Week have obviously changed this year, but the truth of the gospel message is as powerful now as it ever has been. I want you to know some ways to stay connected with the church in worship and prayer this week. Maundy Thursday (April 9) Join us for an interactive worship experience, as we commemorate the final Passover meal that...

This has been the strangest Lenten season I have ever experienced. The church has celebrated Lent over the centuries as a means of preparing ourselves for Easter. We try to follow the example of Jesus' 40 days in the wilderness by going without some things, in order to focus on self-reflection, draw near to God, and give of ourselves to others in need. But this year wheth...

For thousands of years, Psalm 23 has been a source of solace to God's people in times of crisis. I've been thinking lately about one verse in this psalm and how amazing it is. After describing how the Lord renews and restores us, and how he walks beside us through dark valleys, King David writes in verse 5, "You prepare a tablebefore me in the presence of my enemies." I...

Many of us are familiar with Psalm 23:4. "Even though Iwalk through the valley ofthe shadow of death, I willfear no evil, foryou are with me; yourrod and your staff, they comfort me." While this verse will be meaningful at the moment of death, it is intended to apply to any situation of deep sorrow or fear. The phrase "the shadow of death" is a Hebraism meaning "as dark...

In Psalm 23, King David described what was often required for him to experience inner renewal from the Lord. He wrote, "The LORD ... makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul" (vv. 1-3a). Something I find striking about those words is David's admission that he often needed the Lord to make him lie down in green gra...

Worshiping remotely It's not something new Christians all over the world these days are connecting with their church via electronic media to worship remotely with fellow believers. For many of us this is a new experience, but it has been done before. A New York Times article, dated May 21, 2006, describes a pastor who was ministering to a congregation of dispersed immig...