Welcoming the Stranger
Posted May 14, 2024 by Bill Anderson in Missions
These families coming from distant places face daunting, life-altering challenges. Patients are typically most concerned with treating their serious healthcare needs, yet they must also find housing and navigate other life-care services in a large, unfamiliar city. The Sojourn Ministry strives to serve the housing needs of these patients and families and to give them spiritual and emotional…
Monday Over Coffee: "Our Impossible Problems"
Posted May 13, 2024 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
Have you ever faced a problem that seemed like it had no answer? An impossible situation? Something insurmountable? Are you facing something like this right now? Esther Klein was born in Budapest in 1910. She loved physics. She loved geometry. She loved math so much that she started a math club with some of her friends, other Hungarian students, with whom she met every Sunday afternoon in one of…
Easter Shoes
Posted May 10, 2024 by Sally Reed in Missions
Do you remember being excited to shop for new shoes in time for Easter? About 10 years ago, Cathy Edwards encouraged the Compass Community to consider a missions project to sponsor the cost of a pair of new shoes for each child at Gracewood. South Mainers, Gracewood staff, and families met at the nearby Walmart the first year, and it has become a tradition each spring, evolving to include other…
Transforming Families
Posted May 7, 2024 by JT Spoede in Missions
The theme verse for Operación San Andrés (OSA) is from John 6, where Jesus performs the miracle of feeding a crowd of 5,000. When Jesus realized the crowd was hungry, He tested the disciples by asking how they were going to feed the multitudes. Philip answered, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” Another of His disciples, Andrew, spoke up…
Monday Over Coffee: "Indelible"
Posted May 6, 2024 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
Back in the second grade as Mother’s Day approached, our art teacher gave each of us a lump of ceramic clay to shape, to form, to mold into an animal figure to give to our mothers for the upcoming holiday. I decided on bear cub shape.
Empowered for the Next Day
Posted May 1, 2024 by Amy Brown in Family Ministry
As we approach the end of another academic year, our hearts are filled with both pride and a touch of sadness as we prepare to recognize our graduating high school seniors. As a church, we have had the privilege of witnessing their growth, both spiritually and personally, throughout their lives. We have seen God's handiwork, guiding and shaping them into the confident and capable individuals they…
Monday Over Coffee: "Solar System"
Posted April 29, 2024 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
I recently visited the Houston Museum of Natural Science with a group from church, triggering a memory of something that happened to me long ago. When I was about ten, my fourth grade class ventured to this very same museum on a field trip. Presumably so that we might more fully experience and appreciate the place, we were given a list of things to find in the museum. A sort of scavenger hunt.…
The Act of Gathering
Posted April 23, 2024 by Lauren Gordy in Discipleship
Gathering around a table to share a meal has always been a top priority to my grandma. She started Sunday lunches when I was in elementary school, and we continue them to this day. Each Sunday, my family from across the Houston area gather to catch up, discuss the sermons we heard that morning, and start our week off together. Over the years, I’ve realized just how important the act of gathering…
Monday Over Coffee: "Wrestling"
Posted April 22, 2024 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
My son, Charlie, is a big fan of professional wrestling. He knows it’s not “real” in the way most professional sports are—that it’s scripted and staged for the giant audiences it draws. Nevertheless, he finds the dramatic storylines, the larger-than-life personalities, and the fireworks around the whole production entertaining and fun. That is to say, he knows what he’s watching.
New Family Around the Table
Posted April 16, 2024 by Matt Walton in Discipleship
New Member Orientation always concludes around the lunch table with Pastor Steve. As we tend the table together, we cultivate community among the family of God. During this lunch we model generosity of spirit, theological curiosity, and genuine vulnerability. These are the building blocks of a grace-filled faith family. During this lunch new members ask Pastor Steve anything they can think of…
Monday Over Coffee: "A Certain Kind of Joy"
Posted April 15, 2024 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
Baseball season has started, and I like baseball, which means I should be happy. But I’m not. Why? Because beginning now in the spring, through summer, and into early fall, my devotion to my favorite team unfortunately makes me vulnerable to wide and, some would say, silly mood swings based on something completely out of my control.
Moved by Compassion
Posted April 9, 2024 by Greg Funderburk in Discipleship
Over a dozen dedicated South Mainers, moved with this very sort of compassion, have been responding to Jesus’ call to visit the sick and infirm through our MainTies ministry for decades. Started in large part by South Mainer Lura Mash then carried on through the devotion of South Mainer Joyce Gardner, this ministry tethers those who are no longer able to attend worship services due to poor health…
Monday Over Coffee: "A Failure of Imagination"
Posted April 8, 2024 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
Following September 11, 2001, Congress and President Bush formed the independent, bipartisan group that became known as the 9-11 Commission. The men and women on the Commission were charged with preparing a report regarding the circumstances surrounding the attacks, with specific recommendations designed to prevent any such future attacks
Easter in Review
Posted April 3, 2024 by Steve Wells in Worship, Pastor, Lent
This year for Lent we followed Jesus on the Way of the Cross. Luke 9:51 tells us Jesus “resolutely set His face toward Jerusalem.” Every step He took after 9:51 was a step toward the cross. What we know now is that the cross is the only way to the empty tomb. The plan God has for each of us involves the cross.
Tend the Table
Posted April 2, 2024 by SMBC in Family Ministry, Discipleship, Missions
In April, South Main is joining with other churches in our community to emphasize the value of sitting down at a table to share a meal with one another and feeding the hungry. The hope is that as we Tend the Table together we will be inviting each other—family, friends, neighbors, and strangers—into a warm and beautiful context where meaning is generated and memorable and lasting connections are…
Monday Over Coffee: "Glück"
Posted April 1, 2024 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
Louise Glück (pronounced glik) was born in New York City in 1943. Her mother taught her Greek mythology as a child, then regaled her with heroic tales of Joan of Arc as she got older. Louise’s dad aspired to be a writer but instead fell into business with his brother-in-law, achieving commercial success after inventing what became known as the X-Acto knife.
Lent Devotion – A Remarkable Day on the Way
Posted March 28, 2024 by Craig Kaiser in Lent
A journey on The Way sounds very linear, organized, and action-oriented. We know why we are here and what we are doing between here and there. I haven’t always found it to be the case for me.
Lent Devotion – The Soundtrack of Life
Posted March 26, 2024 by Jordan McInnis in Lent
“School Bus” is the title I gave one of my most loved Spotify playlists. It’s a collection of punk rock songs that were popular when I was in middle and high school. I got my first hot pink iPod nano in fifth grade and my first iPod touch in eighth grade, and not a school day went by that I wasn’t jamming to these songs on the way to and from school.
Monday Over Coffee: "Sit"
Posted March 25, 2024 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
Growing up, three little books made a great impact on me as a young Christian: The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis, Your God is Too Small by J.B. Phillips and Sit, Walk, Stand by Watchman Nee. The insight packed inside these three slender volumes was profound.
Family Ministry Lenten Reading Plan
Posted March 25, 2024 by Family Ministry Team in Family Ministry, Lent
It is our final week of our Lenten reading plan. As you walk through this final week reflect on how you are able to journey through this week from the low of Good Friday to the highest of high on Easter.
