Nebuchadnezzar's "Faith"

As we've continued on our journey through the book of Daniel, I'm really fascinated by the way that Nebuchadnezzar grows in his faith. I'm not sure we could ever say that he ever got to the point where he had what would be considered to be a "saving faith", but it sure is interesting to see how he grows in his understanding of God through the dreams and events he experiences. It reminds us that our...

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Outward Focus

Rick Rusaw has written an interesting article titled "Leading Your Church with an External Focus". I think he has some pretty good thoughts on how churches need to balance our inward and outward focus. This goes along quite well with some of the things we learned about in our last sermon series from Acts. I hope you'll take the time to read it and share any thoughts you ha...

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Giving Thanks

In a way, it's kind of a shame that we have to set aside a special day each year to give thanks. For those of us who have a personal relationship with Jesus, we have much to be thankful for each and every day - not just once a year. Here are a few of the things I'm thankful for:A wonderful godly wife who has put up with me for nearly 30 yearsParents who cared enough about me to discipline me when...

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Daniel Chapter 2

One of the reasons I love the Book of Daniel so much is that Daniel and his three friends are so sure of their faith at such a young age. I'm not sure that even 30 years after becoming a believer I always have such a faith. Daniel had to be very confident in his God to go into Nebuchadnezzar and offer to interpret his dream. I often wonder what it takes to have that kind of confidence in God, to be...

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Caring for our community

After looking at Acts 3:1-10 yesterday, I issued a challenge to all of us to move outside of our comfort zone and look for someone that has a need this week and then use whatever we have at our disposal to meet that need. Let me know how your experiences go this week. I hope you'll be willing to share those expereinces with the rest of us so we can all be encourag...

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Daniel Chapter 1

Yesterday, we took a look at how Daniel and his friends handled the situation when they were asked to do something that violated their principles and convictions. We saw how these three young teenage boys held to their convictions and came up with some creative solutions to allow them to be respectful, yet still not violate their convictions.I think there is a lot we could learn from Daniel and his...

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Daniel Bible Study

We began our study of the Book of Daniel in our Adult Bible Study yesterday morning. We looked at some of the background of the book. This next Sunday, we'll be looking at Daniel Chapter 1, so try to read it through a couple of times this week. Remember, if you miss any of our studies email me at patdamiani@comcast.net and I'll email you a copy of the less...

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Balance in Our Church

Yesterday in my message, I talked about the importance of having balance in our church. I'd like to get your thoughts about which of the five areas - maturity, melding, ministry, magnification and multiplication - our church excels in and which areas we need to focus on more. Let me know what you thi...

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Welcome!

Welcome to this new blog. The reason for creating this blog is not that I just had so much time on my hands that I thought I'd create some more work for myself. But I did want to provide a way for those both inside and outside the Thornydale Family Church family (there's a mouthful) to engage in an exchange of ideas.I'll be posting links to my weekly sermons (which will hopefully also be available...

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