In these weeks leading up to Good Friday and Easter Sunday, we are exploring that which Jesus finishes. What he is done with. What he is so over. We've seen how he is so over celebrity and talked about how he is done with pirate playing. This Sunday, it will be all...

Below you will find the transcript of Chris Thayer's sermon from this past Sunday, March 26. We diverted from our usual Sunday program in which Zoar Road gets my sermon on hologram (hi def, life-size video).  Instead, to celebrate the one year anniversary of the...

For 2017, we have added Staff Seminary to our repertoire of how our staff gathers. What is Staff Seminary?  It's a monthly workshop in which our staff receives interactive training in the skills of ministry.  We have scheduled ten such gatherings in 2017, and I am...

While it can be dangerous to attach too much importance to single verses of Scripture -- thereby yanking them out of context -- nevertheless there is something so powerful about certain sentences in the bible. Especially those that speak of eternal life. These are the...

This one was different. Instead of following the ME-WE-GOD-YOU-WE format inspired by Andy Stanley, yesterday's message began with the text itself, Luke 22:47-51.  Actually, it began with the texts before the text, exploring how Luke 22:36-38 and 39-45 put swords and...

We've got . . . Swashbucklin' Sword swingin' Ear choppin' Jesus lovin' all in store for this Sunday. In a story that makes so much more sense when you know the story behind it, we seeing what Jesus "finishes" next as he heads to the ultimate "It is finished" moment....

It's the fall of 1994.  Taylor has just started kindergarten. Riley has just turned two. I like wearing pleated khaki slacks and plaid short sleeve shirts. Julie, apparently, is the photograher. We're in the Mt. Carmel parsonage in what remains one of our family's...

This may be wishful thinking and it is admittedly anecdotal, but I’ve noticed a shift in the kinds of new people coming into the life of Good Shepherd these days. In earlier seasons of this church’s life, we seemed to get a lot of people who were looking for “a better...

I remember that time several years ago when I told a friend I wasn't sure I'd still be in ministry once I turned 55 because I didn't think I'd still have anything of value to contribute to the church or to the world. Wooops.  I'm now 55.  And a half.  55.5 if you're...

I thought I was really going to miss The Path Of Most Resistance. But I guess I don't. This message hit home with a lot of folks, and, coupled with some dynamic musical responses, proved to be an entree for people to enter into a living relationship with Jesus Christ....