When are the Glory Days? Lessons Learned from Heartland Part Two Editor's Note: This is part two of a three part series where Sheree Phillips, our pastor's wife, talks about the glory days of life in Northern Virginia. In part one of this series, I talked about Jack, a beloved character from a TV series Benny and I have been watching. It's amazing to me how God uses th...

Most people know what you’re obsessed with. It’s clear because you live devoted to you obsession. ...

I’m one of those crazy people who gets up early on Black Friday to shop. It’s a tradition my daughters and I have enjoyed for years. Frankly, I don’t buy much. For me it’s primarily a sentimental opportunity to spend time with my girls and have our yearly lunch at Olive Garden....

Recently, Sheree Phillips wrote a transparent and helpful post on the struggle of waiting for God. If you're like her (and me), then you probably have an aversion to waiting for just about anything. And the reality is that if you're a Westerner, you're probably just like us in this way. It's no new revelation that with our culture-wide embrace of fast food, fast cash, and ...

I will offend you. And you will offend me. This is the harsh reality of life as a part of God's eternal kingdom while still living in our sinful flesh as inhabitants of our broken world. As brothers and sisters in Christ we will offend each other, and it will likely happen often. I wish this was not true, but both experience and Scripture validate this hard truth (see Matt...

Something unexpected happened to me on Sunday morning. While I was preparing to teach for our children's ministry, Truth Miners, I was struck by the profundity of the passage I was about to teach from. One thing that never ceases to amaze me is how God reveals to both young and old the same truths in profound ways. I was so affected by what I studied that I want to share s...

There is something that's been on my heart about the life of our church (and others) for some time. Although I've discussed it briefly in various contexts I've never really sat down to try and succinctly articulate what it is...here it goes. I hope this turns out to be helpful for you. Week in and week out, as we gather together to lift up our Savior with one voice as a ch...

At age 60 I remember the days when church women’s ministries were focused on Titus 2: 3-5 which in part teaches women to be “keepers at home.” In fact, I was one of those pastor’s wives who taught this passage in our own church’s women’s ministry. Honestly, I benefited from this. I gained a vision for my home as the primary focus of my gifts and ministry. I lea...

This month in our cultural value series we are sharing thoughts on different issues women face. Last week, Janelle discussed the issue of women and image. This week I want to touch on the topic of women and work. When you think about women and work there is SO much that has already been said and written on the subject. I am not going to attempt to address the question on w...

If you've been around the church world long enough, you've probably heard someone somewhere talk about being "gospel-centered" - gospel-centered preaching, gospel-centered worship, gospel-centered counseling, gospel-centered everything. And you've probably had one of a number of reactions to these pretentious-sounding assertions of unique commitment to the gospel reactions...

In this, the third and final post of the series on worship, I am hoping that you have been challenged with how you prepare your heart, as well as your physical expressiveness in times of corporate worship. Today, I would like to stir up the pot a little with what is an ongoing debate amongst churches and hopefully encourage us all to use our gifts and talents for the glory...

For those of you who were not present to hear Jesse's message on Sunday, please do yourselves a favor and listen to it here. It was simply and profoundly inspiring. As he reminded us about God's relentless and merciful pursuit of us in our wanderings and rebellion, my soul was stirred afresh as I was reminded of the wonder and the power of God's great love for us, for me....

Often, we are tempted to place our hope in something other than Christ, and we are tempted to be constrained by something other than the Spirit....

Walking with Jesus is not for the faint of heart. Like the Hunger Games, we’re in a hostile world and should be on guard as we fight the good fight....

It’s a popular storyline--"a princess kisses a frog that is magically transformed into a prince. The obvious moral of the story is that handsome princes are better than frogs. But advancements in understanding of the human heart have cast doubt on this conventional wisdom. It may be that people, even handsome princes, are actually worse off than frogs....

Beginning on Sunday, November 3rd, Redeemer Church will hold its weekly meetings at Odyssey Middle School. Located just 5 minutes from Redeemer's current meeting place, Odyssey offers a recognizable landmark, room for growth and a number of practical benefits the church has been seeking for several months....

It was 50 years ago today that, arguably, one of the greatest speeches in American history was given on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Today we contemplate that historic day. As a local church, I want us to demonstrate this gospel-centered perspective of reconciliation in our personal lives and in our corporate expression....

Launching a new teaching series, Benny Phillips, pastor of Redeemer Church at Lake Nona, claimed that humanity faces an identity crisis. Citing a new book by Mark Driscoll ("Who Do You Think You Are"), he argued that most human problems can be traced to a lack of self-understanding....

Parenting is hard. You can get help! Please share it will your friends to invite them to our Redemptive Parenting seminar, June 14-15. More information and signup here....

As Christians we are tempted to push God away from the center of our lives, and to replace him with heart idols. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ helps us to identify idols, turn from them and keep God in his rightful place at the center of our lives....

Today we rehearsed a story of humiliation and triumph, in which Jesus Christ bore the penalty for sins that he did not commit in order to save the very people whose rejection of him led to his death (Isaiah 52-53)....

Recap of our Sunday gathering. Benny Phillips preached on our Abounding Hope from Isaiah 11:1-10, continuing our series on the Gospel According to Isaiah....

"It's Time! It's Time!" The world was about to change forever. And it almost went by unnoticed... Join us Sunday Morning December 16th as the Truth Miners present "Song of the Stars" A Christmas Story...

Don't forget to change your clocks back one hour this Saturday night, Nov. 3rd, because DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME ends at 2:00 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 4th....

Solid Joys is a free application available from Desiring God (for iPhone and iPad) which provides a short daily devotional excerpt from the ministry of John Piper....

One of our members, Liz, is battling cancer and a sweet friend of ours, Rose, made a beautiful quilt to raise funds to help with expenses. Here is Rose's explanation of why she had this idea. ...

The following testimony was shared by Kara Sherman in September of 2011. ...

Along with evangelism prayer can often seem like the most excruciating discipline of a Christian's life. But perhaps unlike evangelism it is not so much a result of forgetful negligence, but rather our seemingly half-hearted, faith-deficient offerings before God that lead us to feel God's proverbial pebble in our shoe...

History isn't very important to a lot of people. But my husband was a history major who has transferred his love of history to our family. Sometime I will have to blog about the competition five of our kids engaged in with the same college history professor… This morning at Redeemer Church history was on display. ...

I don't remember the first time we met him, but it was close to 10 years ago. Alex was just out of high school and wanted to be a professional musician. He was giving his life to this goal - and it resulted in him leaning away from the church in which his family had been involved for years. ...

Today I got to spend the afternoon with an old friend. We laughed; joked; shared Starbucks and a scone; playfully mocked others she was interacting with; and, at one point, fought back tears. She was gushing with gratitude at a recent box she received in the mail from faraway friends who surprised her and her husband with Valentine gifts. And then there was the generous ch...

At one of our pre-launch Sunday night meetings in December we were singing a familiar song and floods of memories came over me remembering nights when I had sung that same song flat on my face in a puddle of tears and sorrow. ...

"The gospel, applied to our hearts every day, frees us to be brutally honest with ourselves and with God. The assurance of His total forgiveness of our sins through the blood of Christ means we don't have to play defensive games anymore. We don't have to rationalize and excuse our sins. We can say we told a lie instead of saying we exaggerated a bit. We can admit an unforg...