Lenten Devotional: February 14
Posted February 14, 2018 by Ann Sullivan in Lent
I find God anew when I am a conduit of his love. South Main's January sermons and a meditation by Archbishop Desmond Tutu led me to make a new commitment to share God's love. Years ago I communicated God's love as a writer sharing the gospel with thousands of nameless and faceless people. Nowadays my calling is to serve specific individuals, persons who can experience God's love through me. I…
Lenten Devotionals: How Do I Find God?
Posted February 13, 2018 by Steve Wells in Discipleship, Pastor, Lent
A few years ago, Father James Martin edited a collection of compelling essays. Martin, day by day, one by one, asked a group of writers, cultural leaders, and other interesting people, both famous and not so famous, to prayerfully consider, then answer this quintessential question: "How Do I Find God?" It's a great question for the Lenten season when the church calendar encourages us all to…
Kingdom Coming
Posted February 4, 2018 by SMBC in Discipleship
When I recite the Lord's Prayer in service each week, it never fails that the part about God's kingdom to come "on Earth as it is in Heaven" conjures imagery of grace, beauty, peace, color, and life all around us. The kicker is it's still being built—by us in partnership with God. What an honor! South Main is blessed in that everywhere you look—whether in the faces of our diverse congregation…
He Who Began a Good Work in You...
Posted January 31, 2018 by Steve Wells in Discipleship, Pastor
A phone call, an email, a notification—there are lots of reasons we drop one thing and move on to others dozens of times each day. It's sort of a way of life now, but there's real satisfaction in not just starting, but in completing a task. On a deeper level, we feel a sense of satisfaction each time we take on virtues of the Christian life as a discipline and carry them out such that they…
The King's Singers at South Main
Posted January 24, 2018 by Carey Cannon in Music
I have known of The King's Singers for decades but recently heard them live for the first time at the Mormon Tabernacle. When South Main's Sanctuary renovation was finally completed, I knew the acoustics were something to behold. The space is well balanced for musical highs and lows. I wanted to have opportunities for the congregation to hear more than just the organ, a chance for folks to…
Why Do I Tell Others About South Main?
Posted January 12, 2018 by Jennifer Gribble in Family Ministry, Discipleship
Many people know that I am the Marketing Coordinator for South Main. But whether or not I am on staff at the church, it has always been my ministry passion to tell people about this church. Sharing about South Main is a gift I get to give over and over, because this church is not just a place, it is family to us. Mark and I joined South Main in 2001, when South Main and Midtown Houston were in…
Life Above - January 2018
Posted January 4, 2018 by SMBC in All Articles
In the mid-1800?s, a 40-year-old man named Elisha Otis was called upon to convert an abandoned Yonkers, New York sawmill into a factory which made bed frames. The work required laborers to walk up and down multiple staircases many times a day. Otis, an inveterate tinkerer and innovative thinker, designed something he called a "safety elevator? which had a special braking mechanism on it…
End-of-Year Need: $0 - Thank You!
Posted January 1, 2018 by Steve Wells in Discipleship, Pastor
What a blessing! On December 1st of this year, we needed more money than we have ever needed—and more money than we have ever given in December—if we were to make the budget. For that matter, on December 17th, we needed more money than we have ever needed in December—and more money than we have ever given in December—to make the budget, just over $891,000. In only eleven days, your…
Advent Devotional December 25: This Little Light of Mine
Posted December 25, 2017 by SMBC in All Articles
I have come into the world as light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. John 12:46
Preparing for the Light of the World
Posted December 24, 2017 by Tom Ehlers in Advent
I remember the anticipation of Advent as a child. It was not the "eat fish on Friday" season, but rather this was the season of preparation for every child's favorite holiday: Christmas. My brothers and I knew that if the Advent wreath was coming out, so were the Christmas decorations. It was time to think about what we wanted Santa to bring us. My parents did a great job making sure Advent…
Finding a Tradition of our Own
Posted December 23, 2017 by Ryan Lane in Advent
The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: "I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way" ... a voice of one calling in the wilderness, "Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him." — Mark 1:1-3
The Light of the World is Jesus
Posted December 22, 2017 by Pat Hardesty in Advent
Handel's Messiah really brings this scripture to life for me when the soprano soloist very dramatically introduces the full chorus singing "Glory to God!" Music has always been the centerpiece of Christmas for me. I grew up in a very small town and a tiny church. Handel's Messiah was not in the repertoire, but we did have a Christmas program—not a "pageant" but a "program." We acted out the…
Won't You Join Us in Finishing 2017 South Main Strong?
Posted December 22, 2017 by Cathy Edwards and Anne Tülek in Discipleship
As our Advent journey continues and 2018 approaches, we each have an opportunity to reflect on the year and find the many ways God has worked in our lives. Despite the remarkably challenging events of 2017 in Houston, Texas, our faith encourages each of us to dwell in gratitude, and to continue to grow. Through the second week of November, South Main was abundantly blessed by the faithful…
Without Fear
Posted December 21, 2017 by Martha Doolittle in Advent
Fear has been a constant companion in my life. Fear of rejection, failure, even success. My earliest memory of rejection was as a little girl of five, standing in a grassy field watching my best friend throw my new birthday ring in the tall grass. The seeds of rejection and fear had been planted. As that plant flourished, I created coping mechanisms to fight the fear and prove that I was of…
End-of-Year Need: $584,323
Posted December 20, 2017 by Steve Wells in Discipleship, Pastor
On a rustic farm outside Maua, Kenya, 35 boys have been freed from a life of addiction and welcomed back into life in faith, family, and with the promise of a bright future.
In Collique, Peru, 3,000 patients this year were treated by a physician or dentist; 120 children received hot and healthy meals five days per week; and a church is growing in the middle of the community.
Anticipating Christmas
Posted December 20, 2017 by Marie Walton in Advent
The season of Advent is a time of wondrous anticipation for youngsters as they work on their Christmas lists and think about what gifts they will find on Christmas morning. You see joy in their eyes as they excitedly gaze through store windows wishing for that special day to finally get here. There are a myriad of songs focusing on the "little ones' Christmas joys." We frequently hear people…
Waiting for Things Promised
Posted December 19, 2017 by Livonia Glaves in Advent
Holidays on Westlake Drive were special, especially Christmas and especially if you were a five-year-old. Christmas was all about waiting and believing that something wonderful was going to happen. Believing was easy for this five-year-old and waiting was just part of the process.
My Heroes
Posted December 18, 2017 by Linda Gardner in Advent
Heroes and superheroes abound in popular culture today. Spider Man, Wonder Woman, and a variety of beings with ever more fantastic powers fill our movie and television screens. There are many heroes in the Christmas story as well. Mary was certainly brave to say to God's angel "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Joseph, likewise, risked possible…
Suffering. Death. Love.
Posted December 17, 2017 by Larissa Fletcher in Advent
These three words are not typically what people think about when they think about Christmas, but I do. Last Christmas was a mere two months since my husband, John, died. I was simply surviving at that point and taking the first steps as a "widow" and an "only parent."
God's Grilled Cheese
Posted December 16, 2017 by Brad Jernberg in Discipleship
These days, life for Margaret and me is at times both crazy and calm, hectic and hushed. The ups and downs of raising our two toddlers—William and Jack—mirror the frenetic pace of the Christmas season. But every once in a while, amid the sights and sounds of the season, a simple message speaks a complex truth. A few weeks ago I made grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner. Margaret and I had…
