This blog contains comments and teaching regarding living the Christian faith and comments on the intersection of faith and many other aspects of life from pop culture to science. It also has some stories--hopefully they are amusing stories--from my life. ~Dan
Showing posts with label E-flash from dan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label E-flash from dan. Show all posts
Friday, August 14, 2026
Monday, August 3, 2026
Tuesday, July 28, 2026
Friday, July 24, 2026
Friday, July 10, 2026
Friday, May 29, 2026
Friday, May 15, 2026
Friday, May 1, 2026
Friday, February 20, 2026
Friday, July 30, 2021
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
E-Flash From Dan - Thanksgiving Eve, 11/23/16
Dear E-Flash Friends;
Are you experiencing genuine gratitude for the many
blessings of life? I hope you are able to say a resounding “yes” in response to
that question.
I can think of a great way to celebrate our joy and
thankfulness. Yep, you guessed it: Join us at the Thanksgiving Eve service
tonight, Wednesday, November 23rd, at 7pm. The worship team will be
leading us in a wonderful time of Thanksgiving praise; we will be celebrating
Communion together; and I have a message which I believe will remind us and
challenge us to be grateful to the Lord Jesus for His goodness.
Hope you can make it. You will be blessed!
Love and blessings,
Dan
First Church of God
4600 W. 111th Street
Oak Lawn, IL
Friday, September 2, 2016
E-Flash From Dan, September 2, 2016
Dear
E-Flash Friends;
Jesus
tells a group of people at a church in a place called Laodicea [my paraphrase],
“You’re not hot or cold. You are lukewarm. It’s the lukewarm part that bothers
me. In fact, it makes me want to spit you out of my mouth.”
I know. I
know. That is a vivid metaphor and it is a pretty unusual thing to say to a
church. You might be thinking, “What is He getting at?”
I’m glad
you asked! That’s what we will be talking about this Sunday, September 4th.
We are finishing up our series on the 7 messages to 7 churches from the book of
Revelation. It is going to be interesting, challenging and helpful. Really!
It is
Friday night as I write these words and the worship team rehearsal just ended.
So I know from firsthand experience, we will have some terrific music. God will
be honored.
You won’t
want to miss it!
I realize
it is Labor Day weekend but it seems to me the best plan for Sunday morning
would be something like this: Get up. Go to church, first. And then do whatever
else the day holds.
(…Hey, a
guy can express his hopes and desires, right?)
Speaking
of expressing my hopes, I hope to see you this Sunday!
Love and
blessings,
Dan
First
Church of God
4600 W.
111th Street
Oak Lawn,
IL
9am or
11am
Saturday, July 16, 2016
E-Flash From Dan, July 16, 2016
Dear E-Flash Friends;
I am glad to be back in Oak Lawn and am really looking
forward to worshiping with my church family this Sunday. There is a feeling of
enthusiasm I have for speaking and teaching this week that I have not had in a
while. I’m not even sure I can explain it. I love to preach God’s word but I
have a sort of fresh excitement and anticipation.
Well, whether I can explain this excitement or not
(and I can’t) I suppose I should consider it to be a good thing (and I do).
We are starting a new series this Sunday, July 17th
from the book of Revelation. The title of the series is: 7 Letters To 7
Churches. On July 17th, the first message of the series will present
the message Jesus had for the church at Ephesus. It is a message that is relevant,
interesting and helpful to our church today!
The worship team has wonderful, inspiring, God
honoring music planned and we will be celebrating Communion, as well.
You will want to be here this Sunday! Seriously. God
will be honored and we will be blessed!
See you on Sunday!
Love and blessings,
Dan
Saturday, June 18, 2016
E-Flash From Dan, June 18, 2016
Dear E-Flash Friends;
What would happen if we would actually put our hope
and trust in the Lord?
According to the Bible there is a significant strength
which is available to those who trust God. Sounds interesting, huh? Good. That’s
what we will be talking about this Sunday, June 19th. You are
invited to come and learn from this tremendously encouraging passage which is
found in the book of Isaiah chapter 40!
We will honor our dads tomorrow, as well.
The worship team has a great time planned for us.
During the rehearsal, last night, I was caught up in the music at several points
and with excitement I thought, “This is going to be a special time of praising
God!”
Why not invite dad to come along with you? It is
going to be a wonderful day! Really.
Looking forward to seeing you Sunday!
Love and blessings,
Dan
Friday, June 10, 2016
E-Flash From Dan, June 10, 2016
Dear E-Flash Friends;
The prophet Isaiah wrote about Jesus long before He
was born and told us some of the titles that would apply to Him, such as,
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace.
What do these titles mean?
Glad you asked. We will be addressing that question
this Sunday, June 12th. I hope you are planning to be here. It will
be a blessing!
The worship team is planning some tremendous music
and we will be taking Communion, as well.
I can’t think of any place I’d rather be.
Hawaii? Nope.
Grand Tetons? Nope.
Paris? Nope.
Oak Lawn? Yes!!!
And I genuinely hope to see you!
Hey I have a great idea. Invite a friend to come
along. He or she will be encouraged and inspired by the good news of Jesus,
too!
Love and blessings,
Dan Marler
First Church of God
4600 W. 111th Street
Oak Lawn, IL
Service times: 9am and 11am
P.S. All Wednesday evening programming—for both
adults and children—is now on a summer break. We will resume on Wednesday,
August 3rd.
Friday, June 3, 2016
E-Flash From Dan - June 3, 2016
Dear E-Flash Friends;
More than 600 years before Jesus was born a prophet
wrote about some of the details of His life with surprising insight and
accuracy. And believe it or not what this prophet wrote is very relevant to our
lives today. We are going to look at the writings I’m talking about—writings by
the prophet Isaiah—this Sunday, June 5th.
We will also be having a prayer time with the elders
in between the two services. If you have a need for which you would like prayer
please feel free to come. The prayer time will begin around 10:15 a.m.
I hope you can join us! I know you will be blessed.
Invite a friend to come along. He or she will be blessed by the good news we
read in the book of Isaiah, too!
I’m looking forward to Sunday. And I’m looking
forward to seeing you!
Love and blessings,
Dan Marler
First Church of God
4600 W. 111th Street
Oak Lawn, IL
Service times: 9am and 11am
P.S. All Wednesday evening programming—for both
adults and children—is now on a summer break. We will resume again on
Wednesday, August 3rd.
P.P.S – Click on the link and check out the latest
edition of the Minute And A Half of God Stuff Podcast. It is quick and
inspiring!
Link… http://visitusonline.org/scmedia.php?type=mediaplayer&loc=visitusonline.org/media/media/mediaplayer.php&id=2016060210063734F7AA
Friday, May 27, 2016
E-Flash From Dan - May 27, 2016
Dear E-Flash Friends;
As a teacher, I love to deal with areas of faith in
which confusion exists and attempt to bring clarity. (Okay sure, sometimes this
does not work as well as I would like but that’s another discussion for another
day… Lol!)
This Sunday, May 29th, we will be dealing
with a passage of scripture and an aspect of the Christian faith in which there
is much confusion. I am looking forward to addressing this subject. In the
passage, we find this line: “When we display our righteous deeds, they are
nothing but filthy rags.” (Isaiah 64:6)
You might be thinking, “What?!? What in the world is
that supposed to mean?!? Is that really in the Bible, Dan?”
Good. I’m glad you asked. Yes, it is in the Bible. Come
this Sunday and we will dive in.
I’ve been chomping at the bit regarding this message.
I am fired up!
We will also take a moment to think about the
significance of Memorial Day and remember those who have died for our freedoms.
If you come, you will be blessed!
In fact, I have a great idea. Invite a friend to
come along. Your friend will be blessed, too!
See you on Sunday!
Love and blessings,
Dan Marler
First Church of God
4600 W. 111th Street
Oak Lawn, IL
Service times: 9am and 11am
P.S. All Wednesday evening programming—for both
adults and children—is now on a summer break. We will resume again on
Wednesday, August 3rd.
Thursday, March 24, 2016
E-Flash From Dan, March 23, 2016
Dear E-Flash Friends;
We are geared up and excited here at the church.
We’ve been having rehearsals in the evenings, people are praying, invitations
are being extended, I’m still tweaking and honing an Easter message I pray will
be interesting, helpful, inspiring, challenging and used by God. The time has
almost arrived for our Easter services.
I know most of you are aware but I’ll mention the
schedule again:
Good Friday service, March 25, 7pm
Easter services, Saturday, March 26, at 5pm and
Sunday March 27 at 9 and 11am.
I’m already thanking God for the good things I know
He is going to do!
Can you think of someone you might invite? Why not
take a little risk and make an invitation. The worst that could happen is the
person would say “no thanks.” The best that could happen is a person could
potentially have a life-changing encounter with the risen Lord Jesus. Who
knows?
I’m looking forward to seeing you this weekend.
He is risen!
Love and blessings,
Dan
P.S. We created an Easter invitation video. It’s
humorous and fun. Click on the link to watch. Perhaps you could pass this along
to a friend.
Friday, February 26, 2016
E-Flash From Dan, February 26, 2016
Dear
E-Flash Friends;
One of
the most wonderful and important truths of Christianity is the truth of
victory. We are overcomers in Christ Jesus.
“…Because
the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” 1John4:4
I have
been reminded of the inspiring truth of victory in Jesus as I have been
reading, studying and preparing this week. We have some terrific services
coming this Sunday. We are starting a new series on Spiritual Warfare. It is
going to be interesting, challenging and encouraging!
Also,
we will be celebrating baptisms this Sunday. Our baptism services are always
some of our most exciting times together in the course of the year. Watching
our brothers and sisters in Christ make a public profession of their faith will
be a great time of celebration and spiritual victory.
“…[F]or
everyone born of God overcomes the world.” 1John 5:4
This
is definitely going to be a Sunday you won’t want to miss!
Looking
forward to seeing you!
Love
and blessings
Dan
First
Church of God
4600
W. 111th Street
Oak
Lawn, IL
Service
times: 9am and 11am
Friday, February 5, 2016
E-Flash From Dan, February 5, 2016 - Super Bowl 50 Edition
Dear
E-Flash Friends;
I just
saw the results of a large nationwide survey which indicated that a significant
majority of Americans said the best way to start the day, on Super Bowl Sunday,
was to go to church. In fact, many of them expressed a strong desire to hear a
sermon in order to really get the day rolling properly.
What a
fantastic finding, huh? That information makes me feel terrific!
Um…
Hold
on…
Wait a
minute…
…Okay,
I admit I just made up those survey results. I’m sorry. There was no such study
conducted. This is just another example of my wishful thinking hard at work.
But hey, can you blame a guy for trying to be optimistic and hopeful?
The
truth is I’m hoping you will be at church this Sunday, Feb. 7th,
because we are going to have some terrific services. I have been preparing
diligently and am excited to be talking about the truth that God provides for
us. Our awareness of this important reality can genuinely make a difference in
our lives.
And
the worship team has some wonderful music planned.
I was
talking with a friend today who told me that when the worship team leads us in
the services it is a time of joy! I agree.
You
won’t want to miss this great chance to be joyful!
By the
way, in all seriousness, the Super Bowl has a later start time this year. It starts
at 5:30 p.m., Central time. So you could come to either the 9am or 11am service
and still watch the game; the pre-game programming; the pre-pre game
programing; and have plenty of time to eat tons of chicken wings. (Just trying
to offer some helpful info.)
Hope
to see you this Sunday!
Love
and blessings
Dan
P.S.
Coming to the services this Sunday will not result in any conflict if you are
planning to watch Downton Abbey either.
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