First Presbyterian Church of Dallas

06/03/2026

The first Christians stood out.

Not because they were louder than everyone else.
Not because they won every argument.
Not because they had life figured out.

They stood out because they carried a hope that didn't make sense to the world around them.

Peter tells them to be ready to explain that hope whenever someone asks.

Which raises an uncomfortable question:

If no one ever asks about our hope, have we become too much like everyone else?

This clip reflects on why a "normal" life may not be the goal of Christian discipleship. The resurrection doesn't just change what we believe. It changes what we live for, what we fear, and what we hope for.

Maybe that's what makes Christians a little eccentric.

06/02/2026

The world is good at sorting people.

Successful and unsuccessful.
Insiders and outsiders.
Useful and disposable.

Peter offers a different vision.

"The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone."

What was dismissed becomes essential. What was overlooked becomes precious. What seemed unfit for the project becomes part of God's new creation.

The church has always been built from surprising materials.

Not perfect people. Not the obvious choices.

Just ordinary people gathered by grace and shaped into something they could never become alone.

God is building with people.

Even if they came from the discard pile.

06/01/2026

A skilled foreman doesn't choose a stone based only on appearance.

They listen.

A strike of the hammer reveals something hidden beneath the surface. The ring of the stone tells a story about its strength, its integrity, and whether it can become part of something larger.

Peter's image of "living stones" invites us to imagine God listening in much the same way.

Not judging by appearances. Not measuring worth by status, success, or polish.

Listening for something deeper.

Some stones get overlooked. Some get passed by. Some are judged too rough, too broken, or too ordinary to matter.

Yet Peter reminds us that Jesus was "the stone that the builders rejected."

The gospel is full of things the world overlooked.

This clip reflects on what God hears when God finds us and how God's judgment can be very different from our own.

05/26/2026

Gentleness is not the absence of speech. It is the absence of contempt.

05/19/2026

Pentecost is almost here, and we’re celebrating together.⁠
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Join us after worship for our Pentecost Picnic with food and our church. Wear red, bring a friend, and stay awhile.⁠ We'll also be celebrating our Class of 2026 graduates with ! ⁠
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There’s always room at the table.⁠
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Sunday, May 24⁠
Byrd Hall⁠
12–1 PM⁠
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05/06/2026

We are looking forward to hosting the University of Michigan Men's Glee Club tomorrow evening, Thursday, May 7, at 7 pm for the first concert of their southern US tour. The University of Michigan Men's Glee Club is the second oldest collegiate chorus in the United States and has long been acclaimed as one of the finest male choruses in the world. This concert is free and open to all!

University of Michigan Men's Glee ClubSoon Ah Will Be Done - William L. Dawson© Copyright, 1934, Arr. © 1947, © Copr., Ren. 1962 by William L. Dawson, Tuskeg...

05/06/2026

NOT ALL SUFFERING MEANS THE SAME THING

Some suffering just happens to us. Loss, poverty, violence. Bruises that last a long time.

Like Job and Naomi, we can be loved by God and still not be spared from pain.

But there's another kind. The kind that finds you because you're chasing God's righteousness.

The way of Christ costs something: love and more love, forgiveness and more forgiveness, turning the cheek again and again.

Following Jesus means absorbing the hits the world says you shouldn't take.

But turning our feet toward love, one step at a time, is worth every turn. Every step.

When we suffer for God's righteousness, the gospel becomes liberation.

Blessed are those who are persecuted. That promise is for the ones still walking.

05/05/2026

What makes grace so radical is not how big it looks, but how quiet it is.

It shows up in restraint. In choosing not to return harm. In trusting God enough to respond differently.

This is the way of Jesus. And it rarely happens all at once.

It happens step by step.

05/04/2026

Jesus willingly entered into the suffering of others and has mercy on them, saying, ‘I know you are suffering.’

We don’t usually choose the hard road.

But Jesus didn’t avoid suffering.
He stepped into it.

Not to explain it.
To be with us in it.

And now we follow.
Step by step.

04/30/2026

Farmers understand something we often forget. Not every field is meant to produce all the time.

There are seasons where the land rests. Where nothing visible is happening. And yet, that rest is part of what allows future growth.

The same can be true in how we love.

Not every act of love produces an immediate result. Not every effort is returned or recognized. Sometimes it feels quiet, even unproductive.

But stretched-out love trusts that even what we cannot see is still doing something.

That kind of love is patient. It stays present. And over time, it forms something real.