North Park Reformed Church

06/03/2026

Good morning. Welcome to Wednesday Wondering. I'm wondering if you might remember an old TV show, actually the song that introduced it. It went something like, "People, let me tell you 'bout my best friend. He's a warm-hearted person who'll love me till the end."
How about it? Who's your best friend? Who are your friends? It's amazing, in John, it says this, "No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends. For all things that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you." (15:15) Wow.
Jesus calls his disciples, calls us, friends. If you look in Scripture, there are only a couple people who were friends to God, and that would have been Abraham and Moses. But Jesus says his disciples are his friends, that he fills us in with the most intimate details of his Father's plans, that he walks with us and talks with us. And so today, I'm wondering, who is your friend, your best friend? And are we telling people about that best friend, that warm-hearted friend who loves us to the end? Hope you have a blessed and wonderful day. God bless.

"No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you."

05/25/2026

05/20/2026

Good morning and welcome to Wednesday Wondering. I'm wondering, what are you doing for Memorial Day? You know that it's a time when we honor those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country. But sometimes we set that bar so high for ourselves. We think just making a small difference is nothing. And yet we've got to remember it does make a difference.
Even in the church, we think about martyrs or missionaries, but what we do, insignificant. But then you read these words, "Assuredly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her." Mark 14:9. Again, just pouring out perfume on Jesus, a simple act, that makes all the difference - memorialized. Or Matthew 10:42, "Whoever gives a cup of cold water to one of these little ones..." How about it? We don't have to do grand things, but we just have to move and give cups of cold water to people in our world to make a difference in the name of Christ.
So, it's Memorial Day, or soon to be. Take some time. Think about how you've made a difference, how others have. And maybe say thank you to them or yourself as well. God bless. Have a great day.

"Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."

05/13/2026

Good morning and welcome to Wednesday Wondering. I'm wondering, do you know you've got something in your teeth? Oh, or maybe your zipper's down. Or, wow, have you been sleeping okay? You've kind of got bags under your eyes. Or maybe you should brush your teeth. You've got bad breath. All things we don't like to hear, and yet faithful friends will be honest. Again, enemies, well, they'll just get what they want. But a faithful friend, sometimes it hurts a little.
It says in Proverbs, "Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful." (Proverbs 27:6) So often, in our attempt to appease friends or our reluctance to share a word from God or to hold people accountable who we love, we can actually do a lot of harm. We need to be willing to be honest. Even if it's dangerous, painful, maybe if it hurts us a little as well, we need to hold each other accountable.
So today, when you think about those people who are your friends, when you think about people who you love, are you being honest or are you appeasing them? Because, again, you just don't want to hurt them. "Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful." Be honest, not deceitful. God bless. Have a great day.

Jesus never gave relief to people who were under conviction. When Zacchaeus, who was in remorse for his sin, shared his generous plans for restitution, Jesus did not say, “Now Zacchaeus, the important thing is that you feel sorry for what you did.” Jesus brought no comfort to him as he deal...

05/06/2026

Good morning and welcome to Wednesday Wondering. I'm wondering, why is it that you go to church? That's right. Why do you get up on a Sunday morning and head to church? Is it to see friends? Is it to maybe have a cup of coffee? Maybe sing a song? Why do you go to a Bible study? Why do you go on a mission trip? Why is it that we do all of these religious activities? Do we think to ourselves, hey, we're doing this for God?
Remember these words from Exodus. "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself." Exodus 19. God puts these things in our lives to bring us to a living God. So often we get caught up in the activity, the action, what we're doing, checking the box, checking things off a list. Look what I've done. But the truth is God gives us opportunities like worship and mission and evangelism and outreach not to do something, but to be brought to God, the very feet of Jesus.
So today, don't get caught up in what you're doing. Get caught up on meeting God face to face. Come to worship hoping to meet God. Do whatever you do for the glory of God and the kingdom of God. God bless. Have a great day.

God did not deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt so that they could enjoy the Promised Land. He freed them from their bo***ge so they could come to know and worship Him. Three months after they left Egypt, God reminded His people why He had delivered them “on eagles’ wings.” It was...

04/29/2026

Good morning and welcome to Wednesday Wondering. I'm wondering, do you abide by the rules? You know, that's usually the way we use that word. Do you abide by the rules? Do you abide by the law? Do you, you know, follow the way?
And yet, in Scripture it says this, "I'm the vine and you are the branches. They who abide in me and I in them will bear much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5) Abiding really means resting or, again, the idea of completely being with, abiding in someone, with someone. Do we abide with Jesus?
See, we get caught up in doing things. We get caught up in, again, whether it be going to church or doing a service project, and we do, do, do. And yet Jesus says you have to abide. We have to rest in him. We have to be able to be part of the kingdom and rest in that. So this morning, I'm wondering, can you abide? Can you just completely trust and rest in Christ? After that, the rest will come naturally. God bless and have a great day.

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

04/29/2026

04/22/2026

Good morning, and welcome to Wednesday Wondering. I'm wondering, are you a Mary or a Martha? I've heard that question my whole life. Are you a Mary? Are you a Martha?
But I'd like to make it maybe just a little bit bigger. Are you a Mary, a Martha, a John, a Peter, a Paul? The list goes on. You know their names, people who followed, people who walked with Jesus, people who served. The truth is, when it comes to Mary and Martha, it's all about their relationship with Jesus.
"Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of oil." (John 12:3) That was Mary's deal with Jesus. Martha's was different. So was Peter. So was John. So was yours. So was mine. The way we express our love for Jesus depends on the kind of relationship that we've developed with him. Our love for him grows. And as it grows, the way we express it changes. So today, just be you. And celebrate the love that God has for you in Jesus, and in turn, show the world your love for Jesus. God bless. Have a great day.

Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.