North Park Reformed Church

09/09/2026

Good morning and welcome to Wednesday Wondering. I'm wondering, did you have a mountaintop experience this summer? You know, on top of that mountain, that high spot, to watch the sunrise or the sunset, to take in the beautiful views of the world, of nature, of all of God's creation? Maybe it wasn't this summer, maybe it was a year ago, or maybe 10 years ago, but do you remember the beauty, the peace, the amazing mountaintop experience?

And then there's these words from Deuteronomy 1, verse 6. The Lord our God spoke to us in Oreb, saying, you have dwelt long enough at this mountain. God said, enough, no more mountaintop, time to move on. What a challenge that we can't live our life on top of the mountain. We must go down and live life in the valley and allow for God to move and for us to glorify God and for God's power to be unleashed. And yet it's enticing to stay on the mountaintop. So today, I'm just wondering, have you had enough of the mountaintop? It's time to come to the valley and do the ministry of Christ and eventually let others see the amazing eternal mountaintop. God bless. Have a great day.

If you didn't catch Pastor Paul's phone message, dial 877.698.3261. You will hear the prompt "To listen to your Group's latest message, press 1."

09/02/2026

Good morning and welcome to Wednesday Wondering, or Wednesday Wow Wondering. What am I getting at? A simple scripture passage, 2 Corinthians 5.18 says, Now all things are of God who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. How about it? I know that we understand we're called to love God and to love our neighbors, but when it's put this way, what a challenge. A ministry of reconciliation in our world filled with opinions, filled with division, We're called to reconcile. How tragic when God's messengers of peace harbor hatred, distrust towards one another. It truly is a travesty to carry a message of grace and of love and yet be filled with hatred and finger pointing. So this morning, I'm thinking, wow. Love God, love your neighbor, and a ministry of reconciling with people. I'm wondering, are we up to it? Are you up to it? Am I up to it? That's what we're called to, reconcile, because God reconciled with us. God bless, and have a great day.

If you didn't catch Pastor Paul's phone message, dial 877.698.3261. You will hear the prompt "To listen to your Group's latest message, press 1."

08/12/2026

Good morning and welcome to Wednesday Wondering. I'm wondering, do you really listen to these things or do you just kind of roll your eyes and hang up or quickly delete? I'm wondering whether or not something else is more important. I guess you could say I'm jealous. What could be more important than a wise, insightful thought for the week?
You know what? It says in Deuteronomy 4:24, "For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God." My whole life I've struggled with this idea of "jealous God" because jealousy usually means something that is resentful or suspicious or negative. How can God be that way? And yet this devotional really made me see a jealous God in a different way. How God is jealous of things that get in the way of a great relationship with God. Think about that. It's because God loves us so much and wants that close relationship. He's just frustrated with the things that get in the way.
Anyway, I'm just wondering... Do you understand how much God loves you? And that that jealousy is a beautiful, wonderful thing. God bless. Have a great day.
https://mailchi.mp/35ced5f42d81/wednesday-wondering-81226

07/08/2026

Our brother in Christ gone too soon. Thankful for the knowledge he is with our Savior in Heaven!

To view an obituary from our Obituaries Archive, please select the obituary or use the search bar to search for an obituary.

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...