Petersburg Church of Christ

09/02/2026

"Sanctuary of Love"

You know, true love is an interesting and complex topic.

Love nurtures. Love sacrifices. Love serves. Love encourages.

Love also disciplines. Love admonishes. Loves rebukes. Love forgives.

The complexity of love is difficult to fathom. It is tender but also needs to be tough. You can make a case that the love of God is the most misunderstood and abused attribute He shares with us.

How can a loving God be this...

How can a loving God be that...

Let us not forget this, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8 (NIV)

To me, the most important adjective to describe love is sacrificial. What Jesus endured to spare you from eternal damnation is incomprehensible.

That, brothers and sisters, is the message that every pastor should hold at the top of their priority list. Judgement is reserved for God. The only hope I have to offer is the message of the cross. All churches that elevate Jesus as Lord must first become a sanctuary of love if you ever want to truly reach people. I am not referring to cheap grace where everything is tolerated. True biblical love is balanced by accountability to God and each other!

To love in a biblical way takes effort and the right blend of the adjectives we have already mentioned above. While being perfect in all of them is not practical, GROWING in these areas is a must if you want to be healthy.

"Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die." Romans 5:7 (NIV)

God died for us when we had completely turned away from Him to show us how to get back home!

Now tell me again why you think you are unworthy of His love?

08/30/2026

Hey there! Awesome to see you in church this morning, if you didn’t make it or want to share please click the link below! God bless! 🙏🏻

Thanks for doing us in church today, lets take this message and app...

08/28/2026

Hmmm?

"Caught Speeding"

You are busted! I saw you this week. It doesn't matter that you thought no one was looking. Consider me the "life perspective" police and you are busted!

You have been caught speeding through many different parts of your life. Let's start with relationships. Who do you need to slow down with and cherish your time together better. Have you been speeding through your children's lives? What about your spouse or long time friends? Why are you in such a hurry? You only get one life.

Not only have you been caught speeding in your relationships with people here on earth, you are receiving a much larger fine for speeding through your relationship with God. As the whole world sucks you into going faster and faster, what are the consequences.

Have you been feeling empty lately? Void of any real subtsance of love and connection? What about depressed, anxious, or easily frustrated.

To be blatantly honest, you are speeding towards the end of your earthly life and missing so many wonderful things because "you were just driving with traffic, right?"

As believers, we are called to stand apart from the crowd because we will stand before God and give an account for what we have done...How many speeding tickets will you have on that day?

I have one verse for you to consider this weekend as we depart from each other until Monday.

Psalms 46:10 (NIV) says, "He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

When we slow down and know God, we don't feel the need to drive the same speed as everyone else. We become content in the slow lane.

So, slow down this weekend and reach out to that friend or relative you havn't had time to call or text. Here is a crazy idea...go share a meal together. Invite your adult children over for dinner and don't take no for an answer. If your children are still in the home, make time apart from your agenda to be with them and away from the distractions.

Finally, recognize that God wants you to slow down and exalt the very name of Jesus because He gave up His life to save you! His name will forever be exalted.

I will tell you what I am going to do. I'm going to let you off with a warning this time. If you are caught speeding again through life, I will have no choice but to double the fine.

Have a safe and blessed weekend!

08/24/2026

There's nothing better than a full house and a baptism! We praise God and give Him all the glory because Jesus Christ is Lord!

08/23/2026

Hey there! Thanks for joining us in church this morning to gather and worship the Lord! If you didn’t make it or want to share, please click the link below! 🙏🏻

Thank you for joining us this Sunday! Have a blessed week! :)

08/16/2026

Awesome to see you at church this morning! If you didn’t make it or want to share, please click the link below! God bless! 🙏🏻

Thank you for joining us in church today, have a blessed week! :)

08/09/2026

Thank you for joining us this morning in worship, if you didn't make it or want to share the service please click the link below! Have a blessed week!

Thank you for joining us this Sunday, God bless and have a great we...

08/04/2026

Feeling lost and looking for purpose? Give this a read!

"The True Vine"

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

John 15:1-5 (NIV)

Jesus is the true vine, and He reminds us that apart from Him we can do nothing. There is a lot of debate in Christian circles about the parts of our faith we do and the parts God does. That is not the the point of this message...

Here is what I do know, though, Jesus called us to remain in Him because He remains in us. In this sense, remain is used as a verb that calls us to action.

We know as believers that this is our struggle, to consistently remain attached to the vine. Jesus never goes away, but we can easily get distracted.

Last night, as I packed my tools up right at dusk, my customer's landscaping caught my attention. Right in the middle of this big viney patch, was the cross you see pictured below.

I realized that when Jesus is at the center of our lives and we attach ourselves to his life sustaining vine, we find true purpose and peace.

We also know that vines sometimes have a mind of their own and run a little wild. I am guilty as charged. The Christian life is much simpler than we often make it out to be.

We are called to honor Jesus and remain obedient to Him (staying attached to the vine). Then, He calls us to bear fruit and show our light to others so they can be grafted on to God's vine, too.

The key ingredient to all this is that we REMAIN in Jesus! That is your focus today as we forget about yesterday and lose sight of the worries of tomorrow.

Whatever happens today, remain on the vine of Christ! Be blessed and go bear godly fruit!

08/02/2026

Thank you for joining us in church this morning! If you didn’t make it or want to share please click the link below! Have a blessed week!

Have a blessed Sunday!

07/31/2026

🎉 What an amazing final night of VBS! 🎉

We had an incredible time worshiping, singing, and dancing together as we celebrated an awesome week! ❤️

Last night we:
✨ Played our Bible trivia game
🧩 Solved our memory verse puzzles
🙌 Played Heads Up, 7 Up
🏆 Picked out prizes after collecting coins all week

Thank you to every child, volunteer, and family who made this week so special. We loved growing in God's Word, making new friends, and learning how to live more like Jesus. We can't wait to see everyone again next year!