A glimpse at Sunday services
to come … and past messages
April 26, 2026
The Discipline of Submission
Good morning, family of the Good Shepherd! So thankful for the rain. This morning, our focus of discipline is that other “S” word: submission.
This concept has been deeply and disturbingly abused over the centuries, and the formative verse for our consideration is:
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Ephesians 5:21 (NIV)
The invitation today is to a mutual submission competition—literally a race to the back of the line. Trust me here and try this one on.
See you in a few. Or, listen to the garden talk linked below.
Blessings,
Pastor Jay
April 19, 2026
The Discipline of Worship: Why, Who and How
Good morning, faithful friends! This is the day the Lord has made. Are you prepared to rejoice and be glad in it?
The message this morning will feature two very contrasting Psalms. Psalm 150 is six verses on the full and boisterous expression of worship: Let everything that has breath praise the Lord; praise him with loud crashing cymbals. Yikes … yes! Depending on your feel for form of praise.
By contrast, Psalm 77 is a word of desperate pleas and praise from a bed of despair. But the psalmist knows the heart of the one to whom these cries are going.
Last week, yes, we dived into worship as a spiritual discipline. But one week was grossly insufficient even to begin to explore the why, who and how of giving worth to the Lord. So this is part two.
If you choose to listen to the garden talk linked below, it is interactive as any word on worship should be!
I have also linked a fun but informative YouTube clip from Christian comedian Tim Hawkins about church and worship style called, “Tim Hawkins on Hand-Raising.”
This is not at all essential to the message, but is very much related to the topic of how we worship in a lighthearted manner. The topic, however, is eternal in nature, and we will be well-served to consider our worship understanding and life.
See you soon!
Blessings,
Pastor Jay
April 12, 2026
The Discipline of Worship
This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Today at Church of the Good Shepherd, the discipline of the day is worship, and the music of the morning continues to be Easter, and the glory and gift of resurrection.
In our part of the world, it is a beautiful Sunday morning, and yet:
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the Word of our God endures forever.
Isaiah 40:8 (NIV)
Today, the word and its messenger—yours truly—will enlighten, encourage and expect us as Christ followers to gather. So please don’t let this be a substitute for showing up in a community corporate church to worship. Listen to the garden talk linked below to learn more.
In addition to the audio message, I have a YouTube video with lyrics to one of the songs sung at Good Shepherd today. It is called “While I Wait,” performed by Lincoln Brewster. Finally, in the message, I refer to the photo of me to the right, which depicts me preaching to a camera on May 10, 2020 during Covid atop Lookout Mountain in Montreat, NC. The point is that even mountaintop moments in isolation only compliment gathered worship as the body of Christ.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Jay
April 5, 2026
The Discipline of Celebration
Glorious resurrection day, family and friends!
You have been layered up with reminders of worship plans and breakfast plans for today. We we can’t wait to gather for brunch and egg hunt today at 9:30 a.m., and main Easter worship at 10:30 a.m.
Please linked below the garden talk recording of my Easter message of celebration.
Celebration is one of the disciplines cited in Richard Foster’s book Celebration of Discipline. True joy and celebration come surprisingly from a discipline of long obedience and faithfulness, which Jesus embodies, and invites us to share His journey.
He is risen indeed!
Blessings,
Pastor Jay
Updates:
March 29, 2026
The Discipline of Solitude
Warm greetings, friends and family on this Palm Sunday!
In the midst of this full week of life—spiritual and otherwise—my hope and prayer for us all is for fresh eyes, minds and hearts on the gift of Jesus’s journey to Jerusalem, and all that came with it.
Today we continue our study and practice of spiritual disciplines that lead to freedom in faith and life. Solitude sounds like loneliness. But as I hope you will experience, the practice of cultivating our inner beings will manifest in transformation to the children of God we are created and called to be.
With anything of value, this takes time, intention and grace, and as I heard this week: Faithfulness takes time.
Come and consider how solitude is another of the gifts that Jesus both modeled and encourages. See you soon!
Blessings,
Pastor Jay
Events of the Week
Monday through Thursday, 6:30- 8:00 a.m.: Youth Prayer Breakfast at First Baptist Church
Friday, 5 p.m.: Community Good Friday service at Beebe Memorial Park focused on Jesus’s last words (I have: “It is finished.”)
Easter Sunday at Griffins Beach
6:45 a.m.: Sunrise service
9:30-9:45 a.m.: Breakfast
9:45-10:00 a.m.: Egg hunt
10:30 a.m.: Full Easter celebration
Updates:
March 22, 2026
The Discipline of Simplcity
Glorious spring Sunday greetings, friends and followers!
Today at the Church of the Good Shepherd, we continue to celebrate disciplines of the faith, and this week we focus on the elusive practice of simplicity.
A personal confession: I thought this would be much easier to practice than last week’s discipline of fasting. I was wrong!
Fear not, however. The elephant-sized matter of life’s unnecessary complexities can be taken on one moment, and one bite, and one decision at a time.
It is a joy to join in the journey with Jesus, including a holy KISS: Keep It Simple Saints!
In addition to my audio garden talk linked below, here is a little bonus gift: a four-minute classic video called, “The Man on the Middle Cross,” which brings beautiful, and profound, and humorous simplicity to the gift of salvation in Jesus.
See you all soon!
Blessings,
Pastor Jay
Updates:
March 15, 2026
The Discipline of Fasting
Good morning, faithful friends!
Today I can't wait to be back with you all in worship at 10:10 a.m.
We will continue our deep dive into discipline, with an exploration of the practice (or not!) of fasting.
Come and taste, and see that the Lord is good!
Blessings,
Pastor Jay
Updates:
March 1, 2026
The Discipline of Prayer
Good March morning, friends!
An opening announcement that is a matter of the heart: Good Shepherd has acquired an AED—automated external defibrillator—and about 20 of you signed up for training. I will also send a targeted email to that group.
The training takes less than an hour, and we have decided to offer Sunday, March 15 in two weeks right after worship. We might order out lunch for everyone, but COGS will absorb the trainer’s fee of $250. I will mention this again in worship this week and next. Thanks!
On another matter of the heart, we turn today to the spiritual discipline of prayer after considering meditation last week. As I acknowledge in the fireside chat linked below, there is no way to cover prayer in one message. So today I offer up some prayer prompts and paths, and am listing passages on prayer below.
There are about 15-20 more copies of Celebration of Discipline in a basket up front in our worship area, so please come and see! As a teaser on prayer, the opening sentence is:
“Prayer catapults us onto the frontier of the spiritual life.”
To be followed by:
“Real prayer is life-creating and life-changing.“
And then this word of caution:
“If we are unwilling to change, we will abandon prayer as a noticeable characteristic of our lives.”
The word of God for your consideration in no particular order:
Luke 22:39-46
James 4:1-4, 5:13-18, and 7-10
Ephesians 6:18-20
Matthew 5:43-45, 6:5-8
Looking forward to continuing to know the power of a praying people!
Grace and peace,
Pastor Jay
Updates:
February 22, 2026
The Discipline of Meditation
Good morning, friendly flock!
For most of us, we return to winter mode today, and what a fine time to ponder the premise and promise of the discipline of meditation. As a busy outgoing soul, I am now officially celebrating this discipline, and not just enduring it or trying to be a good Christian by seeking and hearing the Word of God, and asking the Lord what I am to do in response.
Whether we use this language or not, we all meditate. We all react to something we experience and consider its meaning and a response. Sometimes we react in a positive manner, but oftentimes we don’t, because of our hasty reactive patterns, which have not left room for pondering a healthier path.
The message today will reference several passages in the Bible:
John 6:14-15: Jesus retreats from the crowd alone to the mountain to spend time with the Father.
Psalm 1: Blessed is the one who meditates on the Lord, who is like a tree planted by a river—a constant source of renewal.
1 Kings 19:9-13: Elijah the prophet, after his moment of greatest earthly triumph, finds himself alone, depressed and oppressed, and the Lord asks him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
Let the Lord ask you: “What are you doing here?” Ponder, meditate on how He helps you answer that.
Set aside a moment, a mountain, a meadow, as a time and place to be still and be filled with love and encouragement, and a plan and path to prosper.
Hope to see you soon!
Blessings,
Pastor Jay
Updates:
February 15, 2026
The Father’s Discipline
Greetings, friends in the flock!
First off—true confession—I have not been at Good Shepherd on a Sunday morning for nearly a month, on January 18. In between, there have been two winter events and a missional venture, about which you will hear more. I am so eager for today, and so energized for the start of a news series. With a bit of an Olympic theme and with a nod to The Chronicles of Narnia, this series is entitled: Dare to Discipline … Yourself.
Two real prompts got me headed in this direction. The first was the series last fall on Hebrews, when in chapter 12, we are reminded not to “despise the Father’s discipline.”
The second was a book from my (and maybe your) past entitled, curiously enough, Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. I actually inscribed it to myself in 2009: “About time I read this at age 47”! As a teaser, the first chapter is entitled “Discipline Is the Door to Liberation.”
So come and see and gather and grow at COGS today. If you can’t make it, a fireside chat is linked below. Grace and peace on your Sunday.
Blessings,
Pastor Jay
Updates:
February 1, 2026
The Five P’s
Friends, you are not the frozen chosen—you are image bearers and caretakers of the family of God.
What a historic weekend, and what a reminder of the immense sovereignty of our God, who is not a whimsical Mother Nature, but a heavenly trinity of majesty, intimacy and love. (See the link about storehouses of snow from the book of Job.)
For our collective sharing today, I have provided an appetizer of a fireside chat, available below, to be followed by a Facebook Livestream video message later in the morning.
The audio message focuses on the 5 P’s of Hebrews 13:15 and following. They are:
Praise
Profess
Please
Pray
Peace
To which my friend Andrew, who handles our website, added “plow”!
Friends, the church is not a building—it is the people of God mobilized to be His agents of grace and truth in action.
Blessings,
Pastor Jay
P.S.: See the two images from John Baillie’s book of private prayer.
Updates:
January 25, 2026
Praise, Profess, Pray (Wherever You Are)
Grace and peace on this icy dawn!
First and foremost, my prayers are for you, and the Lord is with you wherever you are.
I just tiptoed out onto the front steps and back deck, and even 1/10th of an inch of ice is perilous. As such, we are making the wise call not to meet for worship.
However! Don’t take the morning off from giving some attention to the Lord, and for “knowing Jesus and sharing the journey.”
First, read Psalm 27.
Then consider these passages from Hebrews:
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a
sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.
And do not forget to do good and to share with others,
for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
Hebrews 13:15-16 (NIV)
Today’s Hebrews action plan from chapter 13 is:
Praise
Profess
Pray
You can do all three from home, car, office, or classroom. As Dr. Seuss once said (sort of): “You can praise Him on a plane and in the rain or on a train or with a friend named Wayne!”
In a bit of a twist, below I have linked a garden talk from another Sunday where we gathered in intimacy and not in corporate worship. It is from Easter morning 2020, and is number 3 out of 253 that I have recorded over the past six years. It is actually a tad shorter than normal, and for me was very nostalgic and honestly emotional, as the world was just weeks into Covid. I hope that it will be a blessing and encouragement. (Listen for the birds chirping and geese passing by toward the end.)
I had plenty in the tank to share a fireside chat for Hebrews 13, but really want to save that for a gathered Sunday.
Blessings on what I hope is a true Sabbath, and enjoy that bread and milk in abundance!
Pastor Jay
Update:
Listen to Jay’s garden talk recorded at daybreak on Easter morning, 2020.
January 18, 2026
Seek, Sacrifice, Share
Good morning, faithful friends and family!
This morning’s worship in the cozy confines of 2425 North Market Street will focus on some final encouragement from the thirteen-chapter letter to the Hebrews (and us). The book of Hebrews offers up some perspective and patterns for life in this world as we approach the next.
Two of the formative words to ponder (again) are “remember” and “consider”:
Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you.
Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.
Hebrews 13:7 (NIV)
In the message linked below and this morning at COGS, I will prompt you all to pause and ponder what we remember, and how we consider, and how Jesus fits into any and all of this.
The final verse for the morning is another way of saying “remember”:
And do not forget to do good and to share with others,
for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
Hebrews 13:16 (NIV)
Faith in action is the nature of the call.
Thanks for tuning in, and blessings on your Sunday in hopes that it is a Sabbath.
Blessings,
Pastor Jay
Updates:
January 11, 2026
Final Bragging Rights
Good morning, all!
Whether it’s rain or shine in your world, my hope is that God’s Word and worship will bring light to life in your day—work or play.
On the message front, we are nearing the end of the book of Hebrews, and our specific focus today is six verses at the beginning of chapter 13.
These verses form a list of to-dos, as God’s Word is never intended only to be learned or heard, but also to be put into practice. As I say in the audio recording linked below, and will repeat later as we gather, the list feels a bit haphazard in terms of its asks, but I assure you that there is something for all of us, and a tangible promise of help at the end.
I mention the likelihood that this was written toward the end of the author’s life, and certainly at the end of the letter it feels like a father saying to himself and his hearers: “Oh yes, do these things … remember these teachings … and practice these activities, and lead life in the Lord to the full … for you and others.”
Honestly, it felt a bit like my aging father eight years ago saying regularly: “I’m in the red zone (football reference to the nearness of a score), so you better ask me what you want to know.” He would say this with a smile on his face, and a twinkle in his eye, and a heart full of love. Because of that, I have linked this brilliant and touching song and interview with 100-year-old Dick Van Dyke, and Chris Martin of the band Coldplay.
Grace and peace on your day and year.
Blessings,
Pastor Jay
Updates:
January 4, 2026
A Tale of Two Mountains
Good morning, friends!
“Happy new year” is a familiar yet loaded greeting, right? For so many, we go from the Christmas season of red, green and gold, to the blue or blues of January. I’m not here to offer the pep talk, but rather to point us all (myself included) to the Word of the One who gets it. He offers power and perspective to pursue peace in the shadow of the various mountains in our paths.
In our biblical focus this week, we are presented with a tale of two mountains in Hebrews 12:18-24. The contrasting mountains in my English translation are labeled “fear” and “joy.” In digging deeper,* a more thorough understanding is mountains of “law” and “grace.” Having just returned from the mountains for the holidays, I am thinking of the Montreat mountains called “Rattlesnake Rock” and “Lookout “ as polar opposite peaks across the valley, and also symbolic of the choice we have about which one to ascend.
Come on a hike this morning and find rest in your journey!
Blessings,
Pastor Jay
*I also mention an invitation to dig deeper with an attached and approachable Bible reading plan.
Updates:
