The Hope of Advent

Rev. Nick Cheek Isaiah 2: 1-5 and Matthew 24: 36-44 I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving with friends and family. The Cheek house loves Thanksgiving for many reasons… the food, the football, the uninterrupted time I have with my kids, but we especially love...

Blessed are Those Who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness

Rev. Nick Cheek Amos 5:14-24 and Matthew 5: 1-12 As a student at Queens, I had the opportunity to travel abroad the summer of my Junior year. I chose the Alpine Europe trip, and one of our stops was a little Austrian town nestled in a beautiful valley –...

For Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven

Matthew 5:1-10, Micah 6:6-8 Rev. Rebecca M Heilman-Campbell Let me brag on our “In the Middle” Sunday School Class, our 4th – 8th graders. For the last three weeks, like you, they have been learning about the Beatitudes. We read through each Beatitude and arrived to...

Blessed are the Pure in Heart

Rev. Nick Cheek Matthew 5: 1-10 When the children were younger, every summer after the last week of school we would pack our minivan to the brim and depart for a 12-hour drive to the shores of Fort Myers Beach. My parents have a cozy condo just across from the shore...

Blessed are Those Who Mourn

Rev. Nick Cheek John 11: 17-37 Blessed Are Those Who Mourn Nick Nicholas was my grandfather. And if that name doesn’t already give it away—yes, he was Greek. A hundred percent, through and through. I mean, how much more Greek can you get than two Nicks in one name?...

Blessed are the Merciful

Matthew 18: 21-35 Rev. Nick Cheek When I turned sixteen, I thought I had just won the lottery. I mean, I’m not sure there was ever a more glorious sound for a teenager than keys to the car jingling together. I had arrived, and my transportation was a 1995 white Ford...