An interactive devotional linked to Chandler First Church’s July 16 Sunday morning sermon, “The Green Kingdom” based on Isaiah 55:10-13; Psalm 119:105-112; Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23.

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I am a backyard farmer. Over the years, the primary challenge in my back yard has been simply to have grass under my large ficus nitida tree. Now, I love that tree, and my son and I planted it on purpose, but the lovely shade it produces prevents anything from growing in that lovely shade. So . . . I have purchased and planted dichondra seed (not cheap!) and all kinds of shade grasses that the promotions PROMISE will grow into beautiful green yards. I would show you a photo of the results, but I am too proud. Just picture a beautiful tree surrounded by dirt. With some flagstones that my grand-minions placed artfully here and there to break up the expanse of dirt.

Today’s message is all about planting. How it is done and what happens to the seeds afterward.

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An interactive devotional linked to Chandler First Church’s July 9 Sunday morning sermon, “Paint By Numbers” based on Romans 7:14-25a; Matthew 11:25-30; Genesis 24:34-38; Psalm 45:10-17.

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In the message, I shared some personal stories of frustrating experiences when either I or a member of my family was trying to do something, and being forced into a mold that did not fit. Think square peg being pounded into a round hole.

• Describe a time when you tried so hard and just nothing seemed to work:
• How did this make you feel?

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An interactive devotional linked to Chandler First Church’s June 25 Sunday morning sermon “What’s New?” based on Romans 6:1b-11; Genesis 21:8-21; Psalm 86; Matthew 10:24-39.

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Encounter the Word

Read Romans 6:1b-11. In this passage, Paul asks an interesting question:

• Because God’s grace covers all our sin, why don’t we just let go and do whatever we want to? How would YOU answer this?

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An interactive devotional linked to Chandler First Church’s June 18 Sunday morning sermon “LOL: Leaving Our Legacy” based on Hebrews 12:1.

This Sunday’s message opened with a reference to the Dan Fogelberg song, “Leader of the Band.” Fogelberg was a songwriter/singer a few decades ago, with several hits—if you want to listen to the song, copy and paste this URL: http://musicpleer.audio/#!0cbdbb974b9bdf139c5706b36a308755 into your web browser. This song made an impact on me because it expresses something that is difficult for some people to express—he wrote it as a tribute to his father, and the line “I’m just a living legacy to the leader of the band” is a powerful testimony to the example his father lived. The song concludes with part of a performance by the UCLA Band of the John Phillip Sousa march “The Washington Post” arranged by Fogelberg’s father.

This week’s message is about legacy—what does that mean to us and how do we do it?

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