Sundays at 9:15 & 11 a.m. details >>
Blog Archives: January 2017 — December 2017
Grief, Waiting and Advent
December 11, 2017
It is Advent, so liturgically speaking it is time to talk about joyful, expectant waiting. The only problem is that I really don’t want to. Because in order to contemplate waiting, I have to slow down, and when I slow down, the griefs and losses of the year might catch up with me. This, to me, is one of the paradoxes of Advent — that at the time of year when we celebrate the greatest gift God has given us, the very celebration can highlight the vast distance between the promises fulfilled by Christ’s coming and the promises that will only ...
Do faith and science mix?
December 06, 2017
A young teacher asked her students to list what were, to them, the current Seven Wonders of the World. Votes were cast for the pyramids of Egypt, India’s Taj Mahal, Arizona’s Grand Canyon, the Panama Canal, the Empire State Building, Rome’s St. Peter’s Basilica and China’s Great Wall. While gathering the votes, the teacher observed that one student had not turned in her paper yet. She asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list.
The girl replied, “Yes, a little. I couldn’t quite make up my mind because there were so many.” ...
Focusing our Families on Christ at Advent
November 29, 2017
Growing up, we didn’t really discuss the term “Advent.” We talked more generically about the “Christmas season.” As I grew into adulthood and eventually became a parent, I found the observance of Advent helpful in reframing my thoughts and the celebrations of my own family. Advent spans the four Sundays leading up to Christmas. The focus of the season is on both preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus and anticipating the return of Christ.
The season of Advent is undeniably marked by a spirit of expectation, of anticipation, of ...
2017 End-of-Year Giving Update
November 20, 2017
Dear Members and Friends, As each year comes to a close, it seems we are confronted yet again with a myriad of tasks that occupy our lives, a list that only grows larger with the fast-approaching holidays and the frenetic pace we keep trying to complete it. In such times we are also given one more opportunity to learn that we are still not up to the challenge. The Psalmist speaks, “From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth” (Ps. 121:1-2).
All the same, I wish that I was not such a bad student of ...
Children in Corporate Worship
November 16, 2017
This is Part 2 of a multi-part series on helping your child grow into faith from Redeemer's Children's Ministry Director Sarah Beaugh (sarahb@redeemersa.org). You can read Part 1 here.
When my family first started visiting Redeemer, one of the first things that intrigued us was the inclusion of children in the worship service. We were not used to seeing young children participate in Sunday morning worship so fully, and we loved it. For our family, it was not always an easy process, but we persevered knowing we wanted this for our children ...
Happy All-Hallows'-Eve!
October 31, 2017
Tonight communities all across America will celebrate Halloween. Tara and I will also be on our front porch greeting the neighborhood children with the traditional candied treats. As Christians though, how ought we to respond to this holiday? The word "Halloween" is simply a contraction for All Hallows' Eve. The word "hallow" means "saint," — ”hallow” is just an alternative form of the word "holy" ("hallowed be Thy name"). All Saints' Day is November 1, and celebrates the victory of Christian saints in union with Christ. The observance of ...
Why Catechisms?
October 05, 2017
This is Part 1 of series on helping your children grow into faith from Redeemer Children's Ministry Director Sarah Beaugh. Read Part 2 here.
As we settle into the Christian Education schedule for the fall, parents will notice that we are putting a bigger emphasis on catechisms in our Children’s Ministry program on Sunday mornings. If catechisms are new to you or even if they are not, you may wonder why we are using this particular tool in our program more. The English word "catechize" simply means to teach biblical truth in an orderly ...
Sin City
October 04, 2017
Las Vegas may be called “Sin City,” but nobody could have anticipated or wanted the evil that unfolded this past Sunday in what is now America’s deadliest mass shooting. In my post yesterday, I encouraged us to follow Jesus’ example and weep over the toll violence takes. Death is a thief, and it robs our humanity. Thankfully, our hope in the victory of Jesus Christ is secure, even when the worst tragedies strike. We serve a risen Savior who has already begun to turn back the tide of death.
Even so, how ought we to understand these sorts of ...
"Jesus Wept." John 11:35
October 03, 2017
Yesterday America woke up to the news about yet another tragic and inscrutable mass shooting—this one more deadly than those that preceded it. As a pastor I’ve wrestled with how to respond because of the sheer enormity of it all. What words really explain? What words speak to us comfort and hope? Hard questions, but we must try to answer them.
Surprisingly perhaps, the latter question’s answer may be more readily at hand. As believers in Jesus Christ, Christians understand death as an enemy. Violence used in the service of death, ...
RPC Deacon Assistants to be called Deaconesses
September 19, 2017
One of the bedrock commitments of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is its commitment to the authority and trustworthiness of the Bible. The PCA recognizes that in order to be faithful to the living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, we must be faithful to the written Word revealed in the Scriptures. This commitment, though, comes with attendant risks. Many times the Bible’s teachings conflict with contemporary claims being made by the culture on issues like human dignity, economics, politics, beauty, sexuality, salvation, etc., which ...
Spiritual Formation classes for adults launch on Sunday!
September 08, 2017
We want you to know about three Spiritual Formation classes for adults starting this Sunday, September 10th, including one new class. Spiritual Formation I - Christianity Explored: This is an 8-week discussion class designed to be beneficial for those just beginning to consider the Christian faith and the mature believer alike. Even if you have been a believer for a long time, this class offers a helpful, renewing return to the heart of the Gospel and equips us to speak to others about Christ.
Spiritual Formation III - Faith and Vocation: ...
Come to the Table
September 07, 2017
A few weeks ago when I was preparing the congregation for our weekly observance of the Lord’s Supper I mentioned that the world has a story that it constantly teaches us. Technology, media, news, cultural institutions, giant corporations, entertainment celebrities, and Washington politicians—they are all tacitly conspiring to spread the message that our lives will work if we achieve, or if we perform, or if we’re satisfied. This is the “air we breathe” or our sitz im lebem, a German phrase roughly translating to one’s “setting in life.” Our ...
Face Time: A Review
September 06, 2017
Remember the pressure you felt to fit in as a teen girl? I think most of us knew the temptation to lose our identity in what our peers told us to be, what Teen Magazine told us to be, what some TV ad told us to be. Women are told how they are supposed to look and act to be the “ideal woman” from a young age—from perfect looks, to perfect grades, to perfect popularity. But those of us who grew up pre-social media could take a break from those pressures. We could go home and have a “time out” from school and peer demands. It was easier for ...
New neighbors
September 05, 2017
My family got new neighbors this week. We said goodbye to our former neighbors, who we adored, in July when they moved away. Since their moving truck pulled away, we have been on something of a stakeout. Every time we spot a car in the driveway next door, my children take up their posts in the front and upstairs windows and yell to each other what they can see. (“IT’S A MINIVAN! MAYBE THAT MEANS THEY HAVE KIDS!” If you’re going to stalk people, you might as well do it as a family.) But for two months, we would get excited only to realize it ...
Christian Education Enrollment open now!
August 02, 2017
We are doing something new this fall in Children's Ministries at Redeemer and we don’t want you to miss it! We will be taking enrollment for Christian Education classes for the coming school year. This change will help us better serve you through accurate rosters, appropriate teacher/student ratios, and adequate curriculum materials for our lessons.
Enrolling does not obligate you in any way, but helps us to know how best to plan. If you plan on joining us this semester or even think your child will try a few classes, go ahead and enroll...!
Staff Updates!
June 21, 2017
Redeemer is pleased to welcome three new staff members this week. Sara Brouillard joins the staff as Assistant Administrator. She will be supporting RPC Executive Director of Operations Jeremy Whitley with a variety of operational initiatives. Sara and her husband, Jeff, have been at Redeemer since 2007, and have three children. Sara, a native of San Antonio, is the former Manager of Broadway Bank’s Family Business Resource Center. She is Co-Chair of Women’s Ministries at Redeemer, and is involved with a variety of community organizations ...
RUF at UTSA: A ministry years in the making
June 06, 2017
Reformed University Fellowship will launch a ministry on the campus of the University of Texas at San Antonio this fall with Curtis Castleberry as campus minister. Curtis and Marian Castleberry have longstanding connections to Redeemer San Antonio, and this ministry milestone brings several threads of the Castleberry's story and Redeemer's mission in the city full circle.
Curtis and Marian's path into ministry began before they were married. Curtis attended Baptist University of the Americas and majored in theology for his undergraduate ...
Learning about worship at church and at home
May 10, 2017
We want to update you on what we have been learning in CE the last two weeks so you can continue the conversation at home! In our classrooms, we have been learning about the parts of the worship service as well as the how and why we come together corporately to worship God. We worked through the order of worship together using our church bulletins. We discussed how we are part of the family of God and how he initiates and speaks to us and we respond. It is the conversation of a father with his children. We hope you will ask your child more ...
2017 Officer Elections
May 04, 2017
This week, the Session had the privilege of sitting down with those who have most recently completed officer training at Redeemer and is pleased to announce their candidacy for office in the class of 2020. Elections will be held on Sunday, June 4, immediately following the 10:45 a.m. worship service.
Candidates for the session include new elder candidate Bernard Hildebrand, and returning elders Jason Register and Jason Smith. Eligible to return to the diaconate are Rob Bondurant and Charlie Hargis. Please click here to read a bio of each ...
Living the Resurrection
April 18, 2017
This Sunday, Redeemer will embark on a new sermon series considering what the resurrection means and how it applies to our lives.
Question 45 of The Heidelberg Catechism asks, “How does Christ’s resurrection benefit us?” The answer reads, “First, by his resurrection he has overcome death, so that he might make us share in the righteousness he won for us by his death. Second, by his power we too are already now resurrected to a new life. And third, Christ’s resurrection is a guarantee of our glorious resurrection.” We are used to hearing ...
2024 Archives
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr |
| May | Jun | Jul | Aug |
| Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
2023 Archives
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr |
| May | Jun | Jul | Aug |
| Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
2022 Archives
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr |
| May | Jun | Jul | Aug |
| Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
2021 Archives
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr |
| May | Jun | Jul | Aug |
| Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
2020 Archives
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr |
| May | Jun | Jul | Aug |
| Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
2019 Archives
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr |
| May | Jun | Jul | Aug |
| Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
2018 Archives
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr |
| May | Jun | Jul | Aug |
| Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
2017 Archives
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr |
| May | Jun | Jul | Aug |
| Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
2016 Archives
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr |
| May | Jun | Jul | Aug |
| Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
2015 Archives
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr |
| May | Jun | Jul | Aug |
| Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
2014 Archives
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr |
| May | Jun | Jul | Aug |
| Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
2013 Archives
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr |
| May | Jun | Jul | Aug |
| Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
