by Andrew Beard | Oct 22, 2025 | Words from Pastor Andrew
The other day I came home from work, and one of my sons was outside with wood and a drill.
I asked, “What are you building?”
He said, “I don’t know, but I need to build something.”
I went inside and told Sarah, “Did you see he’s building something outside? Where did that come from?”
She said, “He was watching videos of people building stuff and didn’t want to just watch other people do it; he wanted to build something himself.”
At The Chapel, we firmly believe that Jesus is God’s Son who showed us how to live and love, and then laid down His life so we could experience true life. He is our Lord and Savior, God and King, High Priest and Friend, and our Rabbi.
Now, in the Christian tradition, we don’t talk too much about Rabbis. But the idea is that a Rabbi is a teacher, someone who helps you wrestle with the Scriptures and grow in your faith and knowledge of God. To be a disciple means to be a student or apprentice under a Rabbi.
That doesn’t mean you show up to class on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, listen to a 50-minute lecture, write a few papers, take a test, and call it a day. In Jesus’ time, you followed your Rabbi. You learned their ways. You wanted to be like them.
As I’ve said before, you want to follow so closely you’re covered in the dust of your Rabbi.
by Andrew Beard | Jul 29, 2024 | Words from Pastor Andrew
This past week we went to Disney World. Sarah and I both hadn’t been in about 25 years or more. I remember the wonder and magic, the rides and more.
It’s grown, it’s changed, and you no longer stand in incredibly long lines.
Don’t worry, there are still lots of strollers, lots of Mickey ears, lots of tears and exhaustion…and some kids are crying and exhausted too, lots of hopes and expectations, and lots of credit card debt.
But now there are also virtual lines, and lighting lanes, and queue groups, and magic genie plus on a Disney World app that tells you wait times if you do stand in line, and gives you directions to where you want to go, and ability to make reservations, and mobile order food and it was my room key and more.
In some ways, this feels almost nothing like the park I went to 25 plus years ago…and yet in other ways it is oddly familiar. It’s just grown up.
by Andrew Beard | Nov 2, 2023 | Words from Pastor Andrew
Several years ago I tried doing the Whole30. In case you don’t know what it is, you probably will not want to pay attention for a few moments. The idea is that you take all the fun things…sorry…I mean…processed foods and foods we don’t “need” out of your diet and eat only lame things…sorry…I mean…whole foods for 30 days.
by Andrew Beard | Sep 20, 2023 | Words from Pastor Andrew
A little over a year ago I went to get some frozen fruit out of my fridge for a smoothie…and what should have been hard as rock frozen fruit were just slightly mushy. Not a big deal. I figured the freezer had been opened too long loading stuff in or it hadn’t gotten closed all the way or something else. As time went on I noticed again and again, things weren’t as frozen solid as I wanted them to be.
Something was off.
Ice cream was soft.
Ice packs were soft.
Frozen berries were soft.
Not a big deal, just not quite right.
by Andrew Beard | Sep 28, 2020 | Words from Pastor Andrew
We are people who generally want more. Time. Money. Influence. Power. In Genesis, we see Adam and Eve created in the image of God. They are like God, made by God, and have the breath of God in them. They are given the power to create and responsibility to steward creation…
