I Want to Be Baptized. Can It Happen the Same Day? Many people assume they'll have to take a class, wait for a membership vote, or hold out until Sunday. The Book of Acts tells a different story. Three thousand were baptized the day they heard the gospel, an Ethiopian official stopped his chariot at the first water he saw, and a jailer was baptized in the middle of the night. This week we look at what does need to be true before baptism, what happens when you ask, and the honest worry so many people have: "Shouldn't I get my life together first?"

Do Tongues Still Happen Today? Where Pentecostal Churches and Christians In Honesdale Differ. We share a lot with our Pentecostal neighbors, including a real love for God and the conviction that the Holy Spirit is at work in every Christian. Where we part ways is over the miraculous gifts. This week we look at what those gifts were for (Hebrews 2), what Paul meant when he said tongues would cease "when the perfect comes" (1 Corinthians 13), what tongues actually were at Pentecost, and a gentle answer for anyone who's been told something is missing in them because they've never spoken in tongues.

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More Than a Symbol: Why the Bible Ties Baptism to the Forgiveness of Sins. Many of us were told baptism is "an outward sign of an inward grace," something you do to show you're already saved. But every time the New Testament says what baptism does, from Peter at Pentecost to Ananias with Saul, it connects it to forgiveness. This week we open those passages, look at where the "symbol" idea came from, take on the thief on the cross, and answer the honest worry underneath it all: "Am I trying to earn something?"

Hearing A Cappella Singing at Christians In Honesdale for the First Time. No piano, no band, no choir up front, just everyday people singing in parts. If you've never heard a church sing this way, here's what to expect: why the first line can feel bare, how the harmony fills in, why every word comes through so clearly, and why nobody will expect you to sing a note. We also open the passages behind it, from Ephesians 5 to the hymn Jesus sang after the Last Supper.

Presbyterians and Christians In Honesdale: Shared Roots and Four Places We Part Ways. Did you know John Calvin wanted the Lord's Supper every week and singing without instruments? We start with that common ground, then walk through four real differences: the Westminster Confession beside the Bible, predestination, infant baptism, and how a church is governed. We quote Westminster in its own words and answer the passages Presbyterians raise most, so you can weigh both sides against the text yourself.

Lutherans and Christians In Honesdale: Common Ground and Five Forks in the Road. If you grew up Lutheran, you might be surprised how much we share: a high view of Scripture, salvation by grace, and the conviction that baptism is tied to the forgiveness of sins. We start there, then walk through five places the road forks, from "faith alone" and infant baptism to the Lord's Supper and how worship sounds, quoting Luther and the Lutheran confessions fairly along the way. It's written with respect for our Lutheran neighbors, and it asks you to weigh both sides against the same book.

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Is Christians In Honesdale Part of the United Church of Christ? The names can sound alike, but the short answer is no. The UCC is a denomination formed by a merger in 1957, with offices in Cleveland. We're an independent congregation with no denomination at all, taking our cue from Paul's phrase "the churches of Christ." We look at where each came from, the real difference over the Bible's authority, the UCC's own motto from John 17, and what you'd notice on a Sunday morning. It's written with respect for our UCC neighbors and a few Greek and Hebrew notes along the way.

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Can a Christian Fall From Grace? Paul answered that in so many words: "you have fallen away from grace" (Galatians 5:4). This week we look at what the New Testament warns believers about, how stumbling differs from walking away, what Jesus really promised in John 10:28, and where real assurance comes from. If you've ever worried you've gone too far to come back, this one's for you.

Why We Take the Lord's Supper Every Sunday. If you grew up with communion a few times a year, a church that shares the bread and cup every week might surprise you. We go back to a Sunday night in Troas (Acts 20:7), where Paul waited a whole week to break bread with the church, and look at what the New Testament and the earliest Christians show about "the first day of every week." We also take on the honest question: doesn't something you do every week eventually lose its meaning?

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Baptists and Christians In Honesdale: Same Water, Different Meaning. Baptists and we both immerse believers, so what’s the difference? It’s what happens in the water. Is a person saved the moment he believes, with baptism as a sign afterward, or does God forgive sins in baptism, as Peter told the crowd at Pentecost? We look at Acts 2:38, Paul’s own conversion, 1 Peter 3:21, and the question of “once saved, always saved,” with a few Greek and Hebrew details most comparisons skip. It’s written with respect for our Baptist neighbors, and it asks you to check it against the text.

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