Books by Joe Evans

The sermons in this book were preached during my second year of ministry at First Presbyterian Church of Marietta, Georgia. This great church, who nurtured me as a child and through adolescence, even supporting me through college and seminary, called me to be their Senior Pastor in the summer of 2017. This call came in the aftermath of division. After our denomination met and approved new standards of marriage equality in 2015, the nearly 200-year-old congregation split. Around 300 members broke ties with First Presbyterian Church to start a new church in a more conservative denomination of Presbyterians, ECO. The three years following this split and preceding my arrival were marked by a genuine determination to survive, great moments of healing, and courageous leadership.The sermons in this book stretch across 2018, one year in the life of this great congregation. This was a year when God moved the congregation beyond survival and healing to growth and celebration. These sermons were easy for me to write and preach because all around me, the Holy Spirit was alive and well, and the Gospel was not confined to the pages of Scripture, for the congregation of First Presbyterian Church was living it.

The sermons in this book were written with so much help from other people that I can hardly claim to be the author. Most every day I am taking notes as I see the Holy Spirit at work in the world, writing down things that I see and what I hear people say. I am very grateful for every person who has allowed me to share part of his or her story from the pulpit. Each of you has made the Gospel come alive to me.

The life and career of an important African American music executive, entrepreneur, and musician