Rev. Dr. Joe Evans
Denomination: Presbyterian Church (USA) (PCUSA)
Organization: First Presbyterian Church, Marietta, GA
The Rev. Dr. Joe Evans is a graduate of Marietta High School, Presbyterian College, and Columbia Theological Seminary. Having started Sunday School in the 3rd grade at First Presbyterian Church of Marietta, he is blessed to now serve as Senior Pastor in the church where he was nurtured in the Christian faith. Since Dr. Evans returned to Marietta, First Presbyterian Church has been named best place to worship in Cobb County for eight years in a row; in 2020 Dr. Evans was named among the “Top 20 Under 40” by Cobb Life Magazine; he received a Cindy Jane McDougald Community Leadership Award in 2023; and in 2025, the Cobb County NAACP named him Clergy Person of the Year. Before returning home to Marietta in 2017, he served the Lord at Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church in Lilburn, GA, where he helped the congregation recover from the
Great Recession of 2008, and then at First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, TN, where he was honored to receive a Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service award. He has been the guest preacher on Day 1 on several occasions and served on their advisory council. In 2025, he completed his Doctorate in Ministry with a final project studying the effects of the pandemic on First Presbyterian Church and was honored to receive the John Nelson Award for the best doctoral project focusing on Scripture in aiding the transformation of the congregation. He serves as a trustee of Columbia Theological Seminary and is the chair of the Cherokee Presbytery Commission on Ministry. Dr. Evans and his wife Sara are proud live in Marietta with their daughters, Lily and Cece, and their hound dogs, Izzy and Suki.
Day1 Weekly Programs by Rev. Dr. Joe Evans
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12 Square Miles of Clay - Episode #4239
Tuesday June 16, 2026
Join us for Day1 Episode 4239 with Rev. Dr. Joe Evans, senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Marietta, Georgia, as he shares his sermon “12 Square Miles of Clay,” based on 2 Timothy 2:8-15. For the 4th Sunday after Pentecost, Rev. Evans invites us to remember Jesus Christ by noticing the people closest to us, practicing everyday kindness, and trusting that faithful presence can shape the world. Tune in for this message of hope and encouragement.
Joe Evans: Faith Alone
Tuesday June 20, 2023
Joe Evans says we live by faith, not out of a place of fear, wondering where we will go when we die. We do it because God loves us and shows us how to live by sharing his love.
Joe Evans: Too Light a Thing
Tuesday May 31, 2022
The Rev. Joe Evans says on Pentecost, the Spirit gave the disciples the words - words that the world could understand, which is absolutely a miracle that our society needs today. What Pentecost reminds us of is that real communication requires love.
Joe Evans: The Next Book
Tuesday May 24, 2022
In the midst your graduation celebration, the Rev. Joe Evans says, give thanks to God and don't be afraid. Keep walking. And remember always who you are--you are God's own with a new chapter just beginning.
Joe Evans: Braid the Whip
Tuesday March 02, 2021
The Rev. Joe Evans examines Jesus' anger in John 2:13-22, and says we can get angry too, but we need to stop and listen to our anger for it to do us or our world any good. We have to braid the whip and let that anger purify us.
Joe Evans: Divine Things and Human Things
Tuesday February 23, 2021
The Rev. Joe Evans says, We all ask, who am I? What am I here for? And sometimes probably too often, we ask ourselves, shouldn’t I be doing something more? Jesus can help us wrestle with those questions for a more meaningful life focused on divine things rather than human things.
Joe Evans: Where Were You?
Tuesday October 16, 2018
The Rev. Joe Evans says God’s response to Job’s questions about the multiple tragedies in his life is truly beautiful but a bit frustrating, and yet it does help us put our lives into proper perspective. In the chaos that we face, the victimization, the sadness, the despair, and the heartache, God says, "Just as I tamed the sea, so I will bring order to your life once more.”
Joe Evans: When Israel Was a Child
Tuesday October 09, 2018
The Rev. Joe Evans says that Hosea the prophet showed in his life, in his marriage to the prostitute Gomer, how God is related to each of us--and committed to us. Even if we’ve forgotten who we ever were and have walked so far away from the light that we can’t see our way back home, God still remembers us and loves us. That is the hope each one of us can cling to.
Joe Evans: More Than a Moral Lesson
Tuesday July 11, 2017
We Christians know all about stories with morals, says the Rev. Joe Evans. But the story in Genesis 25 messes that up. Neither Esau nor Jacob is blameless. But the real lesson they give us is that we, like they, do not belong to our pasts, our great failures, our tragic disappointments, or foolhardy choices. For we belong to Christ.
Joe Evans: The Invitation
Tuesday July 04, 2017
There is a major difference between the two men described in 2 Samuel 11 and Song of Solomon 2: the gallant young lover, and King David, who uses his power in evil ways. Love is initiated by an invitation, an offer that in the hands of the invitee is a choice. It's risky, but that's how it's supposed to work.
We Do Not Know How to Pray
Tuesday July 22, 2014
The Rev. Joe Evans explores Paul's teaching in Romans 8 and encourages us to consider prayer as the act of giving up on our will and trusting in God's, of relinquishing our limited power while placing all our hope in God's ultimate power.
Pacing in the Waiting Room
Tuesday July 15, 2014
The Rev. Joe Evans explores Paul's teaching in Romans 8, revealing that the pain of giving birth is a divine image to explain how God is at work in the world as we draw closer to the fulfillment of Christ's promises. Despite the pain, we most focus not on what we think is important, but on the glory that will be revealed in us.
Spared the Ax
Tuesday February 26, 2013
As we continue in the season of Lent, the Rev. Joe Evans explores Jesus' admonition in Luke 13 to repent or perish, as well as his story of the unproductive fig tree. If we've been spared the ax as well, what will we do with today?
The Fox Is in the Henhouse
Tuesday February 19, 2013
In his message for the 2nd Sunday in Lent, the Rev. Joe Evans notes that as people of faith in a culture of fear, we must talk about ruth in a world of misstatements, and talk about real love in a world of pleasure and pleasing.
It's Coming
Tuesday July 12, 2011
Our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us, Paul says. We are the resurrection people, and we have a reason to hope.
The Sower's Lesson
Tuesday July 05, 2011
The goal of the sower in Jesus' parable (Matthew 13) was simply to sow seed, and to many he seems careless and wasteful. As followers of Christ, how are we sowing the seeds of our faith?