The most important thing we can do as Christians and the Church is to point people to Jesus Christ. We proclaim Jesus to others, not convince, that he IS the Son of God and the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And then we trust the Holy Spirit do the work of bringing people to faith.
The Gospel of John is unlike the other three Synoptic Gospels or Matthew, Mark and Luke. The beginning especially sounds much like it could have been a poem or hymn sung in the early church. Indeed, we learn so much about the nature and character of our triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit by John’s words. Words that bring life to the full and light to all who receive them by faith.
Wonder is the beginning of all scientific discoveries. It can also be the beginning of our faith journeys as well. This week, we celebrated the Epiphany or day when Magi, Persian astrologers began their journey of wonder searching for the one born King of the Jews. It was a journey that required faith, sacrifice, and discovery, that led to finding Jesus and bringing exceedingly great joy.
I love Christmas season with all its traditions, decorations, songs, and festivities. But the older I get, the harder it seems to get to keep it all spinning as such. All of those material trapping are fine, but it’s not where we should derive the true joy as we celebrate Jesus' birth. The true joy comes in knowing that Jesus, our Savior, was born, died, and was resurrected again to new life so that we may know beyond a shadow of doub
Jospeh is by far my favorite character, other than Jesus, in the Nativity story. As a man after God’s own heart, Joseph was known for wanting to do what was right before God and his fiancée Mary. While the world may have told Joseph to run from this less than ideal situation, he instead chose to risk knowing that God was with him and that it would be worth it.
John the Baptist is not a voice that we often hear at Christmastime. And yet his prophetic words during Advent call us to wait with anticipation that God will call us to something new and different. We may not be able to change the world ourselves, but we can certainly respond in faith to God’s calling and make big impacts in our immediate circles of influence. And if we all did that, the world would change…one heart at a
Loneliness and isolation are pandemic throughout our culture. It’s so bad for one’s health that it has been equated with smoking 15 cigarettes per day. On top of that, Some Christians today think that they can do life alone, apart from other Christians or the Church. Perhaps they’ve been wounded or had a bad Church experience. Today’s scripture of Mary visiting her cousin Elizabeth reminds us that God created us for communit
Words are powerful. With our words, we can bless, or we can curse. We can build up or we can tear down. As we begin this Advent Season and our journey to celebrating Jesus’ birth, we are reminded of the words of blessing spoken over Mary by the Angel Gabriel. You are highly favored. You are chosen. You are blessed. Understanding our own blessedness allows us to be a blessing to others in return.
How ironic that we have come to the last of the Fruit of the Spirit, self-control, in a season when we celebrate gluttony or lack of self-control at Thanksgiving! Ha, ha! But self-control is like a muscle we exercise that the more we yield ourselves to God’s loving care, the stronger we become and the more the Holy Spirit cultivates this fruit in our lives. In fact, since the same spirit lives in us that raised Jesus from the dead, we can have pow
In this season of Thanksgiving, I am deeply grateful for the many people who cover for me while I am away. I am thinking particularly of Sarah Ostrand, our Youth Director, and Rev. Dr. Geordie Ziegler, of Imago Christi Ministries. I always know that you are in good hands with sound teaching that will deepen your relationships with Christ. If you have been blessed by them in my absence, be sure to let them know so that they can know the impact that they are
