In the name of the Risen Lord Jesus, whose blood set us free to be the people of God. Can you imagine what a locked room full of disciples would have sounded like over the course of days since Jesus had been killed? What could be heard in a room with a dozen or more…
There’s a wonderful scene in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the most famous of C.S. Lewis’s book series, The Chronicles of Narnia. A boy named Edmund has betrayed innocent blood, his own brothers and sisters, lured by the guise of the White Witch’s magically tasty pastries. He has also betrayed the Great Lion,…
Picture yourself about to embark on a brave new journey. You’re venturing out of the nest into the great unknown, to your first day of college, where secular professors loom like hawks ready to swoop down and sink their claws into their favorite prey, fledgling Christians just learning to fly. Or you’re heading off to…
This week I was attacked by the devil and the attack came from the unlikeliest of places. Message after message came at me ripe with the devil’s lies. He was telling me exactly the things I wanted to hear, the things that pet my ego. Subtle little whispers, stuff like, “Nothing you can’t handle!” “You…
In the name of Jesus Christ, the Savior born to change our world. The text for our mediation on this joyous Christmas Eve celebration is the Christmas Gospel from Luke 2, the 10th and 11th verses for emphasis. “The angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause…
In the name of the One who will come and make rivers of living water flow out from within us. The driest most desolate place I’ve ever been was on top of a plateau in Southern Israel called Masada. It was about a hundred degrees the day we were up there, but after an hour…
There once was a boy who had been taught the truth of God by his mother, but his father was a pagan, an unbeliever. The boy grew up knowing what his mother was teaching him, but his indifference to his mother’s Bible stories grew with his age, and the mischief inside him began to take…
In the name of Jesus Christ, who freely gives living water from the spring of the water of life. The word of God for our consideration today comes from Revelation 21:1-6 as previously read. Two different people can look at a world that is full of death and mourning and crying and pain, and they…
In the name of Jesus, who came not to be served but to serve. All through the summer, we’ve been following Luke’s account of Jesus on his way to from Galilee to Jerusalem to fulfill his duty and die for us and for our salvation. Along the way, Jesus has been alternating back and forth…
It was a mixed bag of people who were following Jesus, and now the size of the crowd that was traveling with him was getting bigger. He could tell that there were some who had thrown in their lot with him and were following along, but they weren’t going to make it with him to…