The wise men followed the light of a star toward Jesus. Have you ever wondered how they decided to make that long journey following light from a star and who these wise men were? Maybe you have more in common with them than you realize. How could responding to God’s...
Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. Ecclesiastes 11:7 (ESV)s I walked along the dry-stone wall, the last rays of sunlight gasped a final breath before disappearing behind the scenic peak in the distance. It wasn’t even...
What would it look like for you to stand strong in your life right now? At different times in life, internal and external pressures can force us to lose our footing and direction. As we near the conclusion of the letter to the Philippians, we find encouragement to...
As followers of Jesus we are able to share with one another the rewards and joys of our faith as well as its demands and sorrows. In doing so, we come to experience the love and comfort of belonging to a community of believers that is as concerned for us as we are for...
Christian growth is complex but simple. God does His part, we do ours. Put another way, God invites us into a cooperative work with Him. And part of that process involves how we treat each other. It really does matter. Our attitude toward each other often speaks...
A Celebration of Joy The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. Psalm 126:3 his summer my three-year-old experienced the beach for the first time since he was an infant. When we arrived, I watched him intently, unsure...
Experiencing hardships is a normal part of life that can cause us to focus on negative feelings and anxiously anticipate negative outcomes. Being courageous followers of Jesus Christ doesn’t exempt us from these experiences and may, in fact, be the cause of them and...
Contagious Joy You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11 “Stay out of trouble,” my college roommate’s husband said, sending us off on our annual beach day. He knows well...
Our past marks us. Those experiences go into making us the people we are. But some of those experiences we would rather forget. Guilt, shame, and regret can carve deep gashes in our souls—permanent reminders of another life we would prefer to leave behind. But God...
Salvation is often viewed as a singular “event” or moment in our lives. By God’s grace, we receive salvation by believing in the death and resurrection of Jesus to save us. There is a sense in which this is absolutely true, from the moment of belief we are saved...
Have you ever felt unprepared? You’ve probably had a time in your life when you were not prepared at all for what was about to happen. As our flesh constantly fights to lead us further away from God, it’s easy for us to feel unprepared for life. But God prepares us by...
God makes all things new. He is about taking the brokenness brought on by sin and offering a new reality. God’s plans for a believer’s eternity are staggering in immensity and joy. We will exist forever on a new earth—a reality more alive than our present existence....
Worship and Prayer Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand. Psalm 149:6 or a chronic headache sufferer, worship and prayer is the only combination that not only helps me survive, but helps me thrive. In...
Songs are powerful things. The combine melody and harmony. They express both truth and emotion. They can fill us with joy and hope or with lament and sorrow. Through the beauty of song we worship, we celebrate, and we mourn. In the Psalms, the worship songs of the...
There is a powerful connection between how we think and how we live. We’re not always aware of those connections, but what we think about and how we think about it directs our actions and responses. The Bible draws a direct connection between spiritual transformation...
Adoption brings up mixed emotions. The term “adopted” can be used to show affection or insult. Our understanding of adoption comes from our picture of family. Many times we have a picture of family that limits our understanding of the truth of adoption. In this...
Family involves many times and seasons of life. Our roles within our family change, but each role and each season is part of God's plan for family. If we're fortunate, one day we'll find ourselves in the last season - Old Age. While this is a season some of us would...
We’ve all had parents. They’re responsible for at least some part of shaping how we got to where we are today. And our different kinds of experiences with parents have affected our thoughts on parenting. But what if we could broaden our idea of what it means to be a...
As Paul writes his last words, he encourages Timothy to remember the gospel in kind of a strange way: he urges Timothy to join with him in suffering for the gospel. Is there a different way to see suffering? In this message, we’ll see how God empowers us to maintain...
Peace. We sing songs about it. We march for it. Demonstrate for it. Hold conferences about it and create think tanks to create it. We long for it. But it remains elusive. We live in a world broken by war, poverty, hatred, and illness, making peace seem impossible. Yet...
From our earliest days, we’re captivated by stories. God has written the greatest story ever told. And this story even includes you. Born separated from God, every person needs to be rescued. God, in His love and grace, offers a free gift to all—a solution to our...