The Blessing of Presence

Introduction

Christmas is nearly here. Even though it’s been in the shops a lot longer, we as believers in Jesus celebrate the most important day ...

Behold: Gospel

Introduction

Advent is a season of waiting, anticipating, and hoping. It’s a time when we plant our feet firmly in the land between two affirmations: ...

Behold: Surrender

Introduction

Welcome to our Advent series that we’re calling Behold. Remember, Advent is a season of waiting, anticipating, and hoping. It’s ...

A Distraught Dad, His Demonized Boy, and a Faith that Moves Mountains

Author’s Introduction: If Mark 9:30-50 defies interpretation, as commentator Eugene Boring claims, the verses that immediately precede are only ...

A Body You Have Prepared

Introduction

At Christmas we remember that Jesus came among us. The Second Person of the Trinity lowered himself, condescended, and became a man. That’s ...

Light of the World

Introduction

As we grow up, most of us learn the basics of life. One of those basics is that we have five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. ...

Born to Save

Introduction

What do you need today? There are so many ways we could probably answer that question. Some might say, “I need a vacation. I need a ...

Behold the Lamb of God

Introduction

I hope you had a good Thanksgiving. Now we flip the page and enter the season on the church calendar known as Advent. Advent is different ...

Hope for a Weary World

Introduction

In the short story, later turned into a film, The Life of Walter Mitty, the main character has an overactive imagination. Living a commonplace ...

Waiting for Christmas

Introduction

Isn’t it so hard to wait to open your gifts? I remember when I was around 9 years old, my brother and I wanted an electric race car ...

‘Glory to the Newborn King’

Introduction

I love singing Christmas carols and Christmas songs. Maybe you do too. A couple weeks ago I was at a Christmas party, and we sang a couple ...

A Word to Husbands

Introduction

I am surprised Peter includes this word to husbands. Not that husbands don’t need a word like this. God knows we do! Peter ...

Ode to a Donkey

Introduction

Today is Palm Sunday, the day the church celebrates Jesus’ triumphant entry into the city of Jerusalem, only to be crucified by the ...

What’s Your Eau De Toilette?: An Extravagant Example for an Extraordinary God

Introduction

If you had one opportunity to show Jesus how much you loved him, what would you do? What might you say? What offering might you bring? ...

A Bad Day

Introduction

As we walk thru life all of us are going to have some good days, some average days, and some bad days.

One of my bad days happened ...

What Is Love?

Introduction

All of us have a working definition of love in our minds. Love is one of those words that we instinctively know what it means. We ...

‘What Child Is This?’

Introduction

In the year 1865, William Chatterton Dix, who was a businessman in Glasgow, Scotland, suddenly came down with a serious illness. ...

Trusting the Sovereignty of God

Introduction

We are in our Advent series called “Christmas with Joseph—when things don’t go as planned.” What we’re trying ...

Waiting for a God-Given Perspective

Introduction

We are in the second week of our Advent series called “Christmas with Joseph: When Things don’t Go as Planned.” ...

Doing the Right Thing in the Right Way

Introduction

Today marks the first Sunday of Advent in which Christians all across the world are preparing to celebrate the coming of Jesus.

This year as ...

Christmas Presence

Introduction

I invite you take a moment, in this busy season, to just breathe. Be present in this body, in this moment, in this place, with these people. ...

Two Key Women of Christmas

Introduction

(Read Luke 1:39-56)

On several occasions, King Abdullah II of Jordan has disguised himself and mingled with his subjects. He does this to better ...

The ‘Fear Nots’ of Christmas

Introduction

The rock star Sting, in a Rolling Stone interview, spoke of his growing awareness of his own mortality: "I'm 64. Most of my life ...

What Do We Do Now?

Introduction

Fritz Kreisler the world-famous violinist, earned a fortune with his concerts and compositions, but he generously gave most of it away. So, ...

It’s Time for a Fresh Start

Introduction: The Story

(Read John 21:1-14)

It was an early morning on the North Shore of the Sea of Galilee. A light haze of fog hung over the water making ...

'Remember!'

Introduction

There were three sisters—ages 92, 94, and 96—who lived together. One night, the 96-year-old drew a bath. She put one ...

What Shall I Bring Him?

Introduction

A Christian comedian once said this story would be far different had these been women instead of men. For one thing, women would have asked ...

Advent: Christmas Eve

Introduction

Happy Christmas!

Christmas is very much a thing at our church. You may be watching this on Christmas Eve, or Christmas Day, or the ...

Advent: Hope

Introduction

If you are new to Advent, it’s based on an ancient Latin word. Ad is Latin for “to ”, and vent for “come.” ...

Advent: Joy

Introduction

Christian Wiman, the celebrated poet, professor of literature at Yale and Christian intellectual, in his book Joy, which is a collection ...

Advent Conspiracy: Christmas Eve

Introduction

When I was a teenager, I worked at the mall at a shoe store. And I loved working on Christmas Eve, because as a salesman on commission, I ...

Advent Conspiracy: Love All

Introduction

Every Christmas there is that one toy that everyone wants and that creates all sorts of craziness.

In 1983 it was the Cabbage Patch Doll! The ...

Advent Conspiracy: Give More

Introduction

Every year we celebrate Christmas and for most people it’s a big deal. We decorate our home, send out cards, buy gifts, throw parties, ...

Back to the Start

Introduction

Merry Christmas! One thing is for sure, Christmas is looking much different than of us expected this year. But I wonder if that’s actually ...

The Gift of Christmas Light

Introduction

In his book Every Good Endeavor, Tim Keller explains the three elements of a story. He points out that a story begins when something knocks ...

Cross This Rubicon!

Introduction

He reined in his horses and stood in his chariot, gazing at an ancient bridge over a small river. It was a Saturday near Rimini in northern ...

Duct Tape Dads

Introduction

Have you ever noticed how hard people work to get men to buy into the crisis management process? Think about the two biggest crises ...

3 Questions to Ask Yourself this Mother’s Day

Introduction

Elisha came to Shunem regularly because he served not only as a prophet but also as a kind of circuit judge. In that town on the eastern end ...

Unshakeable Hope

Introduction

Happy Easter! Welcome to the largest digital Easter the world has ever seen, as thousands of churches are online right now!

It’s been ...

An Event That Changes Everything

Introduction

Philippians is Paul's final letter to a church. He writes it from his imprisonment in Rome. In Philippians 2:6-11, we listened to St. ...

More Than Your Personal Savior

Introduction

For over three decades, Paul Harvey made a name for himself by telling “the rest of the story.” Day after day he came on our radios ...

A Tale of Two Basins

The entire story of Holy Week can be told with two basins. And maybe the entire story of your life, and my life, can be told with two basins.

Here is that ...

The Magi Visit the Messiah

Introduction

Nobody knows who the Magi were, though everyone’s heard of them. They embody the quest for truth, meaning, and purpose in life. We assume ...

The Sudden Turn of Joy

Introduction

It’s a wonderful day and I’m really honored to be preaching on the first Sunday of the New Year it’s a great joy. I have ...

A Predictable Christmas

Introduction

It's that time of year that you are either excited, or maybe a bit disappointed. Some of us are excited because, well, there are sales, ...

Skipping Christmas

Introduction

“Always winter, but never Christmas.” That memorable line comes to us from C. S. Lewis’ beloved children’s classic ...

Why the Feeding Trough?

Introduction

How about this for a true story. In 2007 my husband Jonathan and I caught a plane to Australia with Academy-Award winning director George ...

Room Near the Inn

Introduction

We entitled our Christmas series "The Visited Planet." In 1925, Gilbert Keith Chesterton wrote a book called The Everlasting Man. ...

Christmas Promises

Introduction

Promises, promises, promises. A lot of people make promises. Some actually keep them. But when it comes to God, he always keeps his promises, ...

The Hope for the World

Introduction

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year for many reasons. And one of those reasons is that Christmas allows us to take stock of the ...