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We are deep in the season of Advent, preparing spiritually for the coming of Jesus and also physically preparing- making cookies, wrapping gifts, making plans to visit family and friends. There’s a lot of excitement that comes with the anticipation of Christmas. In our house, decorating is when it really starts to feel real. Especially our Christmas tree. If it were up…
Since 1983, Ancestry and other subsidiaries like Ancestory.com, Twenty-three and me have shed insight for many people into their family background. Treasure troves of new relationships, connections with people previously unknown have helped people discover details that they only heard rumors about before. Stories and documents have surfaced to fill in holes in family lore. Like piecing together parts of the proverbial…
With turkey still in the refrigerator and pie crumbs yet in the pan, we started decking our halls on Friday. We could hardly wait! It is one of our most beloved traditions. I wonder if some of you did as well. Tens of red and green Rubbermaid totes carried up from the basement, ornaments carefully unwrapped, strings of lights untangled, and lights…
Students have a long history of prophetically calling out the needs of their communities and urging others to transformational action. A dynamic and reflective season like the years of college provides the ideal stage for students to yearn for a connection between the call of Jesus and the world they know. Four college students began the radical act of sitting at the…
Thanksgiving ChairIn college, I worked for J.C. Penney’s in the credit, catalog, and customer service department. Anyone who has worked retail knows this is a place to come for all manner of reasons within the department store. If you need to pick up or do store or catalog returns, you would wind your way through the lines. If you have questions about…
Gratifying StewardshipFinal Sermon in the Stewardship SeriesNovember 10, 2019 Advent, Christmas Eve, Trunk or Treat, Eggstravaganza, Easter Sunday, Vacation Bible School. When I, and probably most of us, think of these occasions, we experience fond and warm memories and feelings. It is not clear that similar reactions take place when we think of Stewardship Campaigns and Consecration Sundays. For some of us,…
Shine your Light: Regular TestimoniesHave you ever been sitting in your home at night with the lights all on, perhaps watching television or putting a puzzle together, reading a book or eating dinner, when the lights suddenly(clap) out? And there you are – in the dark. You wait a moment. Wait – hoping that the lights will just flicker back on. Wait…
A preacher at a small church would sometimes take his two small sons with him to an early morning Bible study. An elderly gentleman would, sometimes, split his donut with the two brothers. One Sunday, the smallest son came to church with a sandwich bag full of Cheerios. The elderly man leaned over and asked the young boy if he could have…
Intentional diversityNot many people naming Jesus’ twelve disciples from memory would be likely to include Jesus’ disciple Nathanael in the top five or six names. We all think of Peter and Thomas, James and John. Nathanael asks Philip, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46) Nathanael’s question reveals much about him and by extension, us as well. Looking back, it…