Meditations Sunday, January 12—Saturday, January 18 Sunday: “A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul.” Acts 16: 14. Consider that God might open your heart today to see and hear…
Brilliant Star-Filled VisionToday is the eleventh day of Christmas. Tomorrow, Epiphany is the culmination, the last of the twelve days of Christmas. We conclude our feasting and weekending for days, all in the name of the Christ child, and we receive God’s revelation. Beginning, before his birth, the Magi, the astronomers from Persia, travelled across miles to find the Christ child. They…
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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…
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,…
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…
“God, I will go to church, I will pray more, or I will give money to the church, if only the Eagles win this afternoon (or the Steelers or fill in your preferred team)!” Multiple teams are playing today; it is worth asking, have you ever made that kind of promises? Or perhaps, this is familiar “God, if you would keep my…