Yearly Archives: 2019

Epiphany

By |Categories: Messages, Series: Advent|Tags: , |

For those of us in the Protestant tradition, Epiphany is one of those dates on the church calendar that is often overlooked. In the Western Church, Epiphany is celebrated on January 6th. In the Orthodox tradition, Epiphany is celebrated on January 19th. This is due to a difference in calendars. The Gregorian calendar is used in most of the world and for the international date and time standard (ISO). But in some parts of the [...]

Favorite Carols: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

By |Categories: Articles, Series: Advent|Tags: |

One of the things I love about the Christmas season is the music, especially the old traditional Christmas carols. Many of them date back to the 19th century, but some date to the 17th and 18th centuries or are set to music that is much older. One of my favorites is O Come, O Come Emmanuel. According to C. Michael Hawn, its origins can be traced to an 8th or 9th century Latin antiphon. An [...]

Counting Down the Days

By |Categories: Articles, Series: Advent|Tags: |

When I was a child, we had an Advent Calendar that my Mom had made. It was made of red felt with white felt numbers to count the days and little ribbons under each number where she would tie Brach’s Christmas Nougat candies. My sisters and I looked forward each evening to taking one more candy off and seeing Christmas get one day closer. I don’t know about you, but for me, the Advent calendar [...]

The Curse and The Promise

By |Categories: Colossians, Genesis, Messages|Tags: , , |

Have you ever sat back and thoughtfully read through the first few chapters of Genesis?  Have you ever really contemplated Creation? The story begins with, “In the beginning… God” In eternity past, before Creation, before time as we know it began, there was the Triune God: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. In Colossians, we read, Col. 1:15 [Jesus Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all [...]

The Grace of God

By |Categories: 2 Corinthians, Articles, Hebrews, Matthew, Series: Nature of God|Tags: , |

Have you ever felt like you didn’t deserve God’s grace? Well, that’s kind of the point. Grace is not something you deserve. In fact, the whole point of grace is that it blesses you with goodness and kindness that you do not deserve and have not earned. It is integral to the nature of God to be gracious. By His grace, God showers His people with mercy and compassion and lovingkindness. In fact, He bestows [...]

God is Good

By |Categories: 1 Chronicles, Articles, Hebrews, James, Psalms, Romans, Series: Nature of God|Tags: |

O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting. (1 Chronicles 16:34) Where does one begin to declare the goodness of the Lord God? Can you imagine pure goodness, untainted by selfishness or evil in even the slightest degree? Can you imagine a God who is wholly good in all that He does, in His every plan and purpose, in every motivation of His heart, in every gift that [...]

A Forgiving God

By |Categories: 1 John, Articles, Featured, Psalms, Series: Nature of God|Tags: , |

Oh, what a glorious thing to be forgiven! To no longer carry the guilt of your sins! God’s willingness to forgive all who come to Him in true humility and repentance is an amazing thing. But I have found that the forgiveness of God is often misunderstood. On the one hand, there is nothing you or I can do to earn forgiveness from God. We receive God’s forgiveness based on what Jesus did on our [...]

The Blessing

By |Categories: Genesis, Messages, Psalms|Tags: |

Have you ever been blessed by God? Jacob wrestled with God. Do you remember the story? He wrestled with God and refused to let go until he received God’s blessing… It got me thinking… what exactly does it mean to be blessed by God? As I studied the role of blessings in the stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, I found that although I had a sort of inner sense of what a blessing is, [...]

Jacob Wrestles

By |Categories: Genesis|Tags: |

Jacob had an interesting relationship with God. You may remember the story: Jacob and Esau were fraternal twins. From the beginning, they were polar opposites: Esau was a rough outdoorsman. He loved to go hunting. Jacob preferred to stick close to home. Esau was big and burly and hairy. Jacob was smaller and smooth-skinned. Because Esau had been the first of the twins to reach outside the womb, he was Isaac’s firstborn and in line [...]

God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit

By |Categories: Articles, Deuteronomy, Ephesians, Genesis, Series: Nature of God|Tags: |

The three-in-one or trinitarian nature of God is perhaps one of the most difficult concepts to grasp when we contemplate the nature of God. But when we begin to understand this very foundational facet of His nature, we also gain insights into our relationship with Him and with one other. I have found that the trinitarian nature of God explains the why of many things. What do we mean by the Trinity? Sometimes people seem [...]

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