We're now well into the Advent season. This Sunday will be the 3rd Sunday of Advent, and our reading for the day is The Story of the Angels from Luke 2. And it's a wonderful story, and you probably know it well. If not from the Scriptures, then from "A Charlie Brown Christmas" where Linus gives his famous "The True Meaning of Christmas" speech. If I knew how to embed it in...

Advent is here. This Sunday will be the 2nd Sunday of Advent, and our reading for the day is The Story of the Shepherds from Luke 2. And it's a wonderful story, full of promise and hope. But for many among us, and even some of us, this season seems to lack promise and hope. There's no doubt that many people are struggling with one form of darkness or another in their lives...

"Celebrating Advent means learning how to wait. . . . Those who learn to wait are uneasy about their way of life, but yet have seen a vision of greatness in the world of the future and are patiently expecting its fulfillment. The celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, and who look forward to...

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope that you have a blessed Thanksgiving. Be sure to take some time to reflect on the ways that the Lord has blessed you this past year. And speaking of blessings, Jeremiah has been a blessing to us. I hope that all of you have been as impacted by it as your pastors have been. What a rich book that dives deep into the heart of idolaters to call them ...

We're getting close to entering the holiday season and we've already started getting flooded with gift catalogs at home. And each catalog shows us the latest, greatest, coolest, just-gotta-have-it gift for this season. And it got me to thinking about gifts. Have you ever gotten a gift that seemed like it would be really great at first, but after a little while it's lost it...

Have you ever been surprised by the words or actions of a friend? Here's someone you know well, that you're close to, and all of a sudden, they say something, or do something, that just surprises you. And perhaps you respond with, "Something must be up with them. That's not like them." Or maybe even, "Wow, you thought you knew a guy ... and then they do something like th...

Have you ever suffered through a time of great loss when you felt lost, lonely, or abandoned? Most of us have experienced that at one time or another. And if you haven't yet, sadly, you probably will. Perhaps for you it was the loss of a loved one, an unexpected change in job, location, or school, maybe a fractured relationship or even just a friendship that has faded aw...

I was just reading through some news articles this week and I'm continually amazed, especially in this election season, how easily we make ourselves out to be far better than we are. We rate ourselves as above-average drivers, wise investors, and productive employees, even though math dictates that can't be true for all of us. We also tend to believe we are less likely tha...

We are continuing our series on Jeremiah this Sunday, and we've come to Jeremiah 7:1-29. And over the past couple of months, as Jeremiah confronted the people of God with their sin, we also were confronted with ours. And this Sunday is no different. To be honest, this week has been difficult to prepare because it's telling me something that I don't want to hear. Jeremiah ...

After traveling last week to Georgia and Florida, it was good to come back home. I like returning to what's familiar, to what's comfortable, to all those things (and people) that make home ... home. But sometimes that can backfire on us too. We get so used to the comfortable and familiar we're no longer able to see how that can sometimes harm us as well. We become blind ...