New Starts

December 28, 2008 1st Sunday After Christmas Luke 2:22-40 The shepherds have returned to their flocks. Seared into their memory is the brush of angel wings, an angelic choir and the original version of the "Hallelujah Chorus." The angel choir rows are empty, and the angel trumpeters are silent. They have returned to their heavenly spots to watch the unfolding drama of the earthly visitation of God as He walks the dusty streets and trails of Israel. The angels will listen with awe as He interacts with humanity. They will especially be interested in His three years of "rabbinic teaching," horrified at the crucifixion but elated at resurrection morning.

Unwrapping Christmas

December 21, 2008 4th Sunday of Advent (B) Luke 1:26-38 In a Christmas sermon, Billy Strayhorn, wrote that modern technology was making it much more difficult to "unwrap" Christmas: "It has given us shrink wrap, which defies all attempts to tear it. We have fiber strapping that some knives won't cut. And we have adhesives that you can't get off with dynamite."

God’s Guidance

December 14, 2008 3rd Sunday of Advent (B) 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future'" (Jer. 29:11, NIV). All of us are seeking what God offers Jeremiah's listeners. Our desire is to follow God's guidance. Paul, writing centuries later to the church at Thessalonica, expresses that God's will-His holy guidance-should include an inner strength, an inner fire and an inner purity. These three basic ideas offer an overall picture of how God guides His people.

Calling All Disciples

Luke 5:1-11 The passion of Christ was to teach and preach about the wonders of God that could change the heart and life of any person. After leaving the synagogues for awhile, Jesus ventured out to the lakeshores of Galilee to uses a boat for a pulpit. Christ went anywhere people would gat