It’s easy to be negative about our mission. We acknowledge that we are to share the life-saving Word of God with the world, but we don’t anticipate this happening during our lifetimes (if ever). After all, with everything that’s happening around the globe – from the rise of the “nones” to terrorist attacks – how…

When you think of Heaven, what image comes to your head? For me, it’s golden streets, big mansions, and beautiful open fields. Okay, next question. When you think of the people in Heaven, who comes to your head? I automatically picture people who look like me. Not that they all have red hair and glasses,…

We’ve all done it. We look at someone whose sins are different from ours and say, “Well, at least I’m not like them.” We compare ourselves with others without even thinking about it. At least we aren’t homosexuals. At least we aren’t murderers. At least we aren’t adulterers. And the list goes on. It’s our…

“Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals;…

We learn more than we realize from our parents. Not only do we learn from them how to speak and walk and ride a bicycle, we learn how to treat other people. If we see our parents berating a hapless grocery store employee, we’re likely to assume that’s how we should treat grocery store employees,…

The Bible is one big story, a story that you and I are a part of. We are included in the story of God, and we have vital parts to play. One of those parts is simple: we are to inform other people about God’s story. We see Philip doing that in our reading from…

There are a few definitions suggested for the word “abide” in the Merriam-Webster dictionary. It lists “to wait for,” “to endure without yielding,” “to bear patiently,” “to accept without objection,” “to remain stable or fixed in a state,” and “to continue in a place.” The word “abide” appears in our Gospel reading from this Sunday.…

Peter the Apostle can be summed up in one word: sheep. He would often see himself as the leader, the person who would speak up when no one else would, the eager one, the excited one. But often, other people would see him as the fool who messed up, whose enthusiasm led him off a…