Have the holiday goodies started showing up in your office or home? About this time of year, those open boxes of chocolates, homemade cookies and, yes, even fruitcakes appear almost everywhere you go, tempting us to eat food we don’t really need. This will soon be followed in the New Year by all kinds of…
Church Blog (Page 41)
Have you done any waiting recently? Waiting for that turkey to come out of the oven on Thursday? Waiting for friends or family to arrive from a journey? Waiting for an image to load? Waiting for your favorite store to open? In 2014 one man in San Jose took Black Friday waiting to a whole…
While facing tremendous national and personal distress over the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln had learned how important it is to stop and thank God. On October 3, 1863 he established the national celebration of Thanksgiving. “It has seemed to me fit and proper that [the gifts of God] should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged…
Yesterday I talked to my next door neighbor how she felt about last Tuesday’s presidential election. I asked, “Are you rejoicing or weeping?” (She was sad, but not quite weeping.) I had just read Romans 12:15 which says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” In the wake of a very contentious…
Dear Church Family, Prepare for “scare.” This weekend when you go about your business look out: you’re going to see lots of people in freaky costumes and ugly masks. And it gets worse, because on Monday night others will be pounding on your door, demanding treats lest they play some haunting trick on you. (Hey,…
This Sunday we will join with thousands of Christians around the world to pray for the persecuted church. Over the next several weeks the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church is encouraging all Christians to lift up their brothers and sisters who are suffering for Christ. · Pray that persecuted believers would know…
On a summer day in Enfield, Connecticut, a preacher delivered a sermon by reading calmly from his notes without theatrics, gestures, power point, video, or anything other than the Word of God and the conviction of the Holy Spirit. The message so deeply touched people that they threw themselves on the floor, sobbing with repentance.…
To my very dear Church Family, I’ll give you a sneak preview of the plan for this Sunday when we converge at 10885 N. Stelling. Dave Ruder has taken great care to plan the gathering for the first service. (I’m sure Daniel K. has a rich and thoughtful service for us for the second hour.)…
This week one of our elders sent me an article that started with the following verse, “Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter. Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey…” Isaiah 59:14-15a (ESV). It may be said that one…
In the middle of all the turmoil we’re in, our nation needs prayer. This week there has been racial hatred, two African American men killed by police, protests in major cities across the country, and five officers killed in a sniper shooting. It’s enough to make you bar the door, draw the blinds, and hide!…