Justice Matters to Jesus He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!”  John 2:17 We often think about Jesus as healer, teacher, savior,… In all these things Jesus takes the problems that he encounters and fixes them ...

Are You Paying Attention? “Jesus did this, the first of his signs, at Cana in Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.” John 2:11 “Give me a sign,” we often say. Dried up and tired we wonder if God is paying attention to our circumstances and if ...

The Call to Transformation A skeptic once said, “Jesus came proclaiming the Kingdom of God and all he ended up with was the church.” What he meant was that the vision Jesus has is often not seen in the lives of the people who claim to follow Jesus. This week’s ...

“When King Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men.” Matthew 2:16 One ...

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. John 1:1 Both Jews and Christians have ways of understanding God that include God speaking and things happening. God’s announcement is the starting point for God’s work unfolding. It starts in the Bible ...

Finding Purpose in Your Life The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. (Ezekiel 37:1) One of the great questions of life is, “Why am I here?” Young ...

Christ in the Old Testament Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up quickly. He said to his counselors, ‘Was it not three men that we threw bound into the fire?’ They answered the king, ‘True, O king.’ He replied, ‘But I see four men unbound, walking in the middle of the ...

“But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” (Jeremiah 29:7) The “common good” – a nice idea but not always easy to pursue. Finding the kinds of ...

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lives in a land of deep darkness – on them light has shined.” (Isaiah 9:2) Darkness is part of life – and as the fall moves toward winter we are reminded of this by shortened days and longer ...

“Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream.” (Amos 5:23-24) This week’s lesson from Amos reminds us that being religious isn’t always a virtue. It is possible ...

“For all the saints, who from their labors rest…” All of us are indebted to those who have gone before us. We know much of what we know because they passed it down to us. We are able to do what we do because someone showed us skills and abilities ...