Knowing God
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Lenten Reading for Palm Sunday, the Sixth Sunday in Lent:
Light two candles. God made very sure that we could understand who He is, what He is like, and what He wants for and from us. He did this by sending his Son, Jesus. Now we don’t have just the written Word, we have the Living Word—a real person. When people watched Jesus, they were…
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Lenten Reading for the Fifth Sunday in Lent:
Light three candles. God wants people to live a full life. And the only way we can is by following his instructions. So he gave us his Word, his written Word, to make very clear to us where our life comes from and how we can keep it. BUT again and again we think our…
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Lenten Reading for the Fourth Sunday in Lent:
Light four candles before reading. Even before the world was created, God knew that Jesus would be the Way, the Truth and the Life for all who believed in him. But God didn’t just ignore his people then, waiting until the time came for Jesus. No, he gave them a way to be forgiven. If…
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Lenten Reading for the Third Sunday in Lent:
Light five candles before reading. Usually God holds back his anger over sin. But one time he let it loose, so we would know how serious it is to turn our backs away from God and toward the darkness, and so we would know how great his wrath is against sin. BUT he did not…
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Lenten Reading for the First Sunday of Lent:
The 6 weeks before Easter is called the “Lenten season”. The word Lent is from an old English word related to “lenthen”, and meant springtime, when the days are lengthening. We use it to refer to the days between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. Lent is a process of prayer and spiritual renewal. Join me…
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Have You Missed It? Love Comes Down
God always takes the initiative in His love relationship with us. The trouble is too many of us miss His constant invitation to a most extraordinary relationship. We begin to philosophize it away, or deny it, or simply call it coincidence when anything good comes our way. It’s like we receive love letters constantly each…
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What Are You Expecting This Christmas? (4th Sunday in Advent)
This morning my family and I shared an Advent reflection I wrote one day as I pondered the expectation of the coming Messiah… Expectation Reader 1: We often look to Christmas with expectation: we may expect presents, or gatherings with family and friends, or gaining a few pounds, or laughter, we may even expect grief…
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O Come O Come Emmanuel (Prayer)
An Advent Prayer based on the Christmas Carol, “O Come O Come Emmanuel” Have you ever stopped to ponder the lyrics for “O Come O Come Emmanuel”? A few days ago I did stop to ponder in order to write the Welcome Prayer for our 4th Advent service this morning. First, here are the lyrics…
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Sabbatical Learnings: Lesson Two Was My Response to God, To Others
The second half of my sabbatical I asked God the question, “How can I possibly love you in return, Lord?” My thoughts went to the love languages and I asked God what His love language was, and how best I could love Him in return. I was reminded of how He says that to love…
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Sabbatical Learnings: Lesson One Wrecked Me
This first lesson of sabbatical completely wrecked me… I’ve heard that the greatest theologians of our time, who ponder all the wonderful questions of theology, are often impacted most deeply of the love of God. I use to smile at this knowing a preschooler could get it. Yet, the first half of my sabbatical I…
Following and Trusting : Encountering God Out of the Box 