Luke 1:5-25 {Prayer} We started our Advent sermon series last Sunday by diving into Jesus’ family tree found in Matthew 1. In seeing how messed up Jesus’ family tree was, we learned that no person is ever too messed up, too broken, or too lost to be connected to Jesus’ family tree. Jesus…
Matthew 1:1-17 {Prayer} Think back to when you were a child … what did you cherish most about your family? As you aged, did you ever dig deeper into your family tree? If you did … what did you find out? Are there any persons, problems, or patterns that surprised you? …
Matthew 5:14-16 {Prayer} With Christmas only a few days away, some of us will be traveling to see friends and loved ones. As with any trip, there is a certain amount of planning that needs to happen. We have to pack, figure out which way we’re going to, how many stops it may…
Leviticus 2:13 & Mark 9:50 {Prayer} The number one, most important ingredient for seasoning is … salt. While salt has it own unique taste, as a seasoning … it is like a chameleon in that can blend and balance a recipe’s flavor together like no other. Salt can reduce bitterness, increase and enhance…
Exodus 16:1-17 {Prayer} The season of Advent is a sacred time of anticipation and preparation. It’s a season of comings and goings, of traveling to visit loved ones, to return to places and people to whom we feel a belonging to. Songs of the season speak of these travels in joyous language. “Over…
Luke 2:8-20 {Prayer} Do you open your presents on Christmas Eve or on Christmas day? How about your stockings? Do you get to check those every day or just on Christmas morning? Is your tree artificial or real? Do you decorate the outside of your house as well as the inside? These…
Luke 1:39-45 {Prayer} Being that my daughter is ten and going on 17, it has been a while since I’ve been to a baby shower. And being that she is only ten, it better be a while before I attend another one. Last year seeing her as a pregnant Mary in the Christmas…
Luke 1:67-79 {Prayer} Don’t you just hate it when someone tells you something really awesome, really great … and you can’t tell anyone about it? Jessica and I have learned over the years that we don’t tell the kids what it is that we got each other for Christmas because they can’t keep…
Isaiah 40:28-31 {Prayer} Many of us have come to love the Christmas carol “O Holy Night.” First written in 1843 by a French poet, the lyrics were translated into English only a few years later by an American pastor. The carol’s initial popularity is often traced to its third stanza which is cherished by…
Genesis 12:2 {Prayer} Imagine that two of your friends are attending the Blues hockey game at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. The game is being televised and you’re watching it at home. You know your friends are there and wonder if by chance you might spot them somewhere near the Blues bench…