Today, we continue the third week of the Advent season with our focus on joy. Don’t you just love the promises of God? In John 15:9-11, Jesus makes an extraordinary promise to his disciples: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you…
The Advent season continues, that ancient tradition of preparing our hearts to celebrate Christ’s birth. We now move into the third week, whose theme is joy, and that will be our focus all week at “Change Begins in You.” Isaiah 35 provides a vivid description of the joy experienced by God’s redeemed people. We read…
Today, we continue the second week of the Advent season with our focus on peace. Advent reminds us that Jesus came once and that He’s coming again. Revelation 21 gives us a glimpse of what that second coming means: “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning…
Today, we continue the second week of the Advent season with our focus on peace. Jesus spoke the following words in John 14:27 just hours before He was arrested and sent to the cross: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do…
The Advent season continues, that ancient tradition of preparing our hearts to celebrate the birth of Christ at Christmas. We now move into the second week, whose theme is peace, and that will be our focus all week here at “Change Begins in You.” When God promised a Prince of Peace in Isaiah 9:6, Israel…
Today, we continue the first week of the Advent season with our focus on hope. In Revelation 21, we read about the day that our hope becomes sight. Apostle John writes, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth… And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem… And I heard a loud voice…
Today, we continue the first week of the Advent season with our focus on hope. We read in Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope” Notice Apostle Paul’s prayer. He prays not…
With the coming of the last Sunday of November, we are officially into the Advent season, that ancient tradition of preparing our hearts to celebrate the birth of Christ at Christmas. The first week of Advent focuses on hope, and that will be our focus all week here at “Change Begins in You.” We read…
Do you ever feel scattered in your life? Boy, I do. As a husband of a very outgoing and active wife, a father of five children who are involved in all sorts of good things, and a pastor of a church with several hundred people, my life often feels scattered. Sometimes I feel like I’m…
As I child, I remember one of my greatest fears was losing my family and being left all alone. That’s a pretty scary thought for a child, isn’t it? But let’s be honest, it’s a pretty scary thought for an adult also. In fact, Jesus’ grown-up disciples struggled with this fear, concerning His departure. Jesus…