Year: 2019
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Potential
Deuteronomy 10:12, Deuteronomy 6:4–9, Deuteronomy 30:11–16 (read online ⧉) Tomorrow is not just another day. It could be, but why let it be? Why let the last year define you? Why allow the trials and tribulations to weigh you down? As we look at the coming year, there is plenty that could be feared. There…
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Forgiven and Sent
2 Samuel 12:5–14, John 7:53–8:11 (read online ⧉) David’s behavior was wrong. Sadly, in the wider (non-Israelite) culture, it wasn’t all that unexpected. In fact, many of the pieces within the story show a progression that would have not surprised anyone hearing it, that is until Uriah throws a minor monkey wrench into the narrative…
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Drift Away
Isaiah 49:8–13, John 4:3–14, Hebrews 2:1–4 Has the so-called Christmas euphoria finally died down for you? If this was more of a “blue” (i.e., one of mourning, loss, or depression), are you relieved that you don’t feel the pressure of “keeping up” appearances? Christmas, as with many other family occasions (weddings, baptisms, birthdays, funerals, etc.),…
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Hearts of Innocence
Jeremiah 31:15–20, Matthew 2:13–23, Hebrews 2:11–18 (read online ⧉) In the Evangelical Church, and even in the so-called mainstream American Denominations, the day of Holy Innocents is often skipped over. It’s uncomfortable. It’s weird. To our sensibilities, it just makes no sense. Like so many of the stories in the Scriptures, we have a hard…
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Christmas Poured Out
Exodus 33:12–27, John 6:35–40, John 17:6–24, John 18:8 (read online ⧉) Judas Iscariot—Jesus‘ betrayer—is often one of those characters that we just “go with the flow.” It is easier to just see him as the betrayer, rather than see him as what he was, human. When we wrestle with the person that was Judas Iscariot,…
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Back To The Dark
2 Chronicles 24:17–22, Matthew 10:17–22, Acts 6:8–15, Acts 7:51–59 (read online ⧉) Yesterday was only Christmas and here we are back into the darkness of the world. How true to life that is. A baby is born and a family feels joy. In the midst of that joy, there are concerns about food, shelter, relationships.…
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Christmas
Micah 4:1–8, Micah 5:1–4, Matthew 1:1–25, Luke 2:1–20 (read online ⧉) Long before doctors and hospitals, women gave birth at home. There has been a resurgence of interest in this, as society (specifically mothers) realizes that “home” provides comfort that a hospital room just can’t. The sterile, bland, cold, and noisy hospital room just sounds…
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Loved Before We Were Born
1 John 2:15–17, 1 John 3:1–3, 1 John 4:7–12 (read online ⧉) Don’t love the world or the things of it. That seems to be a strange statement in light of John 3:16-18. On the other hand, it can make a lot of sense. There are two kinds of world, the one of Creation, and…