As you ready yourself to enter into another Christmas season, what attitude do you bring with it? Is there excitement, joy, and anticipation? Or is there a sense of dread, sadness, worry, or fear? Advent means “coming” and it gives us an opportunity to focus on Christ’s coming, first as a baby born in Bethlehem, but also reflecting on the promise that Christ will one day return.
The Church is the largest and most effective volunteer mobilizer on the planet! What other organization mobilizes as many people for service on a daily basis? Even when we understand this incredible potential, something still feels off. Why is it that many of God’s people are still sitting on the sidelines? Certainly, the Church and its people are designed and Made for More.
It’s no surprise that Jesus used lots of questions to teach his disciples - and us! What questions do you have for God? What questions are people asking today? Are we prepared to answer? How can we answer those questions with discernment and truth, and without judgment?
There is nothing like the power of hearing or watching a good story unfold, especially when it’s a movie that etches images and memories into our minds. Some of us have memories of movies that effectively catapult us into the past, the future, or even the reality of the struggles and hassles we feel each day in the present. This year, we are revisiting some of the stories shared in movies and how they connect to biblical truths.
How we live out our lives either worships God, something or someone else, or even ourselves. When God is worshipped, He is glorified, and it is for our good. When we put ourselves or something else first instead of God, God isn't glorified, and it is to our harm.
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, which originated in the early Christian Church. As a sign of repentance, Christians would sprinkle ashes on his or her head. In the Bible, ashes were always associated with humility and mortality, fasting and remorse.
The story of God and His people. The Story is a book that tells the grandest, most compelling story of all time. It sweeps you into the unfolding progression of Bible characters and events, allowing the teachings of the Bible to read like a novel.
