“… one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.” (Eph. 4:5-6) One night I received a text from my assistant at work. She asked if I would come to the hospital. Her boyfriend’s grandfather was dying. I wasn’t sure why this family didn’t call their own pastor. Maybe he was still …
Tag: faith
Emmanuel, God With Us
While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. (Lk. 2:6) Right before Christmas one year, a really sad article came out in the press. According to several reports, a priest condemned suicide at the funeral of a young man who had taken his own life. I felt tremendous grief for …
Worshipping God In Spirit and In Truth
Jesus said, “But the hour is coming, and is now here when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to worship him.” (Jn. 4:23) When the woman at the well felt like Jesus was becoming too personal, she tried to divert the conversation by embroiling …
Jesus’ Love and Grace
“He was speaking of Judas son of Simon Iscariot, for he, though one of the twelve, was going to betray him.” (Jn. 6:71) There are few feelings more painful than being betrayed. It feels like your heart has been ripped out of your chest and then stomped on. The closer the relationship, the deeper the …
Jesus Lifts You Up Into New Life
“For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead…” (1 Peter 4:6) What happened to Jesus between Good Friday and Easter? Although we don’t exactly know, today’s scripture suggests that Jesus was raised from the dead before Easter morning so that He could offer salvation to those who had already died. …
A Glimmer of Being Loved by Jesus
“Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” (Jn. 13:1) Even though Jesus knew that His disciples would deny and desert Him, He loved them “to the end.” Loving them to the “end” meant that He loved them to the uttermost, loved them without end, loved them …
Jesus Rules with Joy and Freedom
“Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.’ Pilate asked him, ‘So you are a king?’” (Jn. 18:36-37) Pilate had every …
Jesus is Always With You
“Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.” (Jn. 20:8-9) Although I believe Jesus was raised from the dead, I don’t always live into the implications of what I …
Belonging to Jesus
“Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own…” (Jn. 13:1) Of course, Jesus loved “his own.” His “own” were the first 12 disciples. He loved them because they had steadfastly followed Him for three …
Jesus — God’s Gift to Us
“Everything that the Father gives to me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away...” (John 6:37) We say Jesus is God’s gift to us, and He is. Today’s passage, however, doesn’t say that. Instead, today’s words make this astounding claim: We are God’s gift to Jesus. …