Corinthians 1:3-9 Mark 13:24-37 Only twenty five days till Christmas and in this brief moment, we will be spending four Sundays in Advent. Advent is a tough season and is easily lost in the busyness of Christmas. Hallmark Channel began two months of Christmas movies on November 1 and Black Friday sales now begin in…

Matthew 25:34-40 Bible scholar Terence Fretheim asserts that there are two key questions related to our faith: Do you believe in God? What kind of God do you believe in? How we answer can be a matter of life and death, it can shape foreign and domestic government policy, give us hope, fill us with…

Esther 4:13-14 There are crucial moments when you need to make a decision, when your future or the future of something important to you stands in the balance. This was Esther’s situation. According to legend, she ascended to the throne of Persia, during the 5th century before Christ, the wife of King Xerxes I. Although…

Lamentations 3:22-26 I have to confess that I am a big fan of Facebook. I usually post something on my personal page every day and send out church notices on Facebook as well. One of the greatest joys of Facebook has been reconnecting with classmates from the James Lick High School Class of 1970. Once…

I Thessalonians 2:9-13 Matthew 23:1-12 When I was a young boy, growing up among the Baptists, I used to hear my dad and other pastors refer to folk in the church as “saints.” I heard phrases such as “I’m going to visit one of the saints of the church this afternoon,” or “she was truly…