Adoration (RE-LIGHT ALL FOUR CANDLES) In Isiah 52:7-10, the prophet wrote, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” Your watchmen shall lift up their voices, with their voices…….Read More
Read Matthew 2:19-21 Each person in the Christmas story had to decide what to do about the Messiah who had come. While they certainly did not understand it all, Joseph and Mary loved their new baby, and they risked their own lives and everything they had to protect Him. When the Shepherds heard the angelic…….Read More
Read Luke 2:1-20 Of all the characters in the Christmas story, the shepherds were the most amazing to me. Why? Because shepherds were outcasts among the people they were considered “unclean” and therefore not welcome in the temple other than to bring the lambs to be sacrificed. But God used these “smelly people” as the…….Read More
Read Zephaniah 3:14-20 In this obscure passage from Zephaniah, God made an incredible promise to His people when He said: “I will bring you home.” Of course, contextually, he was referring to the days of King Josiah in Judah, but if we allow them, they can give us a fresh promise from God today. And…….Read More
Read John 3:16-17 Someone said John 3:16 is the whole Bible in one verse! No doubt, it still is the most quoted verse in the Bible, and it does contain the essential elements of God’s plan for our redemption. When it is read in the context of our Lord’s conversation with Nicodemus, we can get…….Read More
Love On this fourth Sunday of Advent, we re-light The Candle of Hope, The Candle of Peace, and the Candle of Joy, and now the Angel Candle, The Candle of Love. (LIGHT THE LAST PURPLE CANDLE) Perhaps the best-known verse in all the Bible is John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He…….Read More
Remembering the Message Given to Mary – Luke 1:39-45 – “Blessed is the fruit of your womb, and how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me?” In Hebrews 10:5-7, the writer said, “Sacrifice and offering You have not desired, but a body You have prepared for Me.”…….Read More
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In 2011, biophysicist Edward Trifonov tried to find consensus among 123 definitions of life. He grouped into clusters words that were used in the various definitions that had similar meanings, and then He combined the most frequently used word from each cluster to produce a ‘minimal’ definition which was: “Life is self-reproduction with variation.” Even…….Read More
Reviving the Miracle Involving Mary – Luke 1:31-35 – “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.” The prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 was fulfilled in the immaculate conception of Jesus in Mary’s womb. Some deny the veracity of that prophecy, saying it referred to an event…….Read More
Mary: The Woman of Obedience” Read Matthew 1:1-17, Luke 1:26-55 The fifth woman listed in Matthew’s genealogy is Mary, the woman of obedience, whose actions revealed to us that no task is too great for God’s grace. Mary could have been as young as 12-years old when the Holy Spirit “graced” her to be the…….Read More