Less is more
Our world says more is more. Our culture says more is more. Churches can say more is more. It’s pretty hard to swim against such a strong tide, yet that is exactly what Jesus calls us to today. He says: less is more.
Ministry done Jesus’ way
God has graciously given us the gift of faith so that we get to work. That work is to share the good news. Proclaim the gospel. Bring people to faith. We call usually call this work “ministry”.
Stick to His plan
All the apostles wanted was a quick fix—a political saviour who would restore Israel to its former glory. We aren't so different when we hope for instant solutions in the Church or in our personal lives. Christ calls His apostles (along with us) to a different way—a way of faith and witnessing.
The Cross, the Crux, and the Call
As we continue on our Lenten journey of repentance, we are faced with quite a challenging word. As Jesus explains the path of suffering ahead for him and asks the disciples to follow him straight into the furnace, Peter’s response of confusion reveals something about the human heart.
Stay awake
Advent is the season of preparation—preparing to remember Christ’s first coming at Christmas. As we begin this season, though, we are reminded that our true preparation is for his second coming which we continue to wait for. Today, though, the focus is less on what we are waiting for, but how we should wait.
Hope, inheritance, and power
I’m sure we can all agree that unity is a good thing to strive for in any context, but especially the church, but we’re historically terrible at maintaining it. It is faith in Christ that truly unites the church and gives us hope.
Freedom in faith
In Romans 14, St. Paul provides some helpful advice for a group of Christians who are finding it hard to get along because of their differences in opinion. Sound familiar?
Gather, grow, go
The disciples get a sneak peek before the rest of the believers receive the Spirit with tongues of fire fifty days later. It is that same Spirit whom we believe “calls, gathers, and enlightens the whole Christian church on earth,” even today.
Sheep, shepherds, and thieves
On Good Shepherd Sunday, our gospel reading stops one verse short of that particular statement of Jesus. Instead, in John 10:1–10, Jesus identifies himself as something else as part of this illustration.
Transfiguration as transition
Since Christmas time, we have been focussing on who Jesus really is as God reveals him during the season of Epiphany. We are about to begin the season of Lent. The transfiguration is the transition point between Epiphany and Lent in more ways than one.
Gather, grow, go (Is. 2:1–5)
This Advent season, we are going to journey through Isaiah. In the New Testament, no prophet is quoted more than Isaiah. Today, we hear of a vision that Isaiah saw.
An unshakable kingdom (Hb. 12:18-29)
The writer of Hebrews contrasts Mount Sinai with Mount Zion, the old covenant and the new covenant, the fear and trembling of Moses and the confidence and joy of believers in Christ.