The Christian walk is synonymous with innocent suffering and pain, through which Christ our Lord suffered and died. He left us all an example of how to follow him in this. A Christian’s call to this behavior goes against the grain of his human tendencies: to suffer unjust treatment without retaliation, trusting only that God would be the judge of things ultimately. Jesus lived the sacrificial life to which he calls all his believers. It is a life that leads to the cross, and he has modeled how to live this sacrificial life for us. When we suffer unjustly, we share in a tiny portion of what happened to him. When we are mistreated, we are to turn the other check, bless those who curse us, and return good for evil. We are not to retaliate, not to threaten, not to get even. Jesus showed us how to live, and he showed us how to die. This response is a miracle in itself and is under girded and made possible only by the gift of grace from God.
Text: 1 Peter 2:21-25What would it cost Jesus to be the Savior of the world? He paid for our sins with the price of his own blood. Jesus is just one week old, and already he enters into the pain of human existence.
Text: Luke 2:21If Christ has really been born, why is the world so messed up? Why aren’t things better by now?
Text: Matthew 11:3This has been a week unlike any other in my lifetime. Last Wednesday the new movie by Mel Gibson, “The […]
Text: Isaiah 53Recently I received an e-mail from a man who attended “Two from Galilee,” the Christmas program presented by our music […]
Text: Luke 2:11“And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And […]
Text: Luke 2:8-14Christmas is all about who we are, and who God is, and how far God will go to save us.
Text: Psalm 8 & Hebrews 2:5-9What sort of people does God look for when he gets ready to populate heaven? If heaven has an admissions […]
Text: I Corinthians 1:26-31In God’s plan, even our enemies serve a good purpose.
Text: Genesis 45There is a danger from viewing the sweetness of a Christmas pageant where all our children are so fresh-faced and adorable and everything is so clean and neat and nice, and the lighting is just right, the costumes so well done, and the staging so powerful, and the music so inspiring, that we can subconsciously think that this is the way it really was.
Text: Matthew 2:7-12