Need A 2023 Goal?
Read: Ephesians 3:14-21 Here we are at the end of another trip around the sun. The sands of the hourglass continue to slip through the fingers of time and many people take the turn of the calendar year as an opportunity to examine whether their own goals and hopes are also advancing. As I was scrolling through everyone's holiday posts this past week, I saw a particularly encouraging one from a North Waker who was letting all of her friends know of an app she had used this past year to help her read through the Bible. Interestingly, the main point of her post was not highlighting the app; instead, it
Christmas is Not What We Have Made It
Photo by Walter Chávez on Unsplash Christmas in NC is often all about lights and decorations and gifts and family and amazing food and such. But the NT story of the first Christmas is actually much grittier. Especially what follows the birth! (See Matthew 2) Here are two things to ponder this Christmas to help you get a dose of the width and length and height and depth of the love of God for you this Christmas! The first is a blog post by Rachel Conley, a NWer sent to serve immigrants in Philly with her family. She looks at the incarnation through
Ironies of Jesus’ Birth
Photo by Rick Shaw on Unsplash He laid in a trough of wood, so that terrifying angels with flaming swords would worship a newborn in straw. (Genesis 3:24; Hebrews 1:6) He who joyfully delights over His creation cried as a baby so that He could know suffering. (Hebrews 2:9) The one who leads us from temptation took on a weak body and felt those temptations. (Matthew 6:13; Hebrews 4:15) He who created the marvelous self-healing human body took one, so it could be mortally wounded. (2 Peter 2:24) He, with eyes too pure to look on evil, traveled land
And They Believed
Photo by Chris Benson on Unsplash Read Luke 2 This Sunday, we get the joy of seeing a gaggle of silly geese (our children) climb up on stage in costumes to sing songs about the Savior who came. In Matthew 18, Jesus teaches us that we are to become like children or we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. How easily children see the truth of Christ; how humble they are and how innocent! Sara Groves’ children very sweetly read from this section of The Jesus Storybook Bible as the intro to one of her songs, It’s True.
A Call to Battle
Photo by Niklas Ohlrogge on Unsplash It has occurred to me that the season of Advent/Christmas is a season when our enemy Satan is hard at work on our hearts. For many, many years I have struggled with feeling cranky at Christmas. The pressure to bake the best treats, build the biggest gingerbread house, give the cheeriest greetings, send 100 Christmas cards (with a beautiful family photo!), make it to every party, make my house super pretty, buy presents for everyone I know—to make this Christmas the VERY BEST ONE—it exhausted and depressed me. Christmas carols became old-hat
Traditions
Photo by Diliara Garifullina on Unsplash This time of year seems to revolve around traditions. We work to recreate old traditions each year and often look at how to add new ones. Traditions give us a sense of place and belonging and bind us closer to those we love. During this time of year, we can see traditions everywhere we look, from Christmas pajamas to Christmas popcorn to the town Christmas tree. A few weeks ago I started listening to the podcast “Luther in Real Time” (which I highly recommend), and then, completely by accident, I came across an
The Promise
Photo by Davide Cantelli on Unsplash When we come to Ahaz, king of two tribes of Israel, and God's prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 7, the king is under great strain. As other nations are devising ways to invade and take all of Israel's territory, Ahaz must choose to either trust God's guidance or rely only on himself, rejecting God's help. And in the middle of that immediate political and military strain, God makes an unexpected statement. Ahaz is worried about the army over the geographic horizon, but God is giving him a view of His plan over the horizon of time. Then the LORD spoke again to Ahaz: “Ask for a sign from
Advent: Anticipation, Expectation, and Awe
Photo by Laura Nyhuis on Unsplash Read: John 1:14 Adapted from Paul David Tripp, Come Let Us Adore Him. p. 9-11. It is a mind-boggling, hard to grasp, awesome story unlike any other story ever told. But what makes this story so wonderful and so important is not that its plot is way beyond anything you would've ever conceived. What makes this story vital to know and understand is that it is not a well-crafted fantasy. The thing that should make you stop in your tracks, activate your heart and mind, and fall to your knees is that this
Why God Teaches Us To Remember
This time of the year, Americans get together with family and friends to feast and reflect. Over this American Thanksgiving Holiday, my wife and I will be gathering with some of North Wake’s Far Flung Families, friends living and working for God’s kingdom all over the world. It’ll be our first time missing a gathering with family around poultry, fall vegetables, and pie. Like many families, we take time at Thanksgiving to discuss ways we’re thankful to God, especially His goodness. If the point were simply to reflect on the past year, it would become easy to be depressed. Our family is probably like yours: we’ve experienced loss and lots of tears.
The Genius of the Wrong People
Read: John 20:21-22 I was sitting at a table with an old friend who leads a large and thriving church. "We try to make everything easy for the members of our church," he said to me. "We encourage them to get to know people in our community, whether in their neighborhood or office or anywhere else. Then all they have to do is invite those people to church. At church, those people will hear relevant, gifted communicators in a warm, attractive, and appealing environment where their children can be a part of top-of-the-line programs." He concluded, "If our members will
