It’s a family tradition to light a candle in the darkness.
Luke 2:4-7
December 20, 2009
Family tradition

The world was a dark place in December 1940.  Adolf Hitler’s Nazi German fighting machine forces had subdued western Europe, including France.  Great Britain had lost 40,000 lives to German bombs, and it was hard to imagine how, or if, it [...]

There’s a neighbor who doesn’t go to church, and you have been wondering how and when to make a first invite. 
You have a friend who is not a Christian, and you want to break the ice without risking the friendship.
The aunt and uncle with whom you ate turkey and dressing a couple of [...]

“In quietness and trust is your strength.”  (Isaiah 30:15)
 
My Advent devotional reading has been in Isaiah.  I chose it because there are at least three well-known passages (7:14; 9:2-7; 11:1-3) that are quoted in the New Testament as being fulfilled in Jesus. 
In previous readings through Isaiah, it has always seemed like the first part [...]

Never prejudge the dawn by the darkness.
Isaiah 9:1-7
December 13, 2009
Future files
For the last few weeks I have been asking you for your responses on what the future will look like – at Corinth and in daily life.  There have been some interesting responses, and this week we will place them all in the time capsule [...]

Clem Geitner remarked in our Tuesday morning Bible study this week that perhaps the Bible needs a subtitle: “Holy Bible: What We Do in the Meantime.”
For almost two thousand years (parts of it much longer than that), this collection of stories, poems, sermons, visions, songs, and more has been guiding and inspiring those who believe [...]