Within the church in general, the theme of the first candle we light in Advent is Hope. Hope is more than wishful thinking. It’s hearing God’s words as promise that we will be led to true freedom. You may have read these words penned by Henri Nouwen in his book Bread for the Journey: “Optimism is the expectation that things – the weather, human relationships, the economy, the political
Sermons
While the story I am going to relate may not be 100% true, parts of it are based on facts and events that did happen. This version is from the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul in San Diego. Pastor Jeremiah Steepek transformed himself into a homeless person and went to the 10,000 member church that he was to be introduced as the head pastor at that morning. He walked around his soon to be
“Out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back.” (Mt 25:25) Along with the story of the Prodigal Son, the parable of the Talents is one of those stories of Jesus that most people feel pretty sure they understand. “Stop wasting the day, get up off your butt, and practice your piano. Some day you will be judged on how you use your talents!” says a
“‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” There’s something about being ready in advance and not procrastinating. I don’t know about you, but when I have to present something, or lead a meeting or class, I really put in the time to make sure that I do everything that I can in advance to make the day of the event as
Galilee was outside of the mainstream of Israelite life. It wasn’t a religious or intellectual center. It had no real political power. But it was in contact with world trade and culture and consequently, it became a cosmopolitan region. People from varied ethnic backgrounds inhabited the area, making it diverse culturally and religiously. And so for that reason, Galileans were suspected of not