There’s one more story of vulnerability that I want us to learn from. Turn to Luke 19:1-9. At this point in the story of Jesus, he is on the way to Jerusalem where he will face his destiny. But Jesus is not quite there yet. He is passing through the nearby city of Jericho. CrowdsContinue reading “Show vulnerability when you feel like an outsider – Honest Advent Week 1, Part 5”
Tag Archives: advent
How to reach out when you are helpless – Honest Advent Week 1, Part 4
Know the feeling? If you’ve ever had a battle with a medical situation, maybe a mental health situation, maybe a difficult relationship, the story of this lady might resonate with you. If you’ve ever struggled financially, wondering why it seems that you can never get ahead of the bills, or your car or house breakingContinue reading “How to reach out when you are helpless – Honest Advent Week 1, Part 4”
How to find power when you feel powerless – Honest Advent Week 1, Part 3
Being powerless is a terrible feeling, isn’t it? Do you know what I mean? It’s that helpless feeling when life is bulldozing you and there’s nothing you can do about it. In today’s post we find out a very powerful man became powerless in order to access true power, and how we can learn fromContinue reading “How to find power when you feel powerless – Honest Advent Week 1, Part 3”
Vulnerability means saying, “I don’t get it.” – Honest Advent Week 1, Part 2
For Advent 2020, we are following the themes in the book Honest Advent as we think about the gifts we can give Jesus in celebration of his birthday. As we saw in the previous post, in Week 1, we are giving him the gift of our vulnerability. To understand what vulnerability looks like, and howContinue reading “Vulnerability means saying, “I don’t get it.” – Honest Advent Week 1, Part 2″
The Weirdness of Christmas – Honest Advent Week 1, Part 1
Have you heard that Christmas is Jesus’ birthday party? We use that idea often with children. It’s not wrong, but it always seemed slightly off to me. First of all, the biblical Gospels say nothing about the day on which Jesus was born. The Gospels don’t mention the year, month, or the day of week. Continue reading “The Weirdness of Christmas – Honest Advent Week 1, Part 1”
How the Holy Spirit helps us have peace when we struggle with fear – Fourth Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 5
What is at the root of fear? Human nature? Maybe it is just a part of the human experience? We fear that we won’t be taken care of. Clearly so many of us, young and old fear rejection, loneliness, insecurity, or being destitute. We can fear that people will look down on us. There isContinue reading “How the Holy Spirit helps us have peace when we struggle with fear – Fourth Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 5”
How God’s Spirit is Alive in Us – Fourth Sunday of Advent, Part 4
Each stream of Christianity has its unique approach to the role and activity of the Holy Spirit in the life of the follower of Jesus. Some Christians feel that they know with certainty who the Spirit is and what the Spirit does. Some Christians have very little certainty. I grew up thinking the Spirit wasContinue reading “How God’s Spirit is Alive in Us – Fourth Sunday of Advent, Part 4”
What is Jesus most astounding promise? – Fourth Sunday of Advent, Part 3
Jesus makes lots of promises. What do you think is his most amazing promise? In this post, I think we just might have a candidate for it. We actually started studying the promise in the previous post. Jesus teaches the promises to his disciples in John 14:15-31, and he crafts in the form of anContinue reading “What is Jesus most astounding promise? – Fourth Sunday of Advent, Part 3”
Is it wrong for Jesus to say, “if we love him, we’ll obey him”? – Fourth Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 2
In the previous post, we talked about Jesus makes some promises in John 14:15-31, and the main promise takes the form of an “if-then” statement. If we do x, he promises to do y. So here is the promise: If we love him, we will obey him, and then he promises to give us whatContinue reading “Is it wrong for Jesus to say, “if we love him, we’ll obey him”? – Fourth Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 2″
Why the moon freaks me out – Fourth Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 1
You know how the moon appears larger when it is low on the horizon? There are a few times each year when the full moon is visible low on the horizon straight out our back yard. When that happens, I grab my binoculars, and go out on the deck, kneel down by the railing, andContinue reading “Why the moon freaks me out – Fourth Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 1”
Engaging Scripture 