In Matthew’s timeline, Jesus has just returned from his time of temptation in the wilderness. We’ll get to that in about a month. In the meantime, John had been taken…
Twice in as many days, John the Baptist points to Jesus: “Look, the Lamb of God!” (1:29, 36). Lambs had one purpose in Israel’s relationship with God. We delight in…
Well, this is all pretty obscure, except we know Isaiah is talking about Jesus, five hundred years before the Christ-child’s birth. Five hundred years is a long wait. Maybe you’ve…
A shoot from a stump. We’ve seen that; that happens. The stump about which Isaiah speaks is the stump of David, cut down, cut off (11:1). In Columbia Lakes just…
Second Thessalonians is short. When I first read through the Bible, it was a real relief finally to get to books that were two pages long. Though brief, this letter…
Well, okay . . . so that’s a lot. Scholars regard Paul’s two letters to the believers in Thessalonika as his earliest. The church there was concerned about the end,…
Paul speaks of the people who belong to God and to the Lord Jesus Christ (1:1). Have you thought much about belonging to God? In Jesus Christ, we are people…
One of my hardest ministry moments so far was when a very involved member (not here at Bethel) told me that I only appreciated her for what she did, not…
How are we supposed to do church? How are we supposed to be church? Those are good questions, even though we are nearly two thousand years into this. We have…