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"When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him." (Matthew 2: 10-11) Every Christmas, we celebrate the joy of Jesus. But at the first Christmas, King Herod stepped in to steal that joy. Like the magi, we might be challenged by a Herod this season. A Herod can be anything w...
Keep Reading"When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him."Matthew 2:3 I was recently asked about my favorite Christmas movie. I've got a few, but one that's always in the top three is "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas." What, may you ask, do the Grinch and King Herod have to do with each other? First, they both tried to steal Christmas, but only one was succ...
Keep Reading"Herod was furious, and gave orders to kill When the magi saw the star, they were overjoyed. When they saw the child with his mother Mary, they bowed down and worshiped him and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh."(Matthew 2:16, 11) When God does something, is that a good thing or a bad thing? Depends on where you're sitting, what you're trying to p...
Keep ReadingAbraham begat Isaac, Isaac begat Jacob Azor begat Zadok, Zadok begat Akim, Akin begat Eliud (Matthew 1:2, 14). Have you ever known anyone who had Matthew 1:1-17 (the "begats") as a "life verse"? Me, neither. And this passage sure is a strange way to kick off a series titled Unspeakable Joy! Matthew's three sets of "fourteen generations": after the first few verses, most...
Keep Reading"Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah." (Matthew 1: 17) 'Tis the season! Holiday catalogs and advertisements bombard us daily. Awesomely decorated houses, amazing holiday cookies, and the perfect present dominate my mail, television, email, and web browser...
Keep ReadingMatthew 1:1-17 This is the genealogy of Jessica, writer of Connect Devotionals. Nancy was the mother of Gladys, who was small but known for her ferocity. Gladys was the mother of Viva, the hardworking farm wife who was known for her cooking. Viva was the mother of Joanne, the wise, who stubbornly defends those she loves. Joanne is the mother of Jessica, the tall, di...
Keep Reading"A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham."Matthew 1:1 Before moving here three years ago, I'd never been in a church which recognized or celebrated Advent. But now I cannot imagine entering the Christmas season without my morning devotional time spent in a candle's glow from my Advent wreath. Advent doesn't start until Sunday, but l...
Keep Reading"A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham "(Matthew 1:1) Welcome! It's a new season and a new sermon series, Unspeakable Joy. As we enter these weeks of preparation and anticipation leading up to Christmas, we want to explore what joy is, where it "comes from," how to live in it. A genealogy could be a good place to start. We're late...
Keep Reading"How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" (Romans 10: 15) I believe running makes the world a better place. In a world where the siren song of technology is demanding that we spend more time sitting with our phones, in front of computers, or checking our online status, championing the outdoors is hard. Suggesting that going outside, getting sweaty, and st...
Keep ReadingScripture reassures us, "No one who trusts God like thisheart and soulwill ever regret it."(Romans 10:11 MSG) True or false: "Life always goes better with Jesus." When understood to mean the absence of problems or endless health, wealth, success, and happiness? The above is always false. When understood to mean a life that serves the good of our neighbors and communities...
Keep ReadingBelieve in your heart that God raised [Jesus] from the dead, and you will be saved(Romans 10:9). Ancient Romans were surrounded by a pantheon of gods requiring sacrifice and prayers for life to go well. Separation of church and state was nonexistent: Caesar required worship, too. Religious tolerance was a given as Romans adopted Greek gods and then absorbed deities of the...
Keep ReadingFor there is no difference between Jew and Gentile the same Lord is Lord of alland richly blesses all who call on him How can they hear [the Gospel] withoutsomeone preaching to them? (Romans 10:12, 14) We live in a pretty "preach-y" world, don't we? How many times a day are we "preached" to, by advertisers, politicians, pundits, experts, influencers, and molders of publ...
Keep ReadingAnd how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? (Romans 10:14) I've borrowed the title of this Connect Devotional from a book by my friend, Dr. Erick Schenkel. His book, Everyone, Everywhere recounts his work with The Jesus Film Project and their efforts to make sure that everyone, everywhere is invited to know Jesus personally, and that everyone, everywh...
Keep Reading"But Namaan went away angryhe turned and went off in a rage."(2 Kings 5:11-12) Ethnic, racial, and cultural conflicts dominate the news. While we shouldn't even have to say Black lives matter, I fully expect the phrase to spawn confrontation, pushback, even anger. With nationalism paramount, I fully expect countries to strengthen their borders against refugees. With ethni...
Keep ReadingThen Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, "Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel" (2 Kings 5:15). As I was reading through 2 Kings chapter 5, I saw Naaman's story with new eyes. Naaman was a mighty army captain and warrior who worked under, and was highly respected, by the King of Aram. One o...
Keep Reading2 Kings 5:1-15 When my brothers and I were teenagers, The Family Meeting was a common occurrence. The Meeting wasmost often called when a disagreement between brothers had reached the point of knock-down, drag-out fighting, which was, of course, disruptive to the entire family. We'd all sit down in the living room to hear the latest issue: one side would give its opinion,...
Keep ReadingAnd when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, "Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me." But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, "Why have you torn your clot...
Keep ReadingNow bands of raiders from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman's wife. She said to her mistress, "If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy" (2 Kings 5:2-3). When the show Lost aired its final episode in 2010, reactions were mixed. Some felt that, after a meandering few mi...
Keep Readingan enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn't be a body, but a monster.(1 Corinthians 12:19 MSG) Many houses in our neighborhood have put up decorations for Halloween, and one house that's particularly eye-catching has a pair of giant, light-up, inflatable eyeballs in the front yard. (Eye-catching! Ha!) During this pre-Halloween (at the time of this writing) week, the idea ...
Keep ReadingBut in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are i...
Keep ReadingThe eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable pa...
Keep Reading"There should be no division in the body, but its parts should have equal concern for each other.If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it." (I Cor. 12:25-26) Our Declaration of Independence guarantees us individual rights - to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. We have spent two centuries honing prioriti...
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