Scripture Reading — John 15:1-8“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. . . ." — John 15:5Before I married, I did not own a car. I did not know how to fix vehicles or install plumbing. (
Scripture Reading — Colossians 1:15-20He is the head of the body, the church. . . . — Colossians 1:18My daughter plays percussion for the Des Moines (Iowa) Youth Symphony. As we take our seats for a concert, the warmup sounds like cacophony an
Scripture Reading — John 10:1-5,11-15“He calls his own sheep by name and leads them. . . . I am the good shepherd. . . .” — John 10:3,14Our family lived for ten years in a border town of the Navajo Nation. We learned a little about herding she
Scripture Reading — Romans 5:12-19The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. — 1 Corinthians 15:47Have you ever played the game “Grab the Bacon?” Two teams face each other in an open field, and a sock or towel (th
Scripture Reading — Hebrews 2:10-18“They will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). — Matthew 1:23After the First World War, British soldiers returned from the front lines devastated. Many were shell-shocked, disfigured, wounded, and
Scripture Reading — 1 Peter 2:4-7“Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected. . . .’” — Acts 4:11Rejection. We see it when grandparents are cut off from grandkids over politics. Or when siblings haven’t spoken in years. In the church, a differe
Scripture Reading — Isaiah 53:3-5A man of suffering, and familiar with pain . . . he took up our pain and bore our suffering. . . . — Isaiah 53:3-4What gives hope when our hearts break?Five years ago, my sister-in-law, only 47 years old, died
Scripture Reading — Luke 22:24-27“I am among you as one who serves.” — Luke 22:27When I began attending a university, I was amazed at a group of seniors (one of them my future sister-in-law) who invited the university president to come to a do
Scripture Reading — Revelation 5I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne. . . . — Revelation 5:6A large painting in my living room takes up half a wall. It portrays a lion and a lamb lying down togeth
Scripture Reading — John 6:26-35, 47-51“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry. . . .” — John 6:35In a book titled The American Paradox: Spiritual Hunger in an Age of Plenty, David Meyers wrote: “We buy more, but enjo
Scripture Reading — Hebrews 2:14-15“The deliverer will come. . . .”; He . . . shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death . . . — Romans 11:26; Hebrews 2:14My son David, at age 3,
Scripture Reading — Luke 3:21-22; 4:14-21 . . . Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham. . . . — Matthew 1:1Ever since humanity fell into sin, God promised that someone would come and put it right.God promised Ev
