He Is Risen!! "Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” " John 20:27-28 I watched the movie, Jumanji - Welcome to the Jungle, the other night. If you aren't familiar with the Jumanji movies, the...
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Mark, Luke, and John have no accounts of anything happening on the day after Good Friday. This would be expected because it is the Sabbath day and they would be expected to be doing nothing. However, in Matthew, we have what some of the Pharisees did on this day after Good Friday.The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the...
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Have a blessed Good Friday. Today is a day that is filled with the greatest tragedy of human history becoming the greatest blessing ever given humanity. The Gospels are full of everything that happened with the trial of Jesus going on throughout the night. The interrogations by Pilate and Herod are surrounded by the denials of Peter even knowing Jesus....
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Today is Maundy Thursday. I am often asked, What does Maundy mean? It comes from the new command in Latin (novum mandatum) to love just as Jesus has loved us."My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am...
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Today is Wednesday of Holy week and this is the calm day before everything happens in the next few days. Jesus taught in the temple during the week and each night returned to Bethany and spent time with friends like Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. They would often stop in the garden of Gethsemane to pray and rest in the journey...
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Yesterday in our school chapel, we talked about Thoughtfulness. The book of Philippians talks about thoughtfulness like this:"Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." - Philippians 2:4Thoughtfulness is a combination of thinking of others and making their needs and interests important to you. Both of these things can be...
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Yesterday began Holy Week. We start the week with Palm Sunday and End with Easter. During this week we have some unique worship services during the week, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. It can seem like nothing is really going on Monday through Wednesday, but the Bible records several things that Jesus did during this time. He wasn't just sitting...
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Yesterday, several of us from the church went to Fort De Soto for fishing and playing on the beach. It was a beautiful day for it. As we approached Fort De Soto, I noticed something, there were more and more palm trees as we got closer to the beach. I couldn't help but think of Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday is an...
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We are going fishing with a group from church to Fort Desoto Beach today. I love the ocean and the beach. I love the palm trees there and Palm trees do make me think of the beach. I remember from doing some research that there are only two places that Palm branches are mentioned in the Bible. First is in...
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This coming Sunday begins Holy Week. The Old Testament reading for this Sunday is this prophecy of Jesus entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday from the prophet Zechariah.Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey....
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Have you ever opened your Bible randomly to a page and point at some verses to read? I did that this morning and here is what I read. If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored: If you remove wickedness far from your tent and assign your nuggets to the dust, your gold of Ophir to the rocks...
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This morning in chapel I continued with the fruit of the Spirit from Galatians chapter 5. My theme for the preschoolers today was self control. Do you remember all 9 fruits of the Spirit? But the fruit of the Spirit is love joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians...
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"[Love] is not irritable or resentful." - 1 Corinthians 13:5 When I read this verse, my first thought was of Vicki Portfolio. I can't think of a time I've seen her when she wasn't cheerful and kind. I wish I could say that I am always like that, but I must confess that I have my days when I'm...
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My 1-year-old son, Eli, likes to have things his way. When he wants something, he goes and grabs it. When someone tries to make him do something he doesn't want to do, like take a nap, he throws a tantrum... I mean a full-on, scream-his-head-off, throw stuff, throw-himself-to-the-ground, tantrum. It's bad when 1-year-old acts like this, but it's expected. When...
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I had a discussion with someone recently about pride. Pride is difficult concept today because it can have different meanings, some good and some bad. You can be prideful (meaning arrogant) or you can be proud of the work you've done (satisfied and pleased). You can be known as being a proud person (boastful) or you can be known as...
Read MoreHappy St Patrick’s Day! I have always loved this day ever since I read the autobiography of Patrick. It is the second autobiography ever written after ‘The Confessions of St Augustine,” being the first. Patrick was kidnapped by Irish pirates in the late 400’s from Britain. After six years as a slave working in fields, he escaped and returned home. ...
Read MoreEaster is getting closer and one of the ways I see this is in a perennial Lilly bulb that I planted 18 years ago. Here is a picture of the plant in front of the first building. The plant is looking like it can bloom in about a week or two. It usually blooms either the last week of March...
Read MoreOne of my favorite challenges to give to the Confirmation class is to have them give different names of Jesus from the Bible. The group record was 71 that a class two years ago came up with. There are about 105-110 by most New Testament scholar's opinion. This second to the last verse of 1 John has one that was...
Read MoreJohn begins his very first letter much like he begins his Gospel. The Gospel marvels at the incarnate Word who is and was God from all time. In the letter, John marvels at Jesus and views Him from his perspective and with his various senses: hearing; touching; and seeing. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which...
Read MoreSometimes the words and view of scripture do not always match up with the way we think and prioritize life. I thought of that reading this verse from 3 John today. Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.(3 John 1:2-4) I...
Read MoreYesterday we talked about Jesus knocking at the door in Revelation 3:20. I am always surprised and blessed by the reading of the next few verses. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear,...
Read MoreKnock-knock. Who’s there? Hatch. Hatch who? God bless you. Knock-knock! Who’s there? Doris. Doris, who? Doris locked, that’s why I had to knock! Knock-knock! Who’s there? Nobel. Nobel who? No bell so I’ll knock. I was reading this passage and it made me think of knock-knock jokes. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my...
Read MoreIt (love) does not envy.” – 1 Corinthians 13:4 Envy is wanting what others have. But envy isn’t so much about what others have. It’s really about not being content with what you have. God blesses us with so much. Sometimes He gives us a lot and sometimes little. The question isn’t how to get more, it’s how to be...
Read More“Love is kind.” – 1 Corinthians 13:4 I’ve seen images like the one here many times. Practice acts of random kindness. I love the sentiment because it gets to the core of the kind of love God shows us. Random acts of kindness tend to have these two characteristics: They are not limited to just the people we know. Any...
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Love can make us do things that we wouldn't normally do. I've always found it interesting how things that irritate us when one person does them don't bother us when someone else, whom we love, does them. Patience can definitely be one of those things we give some, but not others. Love is patient." (1 Corinthians 13:4) However, God does...
Read MoreI am officiating a wedding this weekend and I have been going through some of the more common Bible passages read at weddings. One of the most popular has to 1 Corinthians 13:1-8. As we look at the love of Jesus during this Lent season, this passage seemed very appropriate to reflect on. If I speak in the...
Read MoreYesterday in the sermon I mentioned an H.G Wells quote that I love. "If there is no God, nothing matters. If there is a God, nothing else matters." Wells was an English science fiction writer that thought about the future and what it all means? The heart of this quote talks about the purpose and meaning of things and of...
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Happy Sabbath Day! Our Old Testament reading for this weekend has been the 10 Commandments from Exodus chapter 20. One of them is: remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. This was misunderstood in Jesus day. One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The...
Read MoreI have been reading through the Psalms this week and this verse stuck out in my mind. Here David speaks to “gods” about the Lord and His unfailing love. I will praise you Lord with all my heart; before the “gods” I will sing your praise. I will bow down toward your holy temple and praise your name for your...
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