Luke 11:14-22 Christmas is a holiday that brings powerful, deep-seated memories to those who grew up with this celebration. It is a holiday that is much anticipated by children. One of my family traditions was to have an advent calendar that we took turns opening. The calendar was a picture of a Christmas scene, perhaps…
Revelation 21:1-5 I want you to close your eyes and imagine you are walking down a country lane. The road is not paved, it is a dirt road. There are no cars or trucks. It is a beautiful day with a blue sky and soft clouds drifting along. There is a grove of trees on…
Matthew 13:44-46 This morning we enter into the season of Advent, four Sundays of preparation before Christmas. The word āadventā comes from Latin and means ācomingā or āarrivalā and refers to the coming of Jesus into the world. The idea of having a period of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Christ originated…
II Kings 5:19-27; 8:1-6 Two weeks ago the sermon focused on the story of Naaman, the commander of the army of Aram, who came to Israel seeking a cure for his skin disease. He did not come hat in hand begging for help, asking for charity, he came with a fortune. $1,000,000 US in gold,…
II Kings 5:1-19 The events of this chapter begin with a young woman captured in a raid on Israel and taken as a slave to Aram. Aram was a city state centered around Damascus and incidentally was the source of the Aramaic language that Jesus spoke. We are not going to dwell on this, but…