I Surrender All
Read: Romans 12:1-2 Present your bodies as a living sacrifice. (v. 1) The congregation was enthusiastically singing I Surrender All. Then our pastor observed that if we were being honest, most of us would have to change the words a bit and sing “I surrender most” or even “I surrender some.” Unfortunately, he was right. God […]
Why Surrender to Christ?
Read: Luke 14:25-33 Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. (v. 33) “He’s a Christian, but not too Christian.” It’s said as a compliment, but is it really complimentary? It isn’t possible to fulfill our Christian duty without becoming a little bit radical. Surrendering all to Christ […]
What Is Surrender?
Read: Luke 9:23-26 Let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. (v. 23) How do you react when you hear the word surrender? Surrender comes with some negative associations. Picture white flags being run up and armies yielding to their enemies. Surrender suggests weakness, giving up, and a defeated attitude. Surrender […]
Faith’s Foundation
Read: Luke 24:1-9 Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. (vv. 5-6) Have you ever doubted the gospel stories of miracles? Start with just one. On this morning, when the women came to a tomb in a garden cemetery, they knew that Jesus was dead. Most historians […]
The Foreshadowing Miracle
Read: John 11:17-44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” (v. 44) Death can feel like a cruel captor, the final captor, separating the living and the dead. The passage just […]
Grief to Joy—Life from Death!
Read: Luke 7:11-17 He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” (v. 14) What is it like to lose the person you most depended on? Your grief may be exceeded only by your loneliness, your loneliness only by your loss, and your loss only by your helplessness to find a remedy. In today’s reading, Jesus […]
A Miracle of Transfiguration
Read: Matthew 17:1-9 Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead. (v. 9) When people think of the miracles of Jesus, they don’t usually think of the one in our reading today. That’s because the transfiguration is not a miracle about what Jesus does, but a miracle of who […]
No Sign but Jonah
Read: Matthew 12:38-42 An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. (v. 39) When I read this exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees, I’m at first surprised that Jesus turns down an opportunity to prove himself. However, throughout the Gospels, […]
Miraculous Compassion
Read: Matthew 14:13-21 They all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. (v. 20) What is less fun than balancing a budget—at home, at the office, at church? The world shows us that scarcity dwells in every corner of our lives. No matter how much we […]