Blog: December 2017

Year-end is a time for looking back (you’ve seen all those articles with the top ten books or movies or news stories from the past year).  So how would the Lord have us view the past?  What does it mean to look back with the eyes of faith?  Or should we look back at all? Paul says, “But one thing I do:  forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). So are we supposed to “forget what lies behind”?  What is it ...

In Revelation 2-3, seven times Jesus says, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”  Do you have ears to hear the message of God’s Spirit-inspired, ever-relevant Word? I thank the Lord for the Reformers and how, by God’s grace, they had ears to hear the authoritative Scriptures, and they had courage to teach and share and translate and obey the biblical message.  As the 500th anniversary of the Reformation now fades into the past, let’s take a lesson and fill our minds with God’s truth.  Here’s how: Pray ...

[The image above includes Luke 2:1-5a from a 1410 hand-written copy of John Wycliffe’s translation of the New Testament into Middle English in the 1380s.  You can access high-resolution images from this source through the website of Lichfield Cathedral in England.] About 150 years prior to the 16th century Protestant Reformation, and also well before Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press, God was sowing seeds of reform through his servant John Wycliffe (c. 1330-1384).  Wycliffe was a leading professor at Oxford, as well as a pioneer Christian ...

Polarization runs rampant in our 21st century world.  Everywhere we turn there’s one kind of partisan division or another.  In contrast with that, think how counter-cultural Jesus’ church should be.  In an age of raging tribalism, we’re called to live out a joyful, humble unity regardless of the many real differences between us. 1 Corinthians 12 portrays the church as one body with wildly differ­ing parts:  we’re supposed to be a unity of diversity.  How ridiculous would it be to have just a single body part (imagine that lone eyeball, see ...

Here's the schedule of events for the Advent and Christmas season 2017: December 3, First Sunday of Advent, Worship at 8:30 & 11:00 a.m., with guest missions preacher, Dr. Dominick Hernandez (and combined adult Sunday School session with Dr. Hernandez at 10:00 a.m.) December 5, Young Adult Christmas Party, James home, 7:00 p.m. December 9, Women’s Christmas Brunch, 10:00 a.m., with guest speaker Gina Gallagher December 9, Salvation Army Bell Ringing, 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., outside of Hobby Lobby in Exton December 10, Second Sunday ...

This Sunday we step over the threshold and onto the pathway of Advent! Let me encourage you to make this season leading up to Christmas a time for you and your family to put Christmas in context. You see, those special events in the village of Bethlehem that took place some 2,000 years ago didn’t just come out of nowhere: there is a backstory. And we need to know the backstory—and feel it, and get drawn into its hope and wonder and anticipation. Advent is a time to get your heart and mind on track with God’s great unfolding plan to ...

Every day the headlines bring more news of high-profile men who’ve been accused of sexual harassment and/or abuse.  This week the big story was about NBC’s Matt Lauer.  On October 5, when accusations against Harvey Weinstein came out, the floodgates burst open.  Since then, numerous women have been emboldened to open up about the mistreatment they’ve endured and felt pressured to conceal. We should be deeply thankful for the shift of social momentum such that victims of harassment and abuse are feeling more free to speak up; we should be ...