Mary seems thrilled with the announcement that she will give birth to Israel’s long-awaited messiah. Listening to her, you would have to conclude that she couldn’t be happier. I can’t help...

According to Jesus, John the Baptist has a lot going for him. Jesus labels John the greatest of the prophets. Crowds of people hikes out into the desert near the Dead...

Many years ago, I heard this passage from Luke’s Gospel read from the pulpit of the African-American church where I have been a member for more than sixty years. It was...

There’s a story about a young minister who was not long into his first pastorate when he was visited by his bishop. The two of them talked over the affairs of...

A friend of mine told me how he almost quit his first pastorate. He found it hard to endure the seemingly petty complaints from his congregants. Members in the congregation threatened...

If I believed, as some social scientists do, that people are nothing more than what their past experiences have conditioned them to be, I would have to give up on efforts...

Jews and Christians have this in common: Both await a glorious future with the coming of God’s Messiah. In Psalm 35 we get the good news that when that Messiah comes...

A wild man in the wilderness probably does not come to mind for most of us when we think of preparing for Christmas. In the midst of hanging twinkling lights and...

John the Baptist’s words in verse 7 strike out at the Pharisees and Sadducees of Matthew’s story with a quickness and venom fitting the snake imagery. Given only the scant background...

Welcome can feel like a familiar and comforting word. It appears on airport signs and doormats. We hang it on our walls and read it on websites. “Welcome home!” “We welcome...