The prophet Habakkuk protests God's seeming inaction in the face of injustice and violence: the wicked thrive at the expense of the righteous. Habakkuk listens and God responds: "The righteous shall live by faith."  The gift of faith by which we receive through God's Word and the Holy Spirit is to be lived one day at a time and is something to be practiced, not taken for granted. We are each a mysterious combination of our families, teachers, friends, and experiences. Paul invites us to fan into flame the gifts of God we receive through the people in our lives. Not all gifts feel like blessings. Some are the traumas and losses we inevitably undergo. Even so, we have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power and love and self-control. Jesus invites us to let forgiveness, faith, and service become our daily habit. By following in Jesus’ way, we are empowered to freely share that love with every person we meet.  

Have you ever felt like something's missing? Are you longing for a clearer sense of purpose in your life? You were created for significance, not just survival.  Today we will dig into Scripture and recognize where in our lives we've become spiritually passive and may not be using our gifts to their full potential. We will learn to recognize we are made for significance, and that God gives each of us the vision to pursue the purpose He has us. Together, let's figure out What’s Next?

We all have dark places – places of shame – in our lives that deplete us and burden us.  Christ came to shine His light on the darkest places of our hearts – not to shame us, but to save us.

Jesus was born in a manger because there was no room in any of Bethlehem’s guest rooms. Our hearts are meant to be God’s home. But sometimes are hearts are so cluttered and heavy, we have no room for God to enter in! When Christ enters our hearts, what burdens our hearts can be removed.

Dealing with family members during the holidays can be stressful! Joseph was very stressed as he tried to figure out what to do with his fiancée who just informed him that she was expecting a child … not his. Rather than immediately responding to Mary in anger, he carefully considered what to do. When family members frustrate you, do you carefully consider your response?

Between holiday parties and kids programs and lots of shopping and visiting relatives, Christmas calendars can get jam packed. What’s more, just one unexpected thing can turn your calendar upside down and add to the stress of the season. The first Christmas turned Mary’s calendar upside down. Yet, out of a stressful situation came the world’s greatest gift. How can God use your stressful situations?

When it comes to our faith, the world in which we live is filled more frequently with taunts than with triumphs. They are far more likely to cry out “If you are the Son of God” (as in Luke 23:35 & 37), rather than “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation” as in Paul’s epistle to the Colossians 1:15. As we turn the page to a new church year, we end the narration of the greatest story in all history, and in so doing we signal the new beginning that story promises all of us. The triumph speaks louder than the taunts!