We do not have to be like our Father, to receive the Holy Spirit. Yet, we must accept the gift of Salvation that He offers to us. For Eternity.

The life of our church matters, whether we are aware of it or not. How we get “here” matters.

Mary's acceptance of becoming mother of the Messiah reveals her great trust and faith in a God who works wonders through ordinary people and situations.

As Christmas draws near and we begin our approach to the Bethlehem manger, we must first encounter John the Baptist. John tells us we must prepare ourselves by straightening a path to our hearts.

Today is the first day of Advent, a word that means “coming” or “arrival,” and the season of Advent is meant to be a time of preparation for the coming of Christ into the world, as we look to the ancient past and to the anticipated future. Like the earliest disciples, we await this coming, but some ways of waiting are better than others.

With the Parable of the Sheep and Goats, Jesus characterizes God’s judgment of the peoples and nations, indicating that while we may be saved by faith, we are judged by our deeds.

In a parable about three workers entrusted with large sums of money, Jesus illustrates that each of us, as individual or congregations, have God-given gifts—talents, abilities, resources—to be used for the greater good and service of God’s kingdom. We cannot hoard them for ourselves, or we may lose them.

The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Bridesmaids illustrates that God’s kingdom is something we need to be wise enough to prepare for. We cannot be lazy or inattentive about it or we may foolishly miss out.