Jesus' sermon in Nazareth enraged the congregation. How could he possibly suggest that God cared about outsiders when the Jews were God's chosen people? Jesus challenges his disciples, then and now, let go of all preconceptions and prejudices and to follow God's love to whatever surprising places it might lead us,

Pastor Rich reflects on the importance of being present in the moment. Now is the only time in which we live. The past is a memory; the future is a possibility. Now is the moment of life; it is "grace-filled time." Therefore, it's crucial to live aware of its beauty and its potential.

Jesus' opens the scroll of Isaiah and reads "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me for he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor ..." Jesus' mission is filled with the spirit, anointed with the spirit. led by the spirit, and it is a mission to lift up the downcast, and to proclaim God's favor. Jesus continues this mission through the church, through US. What does his mission statement mean to us? Well, it's our mission too, isn't it, if we are to be his disciples (his students). Learn more in this week's sermon from Clarkstown Reformed Church.

A healing prayer - and openness to God in prayer are just some of the subjects discussed on today's episode of Faith Unscripted.

The Sabbath is a day spent in heaven, or so our Jewish brothers and sisters believe. Pastor Rich's guest today, Rabbi BenZion Klatzko, shares the Orthodox Jewish traditions of Sabbath-keeping and shows us all a way to deepen our relationship with God, with our families, and with others.

When Jesus and his mother attended a wedding in Cana of Galilee (John 2), Mary spotted a problem: the bride and groom ran out of wine during the celebration - an embarrassing faux pas. So Mary went to Jesus and said: "they have no wine." She didn't tell him what to do, but she trusted that he would address the problem somehow. Here we see Mary as a model of the church at prayer. What can we learn from this story? Pastor Rich addresses all this and more in this episode of Faith Unscripted. We hope it will bless you.

Luke's Gospel tells us that John the Baptist, the great prophetic voice preparing the way for the Lord, yet he was just the preliminary act of God's great revelatory moment when the Word who became flesh would walk among us. John knows who he is - the one who prepares the way for one mightier than himself. Yet when Jesus comes, he comes humbly, as one of the throngs of people being baptized in the Jordan. In doing so he reveals the nature of God to us, and he reveals to us who we are meant to be. Pastor Rich reflects on Luke 3:15-19.

God's cherished gifts to us: the incarnation, revelation in the Old and New Testaments, the three theological virtues (Faith, Hope, and Charity), the four Gospels, The five books of the Torah, the six days of creation - each could be a meditation in itself. Today's program further explores the gifts of God to believers. All that and listener phone calls too on today's Faith Unscripted show. Enjoy!

In the Prologue  (John 1:1-18), the evangelist gives us his version of Jesus' origins. Matthew and Luke tell of his infancy; John speaks of Jesus as the Eternal Word with God "in the beginning." To know who WE are, we must first know who Jesus is. He shows us the potential of our humanity and invites us to be what we were created to be: image-bearers of God.

Ever wonder what the song The Twelve Days of Christmas means? Why would anyone give a partridge in a pear tree as a Christmas present? And seven swimming swans - who would even want that? But there's a deeper meaning, and we begin to explore it in this episode of Faith Unscripted, along with taking some interesting listener calls and questions.