What are your expectations for this Holiday Season?  What is Christmas all about?  Who is this Jesus whose birth we celebrate?  In Matthew 16:13-17, the writer is quoting a prophecy from Isaiah 7:14, which I believe comes closest to the essence of what Christmas is all about.

In John 5:16-21, Jesus is questioned by the religious leaders because he had healed a man on the Sabbath. In response, Jesus said his Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working. We'll explore why this statement is startling.

Thanksgiving is a day for remembering. In our text, Moses said, "Be careful that you do not forget..."  But what shall we remember?

Two weeks ago, we looked at the opening chapters of Joshua, when the people of Israel “crossed over” into the Promised Land.  In today's text, Jesus uses the same term in a very different context.  He uses it to describe people who have come to life from a state of death; spiritual death.

 

John 5:24-25

Deuteronomy 28-32 records Moses' last words to the people just before they are to enter the Promised Land. The whole book of Deuteronomy is a plea to “love God and obey his commands, that it may go well for you when you enter the land.”  Now we come to the very end of it and God says to Moses, “It's not going to go well for them in the land, because they are going to rebel.”  But God is already looking ahead to a New and Better Covenant, which will come through Jesus Christ.  It will be better for three reasons:

Defining Moments are watershed events that affect the lives of the people involved so much that they come to define those people at some very deep levels. Are you at a "crossing over" point in your life? In order for it to become a defining moment for you, at least four things need to happen.   

Johsua 1:1-9

The Peril of Unbelief

In Exodus 13-14, the people of Israel found themselves between a rock and a hard place - or more precisely, between the devil and the deep blue sea. What happened? How did they find the way out? And what can we learn from their story that might help us in our situation?

This Fall we're looking at the Exodus story and trying to live into it - to let it speak to our situation and our story. Today we'll look at the struggle for Faith.

Exodus 4:27 - 6:12

The transition the people of Israel experienced from Egypt to the Promised Land was difficult and frightening.  And they made it harder than it needed to be by their attitude.  Paul, speaking of the painful experiences of the Exodus story, said in 1 Corinthians, “These things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition.” (10:11)  So, let's see if we can learn some lessons from this story and apply them to our time of transition today.