The subtlety of the control of riches in our lives often goes unnoticed.  It's not until generosity comes in conflict with self-preservation that we are faced with a decision: follow God's leading and trust His provision, or rely on ourselves, our savings, and our supply.

The challenge in our modern world is an artificial division between the sacred and the secular when it comes to work.  However, what God has established for man through work all belongs to Him. Our stewardship of work will be defined through the community of God.

One of the greatest potential failures for under-evaluation in a prosperous culture is the idea of stewardship.  Because the rich have a perceived lack of dependance on God for meeting their material needs, they will easily confuse stewardship with ownership.  We must be careful to remember that God has only temporarily entrusted us with earthly treasures.

The Magi demonstrate a sort of observance and obedience that is shocking to most of us.  Their worship of Jesus is founded upon who Jesus is, and their gifts to him produce a unique challenge for us as we too worship Jesus at Christmas.

Our picture of Christmastime has affected some of the terms, titles and themes that belong to Jesus.  When Matthew ascribes to the newborn the prophecy of "Immanuel" he does so from a unique historical context that might help us in our worship of the incarnated Christ.

The church is in a war.  If you follow Jesus you are being hunted, and our enemy is relentless. Often times the greatest victory of our adversary isn't very obvious, and unless we are prepared for battle, it's very likely that we will either completely miss or misplace the attacks.

The most important subsection of the church is the family.  In fact, the family is the most fundamental unit of all of society - this is why it is under constant attack by the forces of evil.  In Christlike fashion, the answer to such an attack isn't in kind, but rather victory is won with Godly submission.

"Having the eyes of your heart enlightened" means we can no longer live in the dark.  Through Jesus, God has given His people an illumination of truth so that we are shown the path of a life characterized by righteousness.

God has given us an agent of change, a helper to renew and direct us as we grow: the Holy Spirit.  It is this Spirit that resurrects our spirit and can then serve to reorient our minds and thoughts onto service and submission to God's will and purpose.

The church is designed by God to serve with a multidimensionality that benefits the whole and honors the Head.  No one part is greater than another, and yet it is so easy to miss the purpose of diversity that it can accidentally lead to division.  Only when each part serves the Head will we be truly unified.