The message from today's readings is "be prepared."  But prepared for what?  How should we be prepared?  The season of Advent reminds us of the nature of the most important preparation we undertake in this life.

"If you don't toot your own horn, nobody will toot it for you."  This bit of conventional wisdom must have passed Jesus by, for He was always humble.  In fact, on this Christ the King Sunday, we remember Jesus' most abject moment of humiliation, His crucifixion.  When we can look at the crucified Jesus and see God, only then are we beginning to truly understand God.

"The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance."  These words of Irish lawyer and politician John Philpot Curran are familiar to most Americans because of how they were used by abolitionists to help get rid of the institution of slavery.  But there are more ways to be enslaved than to wear physical chains.  Christians treasure the freedom we have in Christ, but what does Jesus require of us to retain that freedom?  Guest preacher Dean David McGettigan reflects with us.

On Veterans' Day we honor the sacrifices of the men and women of our armed forces.  Sacrifice is a central theme of the Christian faith and an indispensable value in all cultures.  What does Jesus teach us about the true nature of sacrifice?

It is blasphemous to even think of Jesus saying something ridiculous, but the Beatitudes--Jesus' pronouncement of blessings over those the world would deem cursed--is just that... unless Jesus is right. Is He?  Listen and decide for yourself.

You cannot get a good answer to a bad question.  What sort of question should we be asking as we hear Jesus teach on this Reformation Sunday?

Of all the stories Jesus tells, the story of the unjust judge causes the most confusion.  What is Jesus trying to teach us through this difficult story?

Moralistic interpretations of the story of the ten lepers Jesus healed miss the crucial point that this is a story about healing... What is true healing and what does this story teach us about it?

There is increasing misunderstanding and fear of Christians in the United States.  Sociologist George Yancey calls this "Christianophobia."  How can Christians overcome the increasing prejudice directed against them by an uncomprehending culture?  What has God directed us to do?

Why do we believe what we believe?  Most of us do so because we trust our teachers... What sort of teacher can we trust?  Jesus gives us a jarring example in today's parable.