Merry Christmas! It's one of the greatest times of the year. The gifts of Christmas are an important part of our celebrations and gatherings. Maybe the most important gift of all is the love of God given through Jesus. What will you do with this gift?

The beginning parts of the story of Christmas are filled with darkness and an absence of God. The characters of the first Christmas had no reason to believe God was active in their world and yet they still had faith. Christmas is a powerful reminder that even though we might not see or hear or think God is active, our faith is not in vain.

Reconciling with someone who has wronged us or wronged someone we love is not intuitive or comfortable. But sometimes it's necessary . . . for our sakes because resentment takes a toll, and for their sakes because they want to reconnect. Christmas is a time of reconciliation between God and sinners, but what about reconciliation between sinner and sinner?

The Christmas season is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year. But for many people, it’s complicated. It’s a time of year that surfaces tensions in relationships, unmet expectations, and the pain of absent loved ones. What do you do when the magic and wonder of the Christmas season feels out of reach? How do you reconnect with the reason for the season?

We’re all tempted to place our faith in money. We’re tempted to believe that if we make enough, we’ll be able to control our circumstances and create a better life for ourselves. The problem with that view is that the more we place our faith in the money, the more it controls us. Scripture challenges us to look at our money differently because our lives are better when we place our trust in the One who richly provides. Viewing wealth through the lens of eternity loosens our grip on it and its grip on us.

For many of us, our problem isn’t that we’re not rich (if you make $45,000 per year, you’re in the top one percent of wage earners worldwide); our problem is that we don’t feel rich. The desire to feel wealthy causes us to place our hope in money instead of in God. But the Bible describes a different way of thinking about and using our wealth.

Most of us are rich. And one of the dangers of being rich is discontentment. The more you have, the more you want. Wealth has side effects. If you’re rich, you’re at risk. How do we avoid the pitfalls of wealth?

Unleashing extravagant, no-strings-attached generosity should be the hallmark of any church or Jesus follower. Yet, we aren't always very good at knowing how to be rich in good deeds. For Mill Creekers, it is so important to understand what it means to be generous. The world might not like what we believe but they should know that we care!

It's hard to hear from someone whose life seems to be full of ease and comfort how to live with no worry and fear. But what about a message of no worries from someone in jail? In a life of uncertainty and fear, Paul helps us understand how to experience a peace that is only available from heaven itself.

Pleasing people can be a good thing but what if we struggle so much with a fear of failure that we can't make progress in our lives because we can't make everyone happy? Recognizing that failure is a part of life and knowing what Jesus has done for us in spite of that failure can set us free into the Real Life he offers.