The Gospel of Luke was written for ALL people. As we look at the parables and stories shared, we see that no matter who you are, Jew, Gentile, poor, man, woman, child, diseased and ill, Jesus came with a message for EVERYONE. This message is still very relevant to us today.

This gospel is the first in the new testament but is actually written a generation after Mark. Remember, these stories were not written down in journals while the disciples were with Jesus. The stories were shared verbally for a couple of generations before they were actually written. Take a listen to this podcast to find out some more interesting truths about this book of the Bible.

It is interesting to know that the four gospels were not written in the order they appear in the Bible. Mark is also an interesting book to look at, especially the last 10 verses that were added in the past century. Nonetheless, it is important that we approach this book like we have been reading the rest of the Bible in this series of blogs, as the truth. Searching for God to find His messages and how we fit into it even today.

Jesus talked much about power dynamics, money and violence, but yet those topics are not things we tend to discuss in church today. It's interesting to look at 1st Century Palestine to see the similarities and difference of the time when Jesus walked the earth.

We will spend the next couple of weeks looking at the gospels and the beginning of the New Testament or Christian Testament.

Talking to young people about hot topics can be a bit difficult. However, those of us that live and work with teens and young adults can not avoid these conversations especially if we are in the church. Today we talk about immigration with Letty who is a US citizen and has just recently had to say good-bye to her husband of 13 years because he is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico. Be sure to listen to her story in our podcast.

We sit down with "Anna" an 18 year old from Generation Z (born 1999-2015, according to Barna research) who is open and honest about safety, isolation, anxiety, depression, faith, church and religion for her and her peers.

In our last week of Advent, we take a look at some verses from minor prophets as well as Mary's song in Luke. We are using a traditional picture of the nativity for our blog. This may also be a good opportunity to talk about how often times we misrepresent Jesus' birth with people who look like us, with kings present or even snow! But also talk about how when we relate to Christ's birth personally, we can see the importance of the story in that He came to free us all of our sin. Enjoy the podcast and discussion. Have a very Merry Christmas!

This is the third week of Advent, and we continue on in our readings in Isaiah. We have to ask ourselves as we read about Isaiah's prophecies what is the message God was sending and how is it relevant to us today? Be sure to read the scripture, listen to the podcast and ask yourself, or your small group these important questions as we wait and anticipate the celebration of the Birth of Christ.

Week two of Advent brings us to a discussion around Exile. What was the purpose of the Exile? How do we feel like we are in Exile in our lives today? Also, we will look at the promise of peace that Isaiah shares.