In the Movie Amadeus, we see the musical genius Mozart and his envious competitor Salieri. Salieri pretends to be Mozart's friend, but is only out to use him. How would Mozart's life have been different if Salieri had been a true friend to him? Jesus told his disciples that he wasn't calling them servants any more but friends. Jesus calls us to be friends to the lonely and isolated in our world.

The movie Christopher Robin tells of a youngster who understand rest, play, and imagination - who grows into an adult who understands none of those. With the help of his old friends he regains what he'd lost. God gives us the gift of Sabbath so we can rest - and join in God rest. By resting and giving God and others room in our lives, we gain peace and freedom for real life.

In Avengers: Infinity War we see a villain, Thanos, who was absolutely sure he was not just doing the right thing, but also the loving thing. In the Bile we see Saul of Tarsus on his way to Damascus to arrest Christians. He was absolutely sure he was doing the right thing, that he was being faithful and zealous for God, loving God's people.  They were wrong.

In the movie La La Land, Mia and Seb follow their dreams, hoping to "make it" in their respective professions. Along the way they face challenges of sacrifice and compromise. Sometimes they do sacrifice for the other - sometimes not. Similarly Jesus in Luke 9 gives unstinting calls to some people. They are to leave everyone and everything behind to follow Jesus.  How can we follow our calling - our dream - AND stay in healthy relationship with our families and others? Are the two ultimately incompatible?

We have innumerable stories to choose from as we shape our lives. In Christmas, we're offered the stories of power, control, and fear (in characters like Caesar and Herod) and stories of trust, hope, and vulnerability (in Mary, the shepherds, and Jesus). 

Ancient Jews were waiting for a Messiah - we see some of what they were looking for in Mary's Magnificat. If her hymn of praise reflects what God intended to accomplish through her son Jesus, what does that tell us was we await Jesus's return?

Zephaniah 3 starts with a depiction of the trouble Jerusalem and God's people are in. They've sinned and rejected God. Judgment is coming. They're in trouble. Yet the deepest truth is God's love and mercy for them. God will preserve a remnant.

Though we often start with Ephesians 6 when thinking about spiritual warfare, the specific armor imagery found there originates in Isaiah 59. From that context we see clearly that what we call "warfare" looks more like Jesus on the cross than a soldier taking up arms.

The first Sunday of Advent is the beginning of the Christian year. Why do we start our year with the message of John the Baptist issuing a call to repentance?

Pilate asked Jesus, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Two odd things: First, Jesus didn't go around saying, "I am the King of the Jews;" he also, at least by Pilate's sensibilities didn't look much like a king. Yet this Jesus, crucified and risen, is the one true King.