This passage is known as the Magnificat because it is Mary's song that magnifies the Lord. After realizing and embracing who Jesus is and what He's done for her, she responds with this song of exaltation to the Lord. It's so easy for us to lose the significance of Jesus' birth and to take for granted who He is and what He's done for us. My prayer is that through this Magnificat we'll come to embrace once again who Jesus is and what He's done for us so that we can respond with our own Magnificat.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the good news that Israel had been waiting for.  The good news is

essentially announcing of the reign of God.  He comes to set the captives free, restore all

brokenness, and save all that was lost.  In this season of Advent, we want to rest in the powerful

truth of the Gospel.

In times of change and challenges, there is nothing more assuring that the presence of our God.

As the Israelites left Egypt with the promise of freedom and a new land, God made sure that

they would know that they were never alone. In the same way, God marks our paths with His

living presence—though we may not know where we are, we always know whom we are with.

It's that time of the year again, the season of Thanksgiving. And yet another annual sermon about Thanksgiving and how we should set aside some time this week to say thanks to God. But, this year I will like to share a quite different message. Yes, we should set apart time to give thanks to God. Yes, it's another Thanksgiving message. This time around I will like for us to see a different angle on our thanksgiving to God. I will like to point out that our gratitude to God should have greater meaning than simply saying "thanks".

Our minds can shift from longing for absence of suffering toward the full revelation of God’s glory in us. When we understand that there is a grander scheme that is far beyond ourselves, we should take comfort in knowing that God knows and is in full control over our lives. In that, we trust in His working while doing our part in loving Him with all that we have.

One headline reads “59 killed, 527 injured in deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S.

history” talking about the tragic Las Vegas shooting. Some of us may know of people

that had loved ones who were either killed or injured in this tragic incident.

We hear about Hurricane Irma, Harvey and Maria leaving over a hundred people dead

and tens of thousands homeless. And also, the Northern California wildfires leave, so

far, 42 dead and hundreds missing.

Families are in mourning. People are experiencing depression. Feelings and thoughts of

hopelessness and anger fill the hearts and minds of people. The list can go on.

Paul crystalizes His view on justification by introducing another great metaphor—describing

the new relationship of the Christian to God as one being adopted into the family of God. We

explore the deep meaning of the passage as we understand the Roman thought of adoption.

Also, we address the difficulty of understanding God as our Father as our relationship with

our earthly father is often broken and unhealthy.

We return to the book of Romans after a 3-month hiatus. In our return to this book, we are reminded of the simple truth of the Gospel—God loves just as we are. Many are focused on behaving right but we ought to more focused on believing right. The Good News (Gospel) is not just the basics of Christianity, it is EVERYTHING for Christianity. God’s grace for us is completely unmerited and we ought not to add value to this perfect gift of God.

Making an impact in our community is not just about planning an event to help those in our community. Impacting a community is not to be centered on an event or events. Rather, it should be centered on a mission. And that mission is to continue the work that Christ has done here on earth. As Jesus came to point and bridge man to the Father, we are called to point and bridge people to Jesus. We, as the body of Christ, can accomplish this by being the very hands and feet of Jesus to our community. Jesus was sent with a mission by the Father, and now Jesus is sending us into our communities to continue that mission.