Rules are often the centerpiece of religious life. What if a relationship with God doesn’t depend on our obedience to a set of rules?

Jesus predicted he would start a movement—the church—that would spread all over the earth outlasting the Roman Empire. It would change the world. Here we are, two thousand years later, and Jesus’ church gathering is still going strong.

We constantly look for evidence to support what we believe. But how do we know that Christianity isn’t just a made-up concept with massive success?

Everything that exists had a starting point . . . including you. You may have started on purpose. You may have started by accident (from your parent’s perspective). You may even have started through the magic of medical science. Whatever the circumstances, you had a starting point and it began before you were aware of it. Faith has a starting point as well.

Guilt is powerful. Shame can be crippling. We all have things in our pasts that haunt us. We know we can do better from this point forward, but how are we supposed to fix the past?

At some time, we could all find ourselves slipping into a bargaining posture with God: “God, if you will... I promise I will…” But how often do we keep our end of that bargain? And, maybe a better question: Is that really the kind of relationship God wants to have with us?

The three largest faith traditions—Judaism, Islam, and Christianity—claim the same starting point: a man named Abraham. God made a series of promises and Abraham’s responses to those promises had large implications.

During childhood, you may have been handed a faith framework through which you began to view the world. For many of us, that childhood framework didn't survive the rigors of adulthood.

As we gather on this Christmas Eve, we’ll see how Matthew using Jesus’ family tree reveals that Christmas is for everyone. The Christmas story is an invitation to come as we are, with all our imperfections, knowing that in Jesus, we find love, grace, and the ultimate gift of redemption.

Christmas is a time where we love to invite family and friends over for brunches and dinners. It takes effort and a cost. Have you ever thought about Jesus inviting you into a relationship and the cost of that relationship? We’ll learn that one of the reasons Jesus came is to invite sinners to receive spiritual healing.