If God is a good God, then why do people still get sick, fired, or hurt? Why do children die? How do we understand he presence of suffering in our world?

When people talk about being saved they throw around terms like “once saved, always saved,” sanctification, atonement, grace, justification, redemption, reconciliation, and (less often) propitiation. What do Methodists believe about all of this?

There are times when we are convinced that we are to step into a situation, change careers or majors, have a significant conversation, or serve in a new way. The life of Abraham offers us insight into answering our own unquestionable calls.

Most of the time we see conflict as something negative. The truth is that in a world of competing opinions and views, conflict is unavoidable. How can we make those moments of conflict a time of growth and change? We’ll turn to the old story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego for guidance.

Opportunities don't always knock. Sometimes they surprise us—a new job, a chance at reconciliation, a moment to redefine our purpose. This Sunday we’ll explore the life of Rahab to see what her unexpected opportunity teaches us about our moments of opportunity.

These final characters of the story were the ultimate outsiders. Everyone else in the story was Jewish. They all believed in God and knew a messiah was coming. But these “magi” were outsiders in every way—gentile astrologers. And yet, the love of God captured even these characters. Their story tells us something amazing about character of Christmas.

By the time we reach Christmas, it’s such a blur for us; Mary

sees where this is headed. She if physically tied to the story. She has the inside track. What can we take from her story that will make a difference for us? Because she knows all that she’s able to put the chaos aside; to sing in spite of everything.

Every story has a bad guy. Herod is that guy. Herod understood that change was coming. Herod knew that the coming Messiah would radically alter the world he knew and loved. Herod’s response? Make sure that change never happened. And though we label Herod a bad guy in the story, we understand his character, because we fear and avoid change at every stage of life.

Joseph was asked to do an impossible thing: Believe that his fiancé was “with child from the Holy Spirit.” Against pressure from his culture, his family, and even his religion, he chose to trust the message of God sent to him by an angel. What would it take for you to choose to trust God?

Simeon was an old man with little left to live for. He desired to see one final thing before he died: God’s power and life returned to Israel. When Simeon saw Jesus,

he cried out, “my eyes have seen your salvation.” Simeon looked forward to something breathtakingly amazing. What are you looking forward to?