The gospels written by Matthew and Luke give us all we have of the story of Jesus' birth. Mary, Joseph, the manger, the Magi, the shepherds and angels. John's gospel offers some deep theological reflection. But Mark? He skips it all. What's up with that?

We don’t ever really talk about angels, but they play an important role in the story of Jesus’ birth and, as it turns out, in our lives as well.

There's a word hiding behind all the stories Matthew and Luke tell about the birth of Christ. It may be one of the brightest, most hopeful words anyone ever spoke or heard. We will discover it in this Sunday's message.

Ever notice how out of season a funeral home tent looks in December cemetery? Or that sorrows seem harder to handle when the world is all lit up in Christmas lights? In this message, we’ll be honest about the reality of struggle during the holidays. And we’ll find some answers in scripture.

Okay, so a lot of the evil, pain and suffering we see in the world can be attributed to the bad behavior, decisions and choices humans make. But what about natural disasters like tsunamis, hurricanes and tornadoes? If God is in charge of the climate, it doesn’t feel like he’s doing a very good job. Is there a Christian response to the problem of natural evil?

What if I told you that you could live in a world with no suffering, no pain, no evil? You only had to give up one thing . . . your free will. Would you do it? This week, we go deeper into The Problem: If God is so good, why is the world so bad?

Believers are confronted with the question of evil, pain and suffering: How can a good God allow bad things to happen? We have to face and answer that question. But the problem of evil is not just a problem for believers. It’s everybody’s problem.

Some think the political climate is nastier than ever. Hardly. We once had a sitting vice president, Aaron Burr, who shot and killed one of our founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton. Further back, it took Nero three attempts to eliminate a threat to his power, his own mother, before he finally succeeded. But Daniel (of lion’s den fame) faced the mother of all conspiracies. And came through it without a scratch.

We need to reject worldly standards and choose God's walk to find value in life. Not our nature, but heavily needed in our present need fulfilled oriented society.

You may not have heard of George Santayana, but you’ve heard his most famous quote: “Those who do not remember history are condemned to repeat it.” That could be the subtitle for the Book of Daniel. It’s almost like the characters in the story are stuck in an ancient version of the movie Groundhog Day. Maybe it’s not a failure to remember history that condemns us – maybe it’s a failure to learn from it. That’s what this week’s episode of Even If is about.