Throughout the book, Isaiah encourages Israel with the hope that God will eventually put to right the wrongs the people are suffering...
If, like me, you’re a lover of Handel’s Messiah, then you can’t read Isaiah 60:2-3 without hearing it in your mind sung by a deep bass voice: “For, behold, darkness shall cover the...
Psalm 72 is identified as “psalm of Solomon” (72:1). This means either that it was composed by Solomon or in his honor. This psalm is a prayer for the king of Israel, a...
God's restoring work involves human beings both as recipients of grace and as participants in the work.
Full Christianity: Doing, Thinking, and Being (Click here to read) In this daily reflection from The High Calling Mark Roberts considers how...
In the first two chapters of Ephesians, Paul paints in broad strokes a picture of God's saving, unifying work in the cosmos...
Overview: Advent is a time of spiritual preparation, anticipation, looking for God’s coming into our experience as...
Gifts. Perhaps most of our concern, energy, financial resources at Christmas involve the selection, purchase, and giving of gifts. Often this concern...
Overview: Sermon explores possible implications of Christmas for work. Does the Incarnation influence, shape our understanding of the purpose or manner of...
Isaiah paints a picture of the values that must characterize the people of God.
The prophecies of Isaiah testify to the “deep waters” and “fires” of Israel’s experience. Because of her persistent rejection of the Lord...
The basement was dark, damp, musty—a forbidding place where my mother kept our canned fruits and vegetables. As a young boy I dreaded, "Gary, would you please go down to the basement . . .?" Was...
Psalm 29:2 summons us to “worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.” How do we do this? What does this...
In many churches today, there is a time in the worship service for the Passing of the Peace. The person leading worship says something like, "The peace of the Lord be with you."...
The next section of Acts moves the Christian community, by the power of the Spirit, across cultural barriers as the gospel of...
The Kingdom of God shows up at work in the Christmas story and beyond in the book of Luke.
The prophet yearns for the salvation of Jerusalem. Thus he cannot stop praying for her “until her righteousness shines like the dawn.” A few verses later, he urges his fellow Israelites to “give...
Your unfailing love, O LORD, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. Your righteousness is like the...
When I was growing up in Glendale, California, I lived about a quarter-mile from my grandparents. In fact, their house was on my route home from school, and I often stopped in to...
The use of what have come to be called “spiritual gifts” (12:1) seems to have caused much contention in the church of...
Jesus’ “first sign” (John 2:11), changing water into wine at a wedding in Cana, lays the foundation for understanding the subsequent signs...
After the wall surrounding Jerusalem was completed, the Israelites gathered in Jerusalem in order to renew their...
Today is Mardi Gras. Many of us associate Mardi Gras with lavish and lascivious celebrations in places such as New Orleans and Rio de Janeiro. Not the sort of thing you’d expect to...
The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Psalm 19:1 I grew up in Southern California. The combination of smog and ambient light from Los Angeles and its suburbs...
Faith is not just a matter of belief but a life of wholehearted and full-bodied worship. Every part of me and every part of you is required for discipleship.
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my...
As we have seen, God prepared Jeremiah from before his birth for the work of a prophet (Jer. 1:5) and, at the...
Today I begin to focus on the Old Testament book of Jeremiah in the Daily Reflections. If you’ve been reading for a while, you know that I go back and forth between the...
But I will keep on hoping for your help; I will praise you more and more. Psalm 71:14 Psalm 71 is a prayer for deliverance offered by an unnamed poet who has repeatedly...
Text: 1 Corinthians 13:1-7 1 If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but...
According to 1 Corinthians 13:4, love is "not jealous." What does it mean to be jealous?
Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. 1 Corinthians 13:7 At first glance, ...
Jumping up, they mobbed him and forced him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They intended...
A recurring charge throughout the book of Isaiah is that the leaders were unfaithful to God’s covenant because they pursued wealth and...
Isaiah 6:1-8 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the...
Isaiah 6 begins with the prophet’s vision of a thrice-holy God. Isaiah’s first response is to lament his own sinfulness. Yet, through an angel, God removes Isaiah’s sin. Then the Lord poses a.....
Have you ever noticed that famous people tend to hang out with other famous people? If you're a "somebody," whether an athlete...
When life goes in directions we didn't expect, and when those directions include suffering and frustration, we can easily become discouraged.
Twice Jesus goes to people’s workplaces to call them to follow him. The first is when Jesus gets some fishermen to interrupt...
Text: Luke 5:1-11 1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the...
Jeremiah also turned his attention to the rhythm of work and rest. As always, the prophet began with God’s earlier self-revelation; in...
In the Scripture passage above, God speaks through the prophet Jeremiah and tells us, “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength.” This is exactly my own temptation...
The two opening psalms establish themes that run through the entire Psalter. Psalm 1 describes personal integrity, indicating that this is how...
We live in a society of mockers. People who mock consider themselves better than others. They do not enter into serious engagement...
The well-being of the rich is not Jesus’ only concern with regard to wealth. He also cares about the well-being of the...
Arnold Joseff and his partner, George Hill, are founders of Diversified Chemical Technologies located in Detroit, Michigan. Here Arnold talks about their strategy to use profits to bring a struggling neighborhood back to...
In the final episode of Joseph’s testing of his brothers, Joseph framed Benjamin for an imaginary crime and claimed Benjamin as a...
Joseph expressed one of the great mysteries of our faith, the wonder of God's sovereignty. To the brothers who had indeed mistreated him by selling him into slavery, Joseph said, "So then, it was...
Psalm 20 is a prayer for the king of Israel. In this prayer, the psalmist asks God to grant the desires of the king’s heart and to make all of his plans succeed...
Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in...
Do Good to Those Who Hate You (Luke 6:27-36) All workplaces experience conflict. In Luke 6:27-36, Jesus addresses situations of conflict. “Love...
“But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you.” Luke 6:2...
When Jesus calls us to love our enemies, we might wonder what that really means in practice. Surely, we're not to get all warm and fuzzy when we think about those who seek...
The word of God doesn’t just sit there like a museum of antique truth that you can visit if you wish, but otherwise avoid. It is, as we read in Hebrews, “alive and...
In Psalm 92, the psalm writer begins by offering thanks for all the ways the Lord has blessed him.
It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning, your faithfulness in the evening. Psalm 92:2 I wonder what would...
In chapter 15, Paul conducts a lengthy discussion of the resurrection, and he applies his conclusions directly to work. “[Excel] in the...
Jason finally had enough. His officemate and frequent work partner would have to be confronted. “Your delays make us miss deadline after deadline,” Jason said. “And I’m sorry to have to tell you.” ..
Solomon’s first major task is to build the Temple of the Lord. To achieve this architectural feat, Solomon employs professionals from all...
Psalm 96 begins with a simple imperative: “Sing a new song to the LORD!” If you look up all of the Hebrew...
Paul begins by identifying the problem among the Galatians. They “are turning to a different gospel” (Gal. 1:6). This “gospel” requires Gentiles...
Theme: Hopeful Expectations Beneath the Public Rancor Key Truths/Outline 1. The negative public face of the Christian...
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