What a wonderful thing our memory is! We remember facts. We remember stats and trivia. We remember activities and events. We remember sights and smells. We even remember sounds. I vividly remember the chant of the psalter, echoing off the marble in the church of my childhood. I remember the sound, more than the actual words. (Maybe because they were in Greek?) It’s a liturgy dating back to the 4th century. It was a call to worship. The call is constant and never fades. When w

When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered Him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh (Mt 2:10-11 ESV). Magi from the East searched the skies for the star that would herald the coming of a great king. It was far greater than the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn we just witnessed—for it was a miraculou

In this year-of-the-pandemic, of shutdowns, separation, and distancing, it was particularly encouraging to see the communities of people God gathered together in worship in the process of preparing this lesson for our online Bible study. I rewrote the original lesson precisely because of the times we find ourselves in, so you could get a sense of that community as well. Originally, the lesson focused on those God gathered to worship. I thought I would include a portion of it

The worship leader led . . . and I joyfully followed along. Until . . . The unexpected suddenly welled . . . and gushed tears of deepest gratitude. The song? “Had it not been the Lord Who was on our side, Had it not been the Lord Who was on our side, The anger of the enemy would have swallowed us alive. Had it not been the Lord Who was on our side. Blessed be the Lord Who would not give us up. Blessed be the Lord for His unfailing love. The snare was broken and we have escape