God Answers Prayer, But Not Always Prayer helps us feel closer to God, more connected to the church and extremely guilty if it is perceived that we don’t do it enough or correctly.  And this is one of the verses that is often claimed as a promise for praying Christians:  James 5:16 The earnest prayer…

If I was to ask for a show of hands as to how many folks here pray I would suspect that virtually everyone would raise their hands.   If I was to ask how many folks believe their prayers would be answered hopefully the same number would raise their hands.  I mean really, if we don’t…

When you Pray. I love the positive thought that comes across in the statement that Jesus made to the disciples in the book of Matthew.  It is found in what we refer to as the Sermon on the Mount and Jesus says three words that reflect his positive belief in the people who will call…

Soli Deo Gloria, Glory To God Alone He was a man who couldn’t keep a job.   He was a church organist and composer and while he was a great organist the pieces that he composed himself were often considered too showy to be played in church, and so eventually the church would grumble and…

I was sixteen when Gary Gilmore died it was January 17 1977.  And maybe some of you are thinking:  That name sounds familiar.  Gilmore was a petty criminal from Texas who would have lived and died in complete obscurity except for one thing.  He became the first person in the United States to be executed…

What is in a name? The question was asked by Shakespeare when he wrote In Romeo and Juliet, “What's in a name? that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”  To which Anne Shirley responded  “I read in a book once that a rose by any other name would…

Sola scriptura  On Scripture Alone Do you own a bible?  Do you read the bible you own? Who or what is the final authority in your life?  You know,  The one thing that you won’t or can’t argue with?  If you were a fan of “Rumpole of the Bailey”, a British Television series about a…

Well it’s 2017, who would have thunk it.  And I would suspect that there have been a pile of New Year’s resolutions made in the past 11 hours and if the truth was known there have probably been a pile of New Year’s resolutions broken in the past 11 hours. We have probably all verbally…

The Story of a Prophet We all know the Story; we’ve heard it over and over again.  If you close your eyes you can almost picture them, the Old Testament words that are read each year during Advent.  The words of Isaiah and Micah that relate to the coming messiah.  They are repeated in sermons,…

The Story of a Birth We all know the Story; we’ve heard it over and over again.  this is the beginning of the Christmas story and it has all the earmarks of a great story.  You hear it this time of year in sermons, songs and read about it on Christmas cards.  Of course, it’s…