In our Bible passage this past Sunday, you will recall, that the Apostle Paul urged the Colossians believers to be “strengthened in the faith” and “overflowing with thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:7). Paul used the metaphor of an overflowing fountain to describe a grateful heart in the life of a growing Christian.When I go to a park, I have always found an overflowing fountain to be pleasing to the ey...  Read More

I love worship! I admit it—not ashamed of it! I look forward every week to begin my week with it! For me, the worship of the Lord is a top priority! God has been good to me, so with the psalmist, I agree: “Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise” (Psalm 48:1). We should all respond positively to the psalmist’s invitation: “Come let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Make...  Read More

I read about a pastor walking outside a hospital when a man came near him and said, “Her temperature is gone!” The pastor wrote that he had no idea who the man meant by “her” but he thought it must have been someone the man loved dearly. The pastor said he had never met the man before and would probably never see him again. However, he said, “I will never forget the sight of this man so overcome w...  Read More

“Praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding” (Colossians 1:9).One of the things I have noticed, and I like, about Paul’s teachings on prayer is that he puts the focus not so much on our problems but on God’s purposes. This occurs not just in Colossians, as we have been studying recently, but also in other letters of enco...  Read More

“Do everything without complaining…” (Philippians 2:14).In case you had not noticed, the temperature has been a bit cooler in recent days. Yeah, I noticed! In fact, on Sunday, I met a couple of winter visitors in the Garden Room between services and I apologized for the cool weather while they were here. In all honesty, I think I was really just complaining over it being chilly. They laughed and s...  Read More

Pastor D.T. Niles once wrote about a member of his congregation whom he met on the street one day. She had been active for many years but had recently drifted away. She was suffering several personal and family problems. Evidently, it was a challenging time in her life. She told Niles that God had become distant to her, that she had lost any sense of closeness to Him, and that her faith did not se...  Read More