Rejoice always! Paul’s words in Philippians chapter 4 are a tall order. Always? How is that even possible? Christmas time is, without doubt, a time of joy. The angel declared it that first Christmas night, “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy that will be to all people.” If ever there were a …
Shout the Good News
By Mary Wenzl “Psst . . . Psst” “What?” “Come closer, I have a secret to tell you.” “Okay, what?” “Today in Bethlehem, a child was born who will be the King of the world.” “Wow, that is astounding!” “Yes! Now, tell no one. It is a secret. Keep the secret to yourself.” “Okay, I …
Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room
By Sheryl Murray For the first time in many years our family is having a family reunion. What precipitated the event was my sister and her Turkish husband being able to visit from Germany. Everyone wants to see them, of course. So, one sister and husband are driving in from Chicago; another is driving up …
Learning to Wait
We live in a culture of hurry, driving us to brighter and better and more, as if we don’t already have what we need. What does it look like for us to wait on the Lord?
Son of God, Love’s Pure Light
By Renee Meyer We began our Advent journey at Lincoln Berean with the question "What if this Christmas were different?" We were invited to have a Hope-Filled Christmas by replacing Busy. Stressed. Consumerism. Exhaustion. with a Christmas full of Worship. Generosity. Presence. Love. And most of us are having a very different Christmas: A holiday …
Fully Present
By Courtney Lee “Mom! Mommy… MOM!!!” (looking up from my phone) “Yes hunny?” “Watch!” (glancing their way) “Uh huh! Great job, sweetie.” (back to phone) “Mom! Did you see? Mom! Did you?” “Yep, baby! Good job.” “Mom! You’re not watching! How will you seeee meee if you’re not watching?” “I’m right here, love— like literally …
A Generous Heart
By Cheryl Hansen Generosity is a noun that is defined as a readiness or liberality in giving. Typically, generosity adds something of value to our character when we help someone else out. A lot of “feel good” emotions that give us the warm and fuzzy feelings are released when we surprise an unsuspecting person by …
A Call to Worship
By Katie Kafka Here we are. At the beginning of the 2020 Advent season. As I take a moment to notice the shape of my heart, I find myself craving more Jesus and less world. It has become essential for me to make certain there is time in my day when I can lay aside …
A Savior is Born
This week's throw-back comes from a post I wrote in 2014. Take a minute to reflect on our gift of a Savior this Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas! A cross forms the backdrop for my nativity scene downstairs. There’s a reason for that. I don’t know about you, but I need a visual reminder—not just once, …
Jesus Is God
For our third week of Advent, we throw back to 2014 and this post by Shereen which rings as true today as it did then. It comes up too often to ignore, to push aside and move on. Whether lingering over warm cups in my favorite coffee shop, sitting face-to-face at the kitchen table, or …
Equip Her 