George Matheson was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1842. Before he reached the age of two, it was discovered that his eyesight was defective. He, his parents, and the specialists fought a heroic fight, but before George had finished his course at Glasgow University he was completely blind. With courage and faith he graduated with honors in philosophy, studied for the ministry, and in a few years' time became the minister of o…

Have you ever had a time when you were faced with an incredible obstacle or a heart wrenching burden and thought, "If only I had more faith!"

There was a young couple who went to a new church shortly after burying their eight year old son. The boy had suffered from a degenerative neurological disease for which there was no treatment. Parents and physicians alike could only watch as the disease slowly stole the boy's life. The heartbroken couple had been committed members of a church where people were taught that God would heal any illness if only those who prayed for healing had enough faith. During the wake one of the members of that church approached t…

Matthew 22:35 - "And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, to test him."

Titus 3:13 - "Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they lack nothing."

Among the Jews, the biblical lawyer was one who was learned in the Mosaic Law; however, it is also generally supposed to be equivalent to the title "scribe." A man could be both a scribe and a lawyer, but this does not necessarily mean that all lawyers were scribes. It has been sai…

More than 2000 years ago Greek physicians believed that a specia…

A simple poem has been circulating on the Internet by an unknown author. It speaks of unconditional love in a beautiful way:

A weary mother returned from the store,
Lugging groceries through the kitchen door.
Awaiting her arrival was her eight-year-old son,
Eager to relay what his younger brother had done.

"While I was out playing and Dad was on a call,
T.J. took his crayons and wrote on the wall!
It's on the new paper you just hung in the den.
I told him you'd be mad at having to…

C. S. Lewis once said that the gospel was concerned to create "new people" not just "nice people." The human need is an inner transformation that makes us into new creatures. It is the warmth of the spirit of Christ that accomplishes this. This is not…

Jesus loves me, this I know,
Though my hair is white as snow;
Though my sight is growing dim,
Still He bids me trust in Him.

Yes, Jesus loves me,
Yes Jesus loves me,
Yes, Jesus loves me,
The Bi…

William Temple made gave a masterful definition of worship: For worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness; the nourishme…

The two-year-old, normally a quite obedient little boy, was having an attack of stubbornness—a disease endemic to the species. Still, it was surprising to see such a severe case in one of such tender years. His mother had asked the lad to do something, but he was much too absorbed in his own activities to take time out for that. The father watched as the mother went over to impress on the little boy the impor…

Some years ago, Columbia University had a great football coach by the name of Lou Little. One day Lou had a boy try out for the varsity team who wasn't really very good. But Lou noticed that there was something unique about him—while he wasn't nearly good enough to make the team, he had such irrepressible spirit and contagious enthusiasm that Lou thought, this boy would be a great inspiration on the bench. He'll never be able to play, but I'll leave him on the team to encourage the others.

As the season went on, Lou began to develop a tremendous admiration and love for this boy. One of the things that especially impressed him was the manner with which the boy obviously cared for his father. Whenever the father would come for a visit to the campus the boy and his father would always be see…

A New Year resolution adapted from a prayer from the World Healing Organization (Blackpool, England):

For attractive lips, I will speak words of kindness.

For beautiful eyes, I will…

"Tell us what you think, Teacher. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?" When the Pharisees asked Jesus that question, he responded with a request, "Show me the coin used for the tax," and someone handed Jesus a coin embossed with the head of the current Roman emperor, Tiberius. Engraved around his head was the inscription, "Tiberius Caesar, majestic son of the majestic God, and High Priest." "Whose image is on this coin?" Jesus asked. "The emperor's," they responded. "Well then," Jesus said, "give to the emperor what belongs to the emperor." The image of the emperor was embossed on the coin, therefore the coin belonged to him.

But in answering the Pharisees' question, Jesus didn't stop with the issue of taxation. He continued, "and give to God what belongs to God." As Jesus s…

What exactly do you believe about Jesus? Some years ago, in my seminary days, our first course in Systematic Theology dealt with that question. Our professor described Jesus as "the proleptic, salvific, hidden appearance of the eschatological kingdom of God." Did you get that? Take notes; there might be a test at the end of this. "The proleptic, salvific, hidden appearance of the eschatological kingdom of God." On our way out of class that morning, with the words of our gospel in mind, we chuckled at the whole thing: "Jesus said to them, 'Who do YOU say that I am?' Simon Peter replied, 'You are the proleptic, salvific, hidden appearance of the eschat…

You can even be thankful during the most difficult of circumstances in life. It's true! We see an especially inspiring example of a brave and thankful heart in the story behind one of the church's most popular hymns, "Now Thank We All Our God." This particularly hymn was written during the Thirty Years War in Germany, in the early 1600s. Its author was Martin Rinkart, a Lutheran pastor in the town of Eilenburg in Saxony.

Now, Eilenburg was a walled city, so it became a haven for refugees seeking safety from the fighting. But s…

Nearly every couple who graces my office for premarital counseling is asked, "What do you especially love about him/her; what is their extra special quality?" More often than not my question is greeted with embarrassed silence. Those that venture forth with an answer are often very general or vague like, "I feel good when we are together." Sometimes there is the diplomatic answer, "I like everything about her, she is so perfect." It is hard to keep a straight face as I wonder how such a response will hold up in six months.

In general, much of our contemporary concept of love is unbiblical and unhelpful. Too much of what passes itself off for love today is s…

Father Henri Nouwen found a sculpture of Jesus on a donkey in the Augustiner Museum in Frieburg. He calls it one of the most moving Christ figures he knows. The fourteenth-century sculpture originally came from a small town close to Breisach on the Rhine. The sculpture was made to be pulled on a cart for the Palm Sunday procession.

Nouw…

This week's text challenges individuals and your church community to examine how they respond to the persistent voice of God in their lives.

From Presbyterian author and editor John C. Purdy comes the title and story that inspired this week's sermon ideas. Purdy recalls that in The Blue Mountains of China (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970), Canadian Mennonite/English Professor/author Rudy Wiebe tells the story of a Mennonite farmer named Sam Reimer. One night Sam hears a voice saying to him, "Samuel, Samuel ... I am the God of your fathers, the Lord your God. Go and proclaim peace in Vietnam." In perplexity, Sam goes to his pastor, who tells him to listen for the voice a second time. The next night the call comes again, but Sam cannot get anyone to believe that he has truly heard God's voi…

If fishing is one of your passions, you will love our scripture lesson for today. Though I prefer hunting to fishing, I have a soft spot in my heart for fishing because of a childhood experience. I was about 10 or 11 years old. One Wednesday afternoon Papa took me with him to a nearby pond to do a little fishing. I was just learning to use a rod and reel. Papa caught a little bass weighing about half a pound. Then he had to leave for prayer meeting. He ask…

Some of you may be familiar with a story by journalist Tom Junod. It is a true story of a young man afflicted with cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy did not affect this young man's mind, but it affected his motor skills and his ability to speak. The boy could only communicate through typing on his computer. In addition to his physical disabilities, the boy suffered emotional problems after some of his care givers callously abused him. Overwhelmed with self-hatred, the boy often hit himself. Using his computer, he wrote to his mother that he wished he could die.

There was one thing that seemed to bring the boy comfort: watching "Mr. Roger's Neig…

A minister friend of mine tells about a woman in his church who is so excited to be a Christian. She has a shady past and had pretty much hit bottom when a friend reached out to her… and brought her to church. The church member welcomed her warmly and loved her into the circle of their love and God's love. She started going to church faithfully. She joined a wonderful Sunday School class. She …

Love-letter lament:

Dearest Jimmy,

No words could ever express the great unhappiness I've felt since breaking ou…

Dr. James B. Lemler was preaching one time about the Trinity. He told about a couple of parents who had gone home from his church and during Sunday lunch were talking about his sermon. In the midst of their conversation, their second-grade daughter sitting at the table chimed in. "Oh, Father Lemler's sermons, they're always the same," she said, "You know . . . blah, blah, blah, . . . love . . . blah, blah, blah . . . …

She sat in my office, fidgeting about in her chair, twisting a handkerchief in her hand.

Finally she interrupted a pleasantry she was sharing and blurted out a confession that was eating her heart out, and she began to cry.

I remember the pain of a boil on my arm.  It was an abscess in which …

Easter is a magnificent day! It is the most significant day of the entire year. It is a day of celebration ... the finest clothes, lilies trumpeting their beautiful fragrance, Christian fellowship, joyful greetings ... nothing can be too good. On Easter we celebrate new hope and the possibility of living life to its fullest. God is saying to us that his blessings and love are ours. Good and even great days are now possible for us with the best of days still to come in heaven.

What problems lurk in your life? Are you afraid of death? Are you afraid of life? Easter proclaims that you can be victorious over any problem that you might face. Victory can be yours by believing in Easter and by app…

The entertainment industry is an ego-driven affair populated by throngs of people who are full of themselves. As even actor Marlon Brando once observed, "The greatest love affairs I have ever witnessed took place with one actor, unassisted." Yet there is even so a kind of unspoken "code" among these people that says if you are too obvious with this self-infatuation, you will be shunned. Some years ago when actress Sally Field won her second Oscar in the span of only a few years, she famously gushed in her acceptance speech, "You like me! You really like me!" She has never been nominat…

In Tennyson's tale of the Holy Grail, a knight searches high and low for that which lasts for eternity and gives ultimate meaning. He comes upon a singing brook, with deep meadows and wonderful fruit trees. But even as he ate the fruit, it turned to dust, for no feeding of the flesh could still his deepest hunger. Riding on, he saw a home, its opened door a promised welcome and in the door there was a beautiful woman, her eyes …

Last words:

• "Your will be done. Come, Lord Jesus!" Augustine
• "Our God is the God from whom cometh salvation: God is the Lord by whom we escape death." Martin Luther
• "Live in Christ, live in Christ, an…

Looking for a gift or just a unique way to say "I love you?" What do you give when his dresser is full of cologne and you're both on diets? When she thinks flowers die too soon, and you've already spent next month's paycheck? Here are 21 great inexpensive ways to tell the love of your life just how much you care.

1. Make a homemade card with a picture of the two of you on the cover. Get ideas for a verse by spending a few minutes browsing through a card shop.
2. Write a poem. It doesn't have to rhyme.
3. Send a love letter listing the reasons "Why I love you so much."
4. Pledge your love for a lifetime. Write it on calligraphy or design it on a desktop computer and print it out on parchment paper and have it framed.
5. Plan a surprise lunch, complete with picnic basket, sparkling grape juice and g…

A young girl ran away from home to get married.  Her father was angry and said he would never forgive her or ever want to see her again.  She was sorry and wrote long letters seeking forgiveness, but still the father remained unforgiving.  She eventually had a son. One day, when the boy was old enough to run and play, an idea came to her. Why not send her son to her father. …

Who could speak more realistically about the illusion of a yuppie value system than Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who suffered deprivation of all that money can buy. In "The Prison Chronicle" he says, as few of us can, "Don’t be afraid of misfortune and do not yearn after…

Corrie ten Boom graphically illustrates in Tramp for the Lord how after the war she met a guard who had been her captor in the Ravensbruck concentration camp where her sister had died. He came forward after she spoke at a church in Munich, and (though he did not recognize her) said he had been one of her guards, and reached out his hand to her, asking for her forgiveness. For a moment, says Corrie, she hes…

Some years ago Charles Sheldon wrote a book titled, In His Steps. In that book he told about the revolution which occurred in the lives of a church and a congregation when the people decide to put every moral issue to the test of one question—"What would Jesus do?". Perhaps his book was a bit naive. W…

Peter Drucker, America's management guru, tells of a hospital administrator who held his first staff meeting. They worked through a rather difficult matter and the new boss felt the matter was settled. But then suddenly one of the staff asked, "Would this have satisfied Nurse Bryan?" The arguments immediately started all over again and did not stop until a better solution to the problem had been hammered out.

Who was this Nurse Bryan? The administrator soon …

Corrie Tin Boon survived the Holocaust, but her family did not. They were Dutch Christians caught by the Nazis for hiding Jews in their home. She watched the horrors of the genocide from Auschwitz, and barely survived.

Following the war, she became famous for her book "The Hiding Place," which shared the story of her family. The popularity of the book gave her the opportunity to share her faith with thousands of people on speaking tours.

One such evening, after she had spoken about the forgiveness of Christ, a man approached her whom she recognized as one of the guards from Auschwitz. She immediately felt all of the hor…

As I see it, the Christian life must comprise three concentric circles, each of which must be kept in its proper place. In the outer circle must be the correct theological position, true biblical orthodoxy and the purity of the visible church. This is first, but…

There is a story about a man who had a huge boulder in his front yard. He grew weary of this big, unattractive stone in the center of his lawn, so he decided to take advantage of it and turn it into an object of art. He went to work on it with hammer and chisel, and chipped away at the huge boulder until it became a beautiful stone elephant. When h…

I often think of the words of the late Dr. Leslie Weatherhead of City temple in London, who was asked on a radio program near the end of his life, "What have you learned from life?" He replied that he had learned many things from the rough and tumble of 45 years in the Christian ministry, but the one outstanding thing he learned was this: "…

C.S. Lewis wrote a story about how God suffers with us. C.S. Lewis was a medical aid in WWII during the air war over London, with the bombing raids and dogfights. A little girl, perhaps four or five years old, was brought into the makeshift first-aid station badly hurt, in the arms of her father who was crying with the daughter. The doctor on duty quickly knew the problem, he knew that to save the child's life she would have to lose her leg through amputation. The docto…

One of the most dramatic examples of the Bible's divine ability to transform men and women involved the famous mutiny on the "Bounty." Following their rebellion against the notorious Captain Bligh, nine mutineers, along with the Tahatian men and women who accompanied them, found their way to Pitcairn Island, a tiny dot in the South Pacific only two miles long and a mile wide. Ten years later, drink and fighting had left only o…

Your child's journey from 4 to 14 is very short. Christian parents need to put God into each day during this impressionable time. As a father of five foster children and a preschool teacher for 10 years, I'm convinced that the following practices instilled early can teach children to hold onto God during the difficult adolescent period:

• Hang a picture of Christ in each child's bedroom. Children are often quicker to respond to pictures than to words.
• Teach your child how to pray. By the time a child is 5, he should be able to speak one-sentence prayers with a parent. By the time he's 6, he should be looking for answers to his prayers. But avoid correcting a child's prayers. They are …

This is attributed to Summer Waters, age 11:

I saw Jesus last week. He was wearing blue jeans and an old shirt. He was up at the church building; He was alone and working hard. For just a minute he looked a little like one of our members. But it was Jesus . . . I could tell by his smile.

I saw Jesus last Sunday. He was teaching a Bible class. He didn't talk real loud or use long words, But you …

Augustine was in Milan when God touched his heart and changed his life. He then left his former life of license (he even had an illegitimate son). When he returned home, his former girl friend called to him: “Augustine, Augustine, it is I.” He turned and said: “Yes, but it is not I.” 

Note: This story has been retold and publ…

On a cold winter evening a man suffered a heart attack and after being admitted to the hospital, asked the nurse to call his daughter. He explained, "You see, I live alone, and she is the only family I have." The nurse went to phone the daughter. The daughter was quite upset and shouted, "You must not let him die! You see, Dad and I had a terrible argument almost a year ago. I haven't seen him since. All these months I've wanted to go to him for forgiveness. The last thing I said to him …

One summer morning in a mission camp where I was serving as a teacher of Galatians to junior high youth, a bird appeared at morning devotions, and lighted on the head of one of the girls. From there the bird hopped to her arm and then onto the arm of another camper and then another. The bird seemed to be looking for someone. We learned later that it was indeed a tame bird, the pet of a camper in an adjoining camp. We were also told that some boys in our camp had thrown sticks at the bird and frightened it so much that it would not come out of the woods.

The following night, at campfire, one of the counselors got up during our sharing time and told this story. When the bird came among us yesterday morning I was reminded of another camp I attended many summers ago when we were visited by a …

The musical, Godspell, sings a motto into my heart that I’ve tak…

Check out the church ads on the religion page of the Saturday edition of most big city newspapers and you find some impressive sounding places of worship. There, with sleek graphics and Madison Avenue phrases, a few select churches boast of their assets -- their choirs, their friendliness, their powerful preaching, their singles ministries, their ample parking, their family life centers, their sensitive child care, and their compassionate spirit. Some churches, it seems, have it all.

Other churches, however, appear by contrast to have nothing, absolutely nothing. Take, for example, the church depicted in our text for today. Here, we get our first glimpse of the disciples gathered together after the resurrection, the first glimpse, in other words, of the church in its earliest days, and, a…

In the first scene of William Shakespeare's King Lear, the old king summons his three daughters to tell them he is to retire and wants to distribute his power among them. Before doing so, however, he wants some clear declaration some reassurance of their love and devotion.

Two of his daughters, Goneril and Regan, are quick to give him what he wants. Goneril declares: Sire, I love you more than words can wield the matter, dearer than eyesight, space and liberty, beyond wha…

In his book Letting God Bless You John Killinger concludes with the challenge:

Permit God to bless you. Don't look around you and think how hard life is. Look around and see how filled with mystery and goodness it is. See how wonderful the world looks when you know God is at work redeeming it and setting up the anti-structures, so that humility and purity and compassion and longing for justice and peace will all be fulfilled and rewarded in the eternal scheme of things.

Give than…