Month: December 2025

Beware of ICEy Conditions

December 18, 2025

I’m a pastor in a multiethnic denomination of immigrants, where my brothers and sisters are being terrorized by ICE raids and growing hostility and fear caused by this administration’s rhetoric and tactics. Our immigrant churches are half empty on Sundays, as families are afraid to leave their homes. No presents are under the tree, and cupboards are growing bare as they are afraid to go shopping. … More Beware of ICEy Conditions

Blessed Are the Horoscope Readers

December 17, 2025

Do you think the magi would be welcome in our churches if they showed up this Christmas Eve? I suspect these ouija board playing, crystal ball rubbing, tarot card reading visitors would be met with suspicious looks and hushed whispers, brushed off and awkwardly avoided. They certainly would not be invited to come forward and play a central role in the worship service.  … More Blessed Are the Horoscope Readers

Blessed Are The Speechless

December 15, 2025

We are only reading half the story if we focus only on the speechlessness of Zechariah. Before long the mute becomes a minstrel, the silenced one a songbird, the castigated becomes a crooner for Christ. From that day forward, Mercy and Joy are the theme of Mr. and Mrs. Zechariah’s song. Blessed are those who have been mesmerized by God’s mercy, silenced by salvation, flabbergasted by forgiveness, and enraptured by God’s rescue. … More Blessed Are The Speechless

Blessed Are the Carnies

December 11, 2025

Ebenezer Scrooge had a hard time grasping and embracing the spirit and message of Christmas. The rich and self-sufficient always do. Their own personal kingdoms loom so large that they have a hard time making room for God’s Kingdom.
This is why the glad tidings were given to poor shepherds instead of wealthy aristocrats. Shepherds were the carnies of Jesus’ day. They had a reputation for being  dirty, smelly vagabonds. … More Blessed Are the Carnies

Flesh-Ripping Words & the Word Become Flesh

December 10, 2025

In these days of online retribution, excoriating political opponents, and defaming others’ character, we do well to remember that in the middle of the Christmas story stands a man who goes out of his way to protect another from public disgrace. The historical record gives us very little on Joseph, but one description stands out: “Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man.” … More Flesh-Ripping Words & the Word Become Flesh

Blessed Are the Fed Up

December 9, 2025

The fourth Beatitude of Bethlehem announces that God’s favor rests upon those who wake up each morning with the smell of a more just society wafting through the air, and whose heart’s growl from an inconsolable hunger for God’s Kingdom to come “on earth as it is in heaven.” They carry with them secret recipes and samples on a toothpick of the delicious promises God will serve up when His Kingdom comes in full.  … More Blessed Are the Fed Up

Blessed Are the Underachievers

December 5, 2025

The central message of Jesus’ upside-down Kingdom is that He offers good news to the poor and needy losers, and offers a stern warning for the proud and self-sufficient winners in society. He’s not opposed to the winners and hard-working overachievers; he just knows that such folks tend to be less receptive, and at times openly hostile, to His gospel message about free handouts of grace and forgiveness to undeserving screw-ups.  … More Blessed Are the Underachievers

Psalm 23 Survival Kit for Life’s Valleys

December 3, 2025

In a recent sermon on navigating life’s valleys, I suggested packing the Psalm 23 Survival Kit to help you come out the other side. This beloved Psalm is packed full of essential truths and God’s promises to help carry you through “the valley of the shadow of death.” I want to recommend Dallas Willard’s little book on Psalm 23 called Life Without Lack. … More Psalm 23 Survival Kit for Life’s Valleys

Blessed Are The Emotional Wrecks

December 2, 2025

I don’t remember what I preached that Sunday, but I do remember standing in front, holding back tears and weighed down by grief. My message invited us to de-sanitize the Christmas story, strip away all the sentimentality and remember that Advent is the good news that Jesus stepped down into our darkness in order to take the suffering and grief of countless heartbroken parents onto Himself, and to bring comfort to those who mourn … More Blessed Are The Emotional Wrecks

Two Stars: Super-Surrender to Supernova

December 1, 2025

This Christmas reflection examines the crucial distinction between fleeting religious experiences and the enduring life of discipleship. Pastor Jeremy Berg contrasts the Star of Bethlehem, which led the Magi to a singular moment of worship, with the Morning Star mentioned by Peter, which symbolizes the necessary, continuous rise of Christ within the believer’s heart. … More Two Stars: Super-Surrender to Supernova