Now John is in prison, a hellhole of a place. He had preached just one sermon too many, and this one mixed religion with politics, dangerous anytime. It seems that King Herod Antipas had taken up with his half-niece, Herodias. John was an old school kind of preacher and thundered that such ought not to be.
One feature of weddings here are the photographs. After the service is complete, and the man and woman are now husband and wife, and the congregation has filed out of the church, there comes a time when pictures are taken. The arrangement I like best is when all the relatives on both sides gather round the bride and groom.
Today, the world is full tilt in its preparation for Christmas. But here is the irony; the Church is always the last to prepare. Because in the Church, we have this Season called “Advent.” Four weeks of getting ready for the coming of the Savior.
A person in prison has a lot of time to think and question. This is true of John the Baptist when he gets thrown into prison for speaking the truth to power. There in that dark dungeon, John starts to wonder about Jesus. Jesus seems to him a most unlikely messiah.
When I first moved back to Hope (Arkansas), I worked out at a local fitness center. What I enjoyed most about it was the camaraderie. There were about twelve of us regulars, both men and women, who came to the fitness center in the early morning hours for exercise. The place was reminiscent of Cheers, “where everybody knows your name.”
This last Sunday in November is the first Sunday of our New Year. While others live out their lives in relationship to the earth's revolving around the sun, our lives revolve around the Lord Jesus Christ.
There's a wonderful tradition in the Jewish faith called "chesed" (pronounced heh-sed). Chesed is a Hebrew word that's roughly translated as "acts of kindness." It's where the Hasidic Jews get their name.
When I was four I asked why I couldn't go to school. My mother told me because I was not five. When I went school at the age of five I asked when it would be all over. My mother told me not until you’re eighteen.
Isn’t it a privilege to come together in the house of God? I get goose bumps just walking in the door. I mean, this is the house of God. His presence is in this place. It is a time to remind ourselves just who owns the house--not us, but Him.
Jesus IS found in the Eucharist. Jesus IS found in the Holy Bible. He IS found in our hearts – and some believe that crucifixes and painted Icons carry a sacred image of Jesus. But as Dr. Willimon says, none of these places is Jesus’ “primary residence.”