Jesus
At Hand
I’ve got quite a few things within reach as I type these words: my computer, of course, and my desk, a bunch of books, pictures of my wife and kids, and dozens of other things. They’re “at hand,” so to speak, because I can reach them from where I sit. Wherever you are, look around. What’s within your reach? What’s “at hand”? The way Paul uses that expression in Philippians 4:5 both comforts and warns us. The Lord is at…
The Omega
Most of us have been tempted by the buy-now-and-pay-later mantra. After all, why wait for something when you can have it right now? It’s effective with us because of our finite nature as human beings. We’re bound—to a great extent, at least—by time. We’re aware of the past, and we anticipate the future, but more than anything, there’s today. That causes problems, of course. The Lord referred to himself as the Alpha and Omega in several places. He’s our Alpha,…
Highest Place
“Highest Place” is one of my favorite worship songs: We place You On the highest place For You Are the great High Priest. We place You High above all else And we come to You And worship at Your feet (Scripture in Song, Ramon Pink, 1983). The lyrics are based on the NIV’s translation of Philippians 2:9-11: Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of…
Emptied Himself
I think the greatest motivation for living how we ought to live is contained in these three verses. Read them slowly, carefully, reflectively, perhaps repeatedly. . . . Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to…
His mind
Two Sundays ago on this page I encouraged you to do what Paul says here: “in humility count others more significant than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3). How’d you do? If you’re like me, you did really well right up until the point that you got out of bed. It’s just hard . . . really hard. Sometimes it goes against everything within you, and it seems to require superhuman effort to make it through a few hours. If we can’t make…
Too busy
Mary and Martha were like a lot of siblings—they loved each other like crazy, and sometimes they just drove each other crazy. Can you relate? This story about them always makes me laugh—Martha asks the Son of God to help her settle a little sisterly spat. Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet…
What matters
I’m not sure why, but we don’t talk a lot about Jesus’ second coming anymore. It might be because it’s often associated with some radical versions of Christianity—long-haired, unkempt men on street corners holding big “Turn or Burn!” signs. Or it could be because we’re pretty comfortable with life the way it is, and comfortable people don’t really long for this world to end. But there’s a reason it’s mentioned over 300 times in the New Testament . . .…
Jesus Christ Was Born
The article below has been edited to fit in our bulletin; the complete original can be found here: http://www.pvcc.org/blog/2016/12/16/christmas/ We are again at that time on the calendar when much of the world pauses to acknowledge that Jesus Christ was born in the world. The date makes little difference. And we heartily agree that some other time of year suits the occasion best, but that makes little actual difference. We also agree that the celebration of a special religious holiday has…