Many of us remember those epic words uttered by Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz — "There's no place like home." It is nice to get away from home and the day to day activities, stresses, and strains of our "normal" routines. Vacations lead us, hopefully, to a place of rest and re-creation. However, I cannot think of a time when I was traveling back home (especially driving) when I didn't uttered those words like Dorothy. Why do we anxiously want to get a way from the "daily grind" only to return to it as our home? We are a fickle people aren't we? Or are we? Is there something deep down inside of us that makes us want to get away, but also want to return so soon? I would suggest it has to do wi

Most people want to be prepared in the case of an emergency. Today, we are better able to prepare for those occasional situations in which we need help. Our smart phones, for example, have apps we can use to summon help. In the dramatic reading of Psalm 79:1-9, we can hear the urgency of the words — How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealous wrath burn like fire? The situation is dire. Jerusalem has been overrun by the Babylonians. They laid not only the Temple to waste, but cruelly killed many of the citizens before hauling the rest back to Babylon. Will God arrive in time to save the psalmist and his people? Was this a biblical 9-1-1 call? Why weren't God's people more

Have you ever had one of those nights when you are ready to go to bed and then it hits you? You have a "craving" for something to eat. It might have been a commercial you saw concerning a food that converges on your senses to the point that you not only see the "deliciousness" of the food on TV, but you can almost smell it and taste it! Why are cravings so powerful in moving you and I to act upon them? Why is it that we desire what we want when we have a "hunger, a burning, a hankering, a lust?" A lust? Hey, wait a minute! How can a hankering for some comfort food in the late hours of the evening constitute a sin? Well, if you looked at cravings — whether for food or something else- it can m

This Sunday we begin a sermon series on the Greatness of God. We will look at the greatness of God's mercy, grace, freedom, and hope. This coming Sunday we will be looking at what our "dream job" might be as opposed to Paul's "dream job." When we read a resume such as Paul's we wonder how we could ever match up to his abilities as a leader of a new movement that was changing the world. And to put even more pressure on us to fulfill his kind of job, we need to consider the environment that Paul was leading this movement through. Sociologist, Rodney Stark, states that it is quite puzzling the rise of Christianity that took place during Paul's time in the Roman Empire's landscape. Stark says it