PHILEMON: A LETTER BORN IN CONFLICT Paul, a prominent author in the New Testament found himself in quite the predicament. He has led Philemon, a wealthy land owner and now Pastor of the assembly in Colossae into a relationship with Jesus. But Philemon also has a runaway slave named Onesimus, who made his way from Colossae […]
ARE YOU RUNNING FROM GOD? Jonah tried. Recently I had the privilege of preaching through the book of Jonah and unfolding this fishy tale about God, nature and a disobedient Hebrew prophet. Throughout this short, bizarre, and powerful tale we get to see both Jonah’s heart and God’s heart on display and through them both, […]
December 13 “Making Room To Trust And Obey God In Challenging Circumstances” Matthew 1:19 Rebecca Furgason Devotional Reading Like Zacharias, Joseph needed fresh revelation from God to move forward in his life with Mary. She was pregnant. Joseph was an honorable man and didn’t want to cause Mary any hardship. Mary’s life would be changed […]
December 12 “Making Room to Trust when We’re Overwhelmed” Matthew 1:18 Christina Mooney Devotional Reading How overwhelming and daunting the situation must have been for Mary. I have often wondered about how willing she was in the beginning to submit to bearing the Messiah. In my own life, oftentimes the Lord will come in His […]
December 10 “Making Room for Agreement with God” Luke 1:38 Mark Joneschiet Devotional Reading Mary seemed troubled by the angel Gabriel who greeted her in this manner – “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary’s name may very well come from the Hebrew word, Marah, meaning “bitter” (see Ruth 1:20), […]
December 9 “Making Room For Faithfulness In Hiddenness” Luke 1:30-37 Ian Furgason Devotional Reading The incarnation is probably the most fantastic promise ever given or received by anyone in all of human history, that the Eternal God, who has no beginning would come and begin to grow as a baby boy. The Infinite God would […]
December 8 “Making Room to Abide in God” Luke 1:26-29 Elyse Finlay Devotional Reading The new superintendent of Federal Way Public Schools Tammy Campbell has adopted new language to refer to the students of the district. In fact, her influence is clearly seen in that this language is ubiquitous with every person that I’ve recently […]
December 7 “Making Room for God’s Impossible Plans” Luke 1:18-25 Anthony and Hannah Almaraz Devotional Reading After God promises Zacharias that he will have a son, Zacharias struggles to believe God because it sounds so grand, so far-off, and so impossible. As a result of his lack of agreement with God, Zacharias is made mute […]
December 6th “Making Room to Prepare for God’s Blessings” Luke 1: 13-1 Samantha Gayles Devotional Reading In Luke 1, we see that Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth are to be blessed with a son who would be named John. In verse 13, the first thing the angel says to Zacharias is to not be afraid. […]
December 5th “Making Room For God’s Fresh Revelation” Luke 1:12 Rebecca Furgason Devotional Reading In the beginning of Luke, we read about Zacharias and Elizabeth. Luke writes in verse 6 that “they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless”. They were BOTH doing everything right. Zacharias […]