There are some people who it may never be possible to reconcile with. Just make sure it is their problem and not yours. Make certain that your heart is free and your hands clean, that your attitude toward them is pure.

Lent invites us to “listen” to the music of our lives. Lent invites us to take honest stock of our hearts and deal with what’s lurking in their deepest recesses. Lent calls is to be honest – honest to ourselves and honest to God.

Several years ago I preached on the “essentials” of the Christian life. These are essential because they are the guide rails that keep us from running off the road. They are essential because they enculturate our Christian faith into our lives. They are essential because Christ practiced them, and we want to be like Christ. They are essential because they ensure that the things we give our lives to will matter for eternity. They are essential because when we face life’s challenges, we can live lives of faithfulness!

Because no matter what situation, we find ourselves in, no matter the ruling government, no matter the country, no matter the culture, what doesn’t change about us is that we are an utterly unique family who are created by God’s call and governed by God’s loving rule. We’re not a race; we’re not a government; we’re not a culture. We’re not even physically related, necessarily.

We are God’s people. God established us. We are His.

As Christians, we live our lives as reflections of God’s love for us. John tells us in I John 4:19, “We love because he first loved us” and “whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.” Can’t get any more plain than that!

But don’t just breeze through Deuteronomy. Listen carefully and you’ll hear familiar quotes from the New Testament (“Man shall not live by bread alone” and “do not put the Lord your God to the test”). Read closely, and you’ll find that Deuteronomy lays the foundation for the story that follows.

Through their calendar and through their worship, they were constantly reminded of all that God did for them.

God is with us in the midst of our storms. And in the entire history of the world, there was never a storm that didn’t pass.

I’m of two minds about Christmas music . . . on one hand, I love reserving Christmas music for only Advent/Christmas, but the messages of some of the Christmas hymns, like “Joy to the World” in particular, seem appropriate all year long!

Our mission of “Loving God . . . Loving Others'' comes together in a special way each Christmas with our “Christ Birthday Offering.” In the past, we’re received offerings for our Hispanic sister church, Fuente de Salvacion, for Matt McGraw and his work in Turkey, for Joel Aycok’s water filter ministry in Honduras and the Tatums in Costa Rica.

And in this time of such deep polarization around the world, maybe the power of these texts and a robust message of Christmas might inspire folks to crawl out of their trenches for a lasting truce.

The rhythms of the year reflect the saving events in the story of God’s people, and living our lives by those rhythms shape us into God’s people because they constantly remind us of who we are and Whose we are.

I can tell you, those two ladies lived out Ecclesiastes 9:10, “Whatever your hands find to do, do it with all our might!”

How do we strike a balance between being involved citizens and being believers? As one writer I read asked, “Are we citizen-disciples or disciple-citizens?” Which comes first? What is the role of Christians in politics?

I want each of you to be able to “rightly handle the word of God,” so no matter what situation you may find yourself in, whether it’s reading a book, a Facebook post, a podcast, YouTube video, visiting preacher or just a well-meaning friend’s comments, you can weigh what they say against the Word of God for yourself and have the confidence to know whether or not it aligns with the scripture.

We’re tempted to think of God’s presence as being limited to the church building or to our services – and that’s where the Psalmist begins. The temple is where God is praised as the one who answers prayer, and forgives transgressions, and those who live there are blessed.

Balance is important in everything. For some, SEC football is almost a religion (I doubt that’s true for anyone reading this, but you probably know someone), and if you know the roster of players better than you know the roster of disciples, if you know the words to “Dixieland Delight” but don’t know the words to “Joy to the World,” or if the first thing you think of when you hear the phrase, “Hail Mary” is of a last ditch, long forward pass, should you maybe rethink your values?

It was this matter of caring for those in need that caught the world’s attention and it was through their not running from those in need that they were truly able to be the “salt of the earth” and the “light of the world.”

Because it all boils down to why we exist to begin with: “Loving God . . . loving others.”

Faith is the life that begins with our belief that Jesus is Lord - belief gets us in the door, but it doesn’t stop there. It includes the sort of loyalty we see in John 11, when Jesus says he’s going back to Jerusalem, and the disciples say, “Waitaminute – they want to kill you,” but Thomas says, “Ok, let’s go so that we can die with him.”