holy (300)

Ian

To Flourish

Psalm 52, Colossians 1:3–14, 2 Peter 1:3–15 (read online ⧉) "But I am like a flourishing olive tree in the house of God…" Psalm 52:8 (CSB) Being and becoming a flourishing olive tree should be our goal. We, of course, are not trees. We are,…

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Ian

Why of Baptism

John 1:19–28, John 3:22–28, Acts 19:1–7 (read online ⧉) Baptism holds a central place in the Christian church from its very beginning. The only other act that is of equal or perhaps greater importance is the Eucharist (i.e., Communion). Today, it is the ceremony/event by…

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Ian

Pull Me Up

Exodus 17:1–7, Numbers 20:1–13, John 7:37–39 (read online ⧉) By and large, Americans do not understand the gift of clean and readily available water. Even during droughts, currently, people in places like California still can turn on the water in their homes, and get a…

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Ian

Hearts of Innocence

Jeremiah 31:15–20, Matthew 2:13–23, Hebrews 2:11–18 (read online ⧉) In the Evangelical Church, and even in the so-called mainstream American Denominations, the day of Holy Innocents is often skipped over. It’s uncomfortable. It’s weird. To our sensibilities, it just makes no sense. Like so many…

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Ian

Full Joy

Psalm 126, Isaiah 12:1–6 Around Christmas, joy is used a lot. Many Christmas songs use the word, a lot. What is joy? Without defining it, we leave it to the world to define it for us, which is dangerous, for the world misses so much…

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