Scripture: Nehemiah 8:1-8 Remember road maps? We used to unfold a huge map, pinpoint our destination, & follow the snarl of roads & turns until we got there. Then came the hard part: refolding the map! Now most of us rely on GPS. Just type in the desired destination, & the GPS or phone app leads us right to where we want to go. The app will even give verbal instructions, reminding us when & what direction to turn – or when to make a U-turn to get back on course. Life is

Scripture: Nehemiah 1:3-10 It’s right there, staring at you: The warning light on your car’s dashboard. The unopened bill. The calendar reminder to make a doctor’s appointment. You know what you need to do, but you don’t want to take the next step. Why? Because you know it is likely to be bad news. We can try to avoid bad news. We can pretend that it’s not there. But that doesn’t change reality. We have to face up to bad news when it comes. The key question is: How do w

Scripture: Revelation 2:1-7 We’ve all had at least one item we used to cherish that now lies forgotten at the bottom of a closet: A pair of running shoes from back when you loved to run. A box full of half-finished craft projects. A guitar that hasn’t been tuned in years. Losing our enthusiasm for a hobby isn’t bad, but it’s a whole different matter when we are talking about relationships. Marriages & friendships may start out strong & be bonded with love, but if we’re not c

Scripture: Jonah 1:1-3, 3:1-5, 10 “How in the world did I end up here?” Despite our sophisticated GPS systems, it’s a common question. It’s a question we ask often in life, too. We start out with good intentions. We want to be great parents, do well in school, or take care of our health. But we falter somewhere along the way. It may be subtle at first, but after a while we look back & realize we are not the people we wanted to be. At that point we often wonder, what wi

Scripture - Mark 7:1-5, 14-23 Jesus’ conflict with the religious leaders of his day was ongoing. Mark tells of an incident in which Jesus & these leaders were disagreeing about the cleanliness laws, the dietary laws, & the regulations that had to do with ritual purity. Now it would be easy to assume that the controversy over such laws is dated, maybe of some historical interest but surely not relevant to us today. But actually it brings up matters that are very relevant fo