I would like to talk about keys.  See in my hand, a key from my key chain. Keys are so important to our everyday lives… as are key chains. Many of us adults have a key chain. In fact, having a key chain is a sign of becoming an adult.
Doesn’t it frustrate you [...]

The wheels from the car screeched.  The mother’s heart stopped.  The child screamed.  The mother ran to the street out in front of the house as fast as she could. She was scared spitless when she saw the tricycle and her daughter lying on the pavement.
That’s the way mothers are. That’s the way [...]

Theme: When God breaks into the ordinary, miracles occur.
The word, “miracle,” and the experience of the miraculous, is in no way confined to Biblical times or the first century.  The word, “miracle,” and the experience of the miraculous, is very much part of our modern world and our everyday lives.
Let me illustrate.  You open [...]

Theme: God transforms the little things.
Jesus can work miracles with five loaves and two fish.  That is at the heart of the story, that the little boy brought his meager gifts to Jesus, his five loaves and two fish, and look what mighty miracles God did with them! God wants to do the same with [...]

I remember one of the most difficult days of my life. It was the funeral for Patti Arnold. Patti Arnold, thirty-nine years old, had cancer.  Her maiden name was Colello and she was Italian, pure Italian. Her family owned an Italian grocery story and she was the most fireball woman I had ever met in [...]

Theme: Like an umpire, God makes the final judgment call.
The word for weeds is a technical Greek word that needs to be explained since it unlocks the meaning of the story.  The Greek word for weeds is “zizania” which is a very particular type of weed that looks just like wheat as it is [...]

  
Imagine yourself in the winter, thinking about springtime, and plans for your garden. You’re looking thru the seed catalogue and you find seeds that make really, really big tomato plants with big tomatoes. So you order some of the seeds from the catalogue, they come in the mail, you put them with your [...]

  Theme:  Jesus lifts the heavy burdens of life.  (Two visual themes to choose from.) “Come onto me all who are weary and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” That simple line is so powerful. These words are sacred.
These words are from the real world of real lives of real people [...]

One of the meanings of this Biblical passage is the awareness that struggle and suffering are part of discipleship. Being a Christian involves struggle. Unfortunately, many people want to eliminate the struggle from life and also eliminate the struggle from following Christ. Such people end up being weak, weak Christians.
There was this amateur naturalist who [...]

Have you ever been down to the bank on late Friday afternoons to deposit a check? Are the lines long on Friday afternoons? Yes. Do you enjoy waiting in those lines? No. And you are pleased when you hear the voice of the bank manager echoing through the bank: ‘Tellers to the front [...]

In today’s world in America, what do you think is the most despicable occupation? According to a Harris poll, accountants were at the very bottom of the list with only 14% of Americans thinking that accountants had an honorable occupation. Others at the bottom of the list were bankers, business people, lawyers and journalists [...]

     Did you ever make sand castles when you were a child? I had a sandbox, a plastic bucket, shovel, some cookie cutters, and with a little water, I could make the sand castles of my childhood dreams. Making sand castles in my sand box was part of my early childhood, and may have [...]