Pippa, our dog, is 12 pounds of joy in our lives. She greets you with a soft howling “woo” every time you return home. She is always eager to go for a car ride while running errands around town. She has an incredible ability to make you smile or laugh with just a look. She can give your lap extra…
I love playoff baseball in October. I love it even more when my Detroit Tigers are in it! A few months ago I was watching a game with my daughters and I learned a valuable lesson on Joy. The Tigers had been on an improbable run having a less than 1% chance to make the playoffs in August to ALDS…
A Christmas Love Story[Joseph and Mary]Matthew 1:18-25 In the summer of 2023 I was in a backyard anxiously waiting for the gender to be revealed of our grandchild who was going to arrive in a few months. We were all so excited, the moment came, and all of sudden there was a mist of pink powder in the air and…
What clothes do you wear to do messy jobs? What clothes do you wear to celebrate special occasions? What clothes do you wear when playing sports? Are they the same clothes you wear when lounging? No matter what we wear, each of us gets to decide how we present ourselves. What we put on in the morning says something about…
Introduction: What is my mindset going into this season? Selfishness or selflessness? The lyrics to this song may help bring us into focus… “You could have stepped into creationWith fire for all to seeBrought every tribe and nation to their kneesArriving with the host of heavenIn royal robe and crownThe rulers of the earth all bowing down But You chose…
I will never forget Thursday afternoons in fifth and sixth grade when I would get on the school bus with all my friends and we would head to downtown Tampa. The final destination was a nursing home where we were all assigned a resident and adopted them as our grandparent for the school year. Many of the days we spent…
Terry Derstine is a husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. He is the founder and chairman of Sweatshirt of Hope in Souderton, PA, with a heart for those struggling in life. In the Acknowledgment section of his book Helpless and Hopeless, he says: “I want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ most of all for the scriptures that spoke…
Have you ever adopted a practice or a saying without stopping to think about what you’re adopting? Maybe it’s a phrase your parents used, some slang you picked up in high school, or a tradition that’s been in your family for years but you’ve never paused to ask why. On the first Sunday of Advent (December 1st), as a congregation,…
Introduction: “Jesus, the Name above any other name…” Earlier this year we had spent some time in a previous devotional looking at lyrics to the song ‘Build my life’. We are revisiting this song this week, looking at more Biblical truths from the lyrics. Unity as a church body and opening ourselves up for what God has for us, have…
How do you respond when things don’t go your way? One of the sobering things about being a parent is that you see yourself in your kids, and sometimes, you don’t like what you see. Our children can often act as a mirror revealing to us what we are really like. When it comes to hard or disappointing times I’d…