Thoughtful Reflections on Faith and Life
2 Corinthians 8:1-2 Introduction Have you ever wondered what people will say about you after you die? After the funeral, while they are drinking coffee and eating egg salad sandwiches, they will say something like: “He/she was a very ________ person.” While we can not be boiled down to just one characteristic, there is probably … Read More “Overflowing With Joy” »
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 Introduction I find it fascinating how language changes over time. I often will talk to my children about the slang of their generation, Gen Z speech. It is really strange and often I wish they would just speak English. Having said that, there are ongoing changes and certain words fall in and … Read More “Why This Jubilee?” »
Zephaniah 3:14-20 Introduction I remember in university the challenge of picking courses because certain courses had required prerequisites. You couldn’t just jump into a course, you had to look what courses you needed to have already have. The idea was that one course prepared the way for the other courses because one curriculum was built … Read More “Surprised by Joy” »
Hebrews 12:1-2 Introduction Throughout this season of Advent, we have looked at Jesus as our Hope-Giver, Peace-Giver and Love-Giver. We now come to Jesus as our Joy-Giver. It is not difficult to find the concept of joy in the Christmas story. When the pregnant Mary visited her relative Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the … Read More “Jesus: The Joy Giver” »
For man has joy when there is in his life great or small fulfilment of his conscious or unconscious desires, cravings and strivings, when an event or change occurs or a state is achieved which he can greet and welcome because openly or secretly he had been waiting for it. Man has joy when for … Read More “Karl Barth on Joy” »
