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Stiles and Swindoll write: All four Gospels indicate John the Baptist specifically fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy of a voice crying in the wilderness that prepared the way for the Messiah (see Isa. 40:3). The wilderness of Judea today sits virtually unchanged since the time of John. Deep valleys, high hills and rough, rocky paths set apart…

It’s nice to be back in the ‘hood, after a few weeks away! I hope you have been enjoying a more relaxing Summer vibe, and enjoying some quality speakers at our worship services in my absence. How are you approaching the year ahead? This Sunday at our worship service, I will be speaking about the…

Christmas is about the coming of Christ into the world. It’s about the Son of God, who existed eternally with the Father as “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature,” taking on human nature and becoming man (Heb. 1:3). It’s about the virgin birth of a child conceived…

I am always fascinated by the indefinable thing that exists between parents and children. Not all of us have children, but all of us have parents, and most of us, I’m guessing, can relate to the idea of an invisible string that connects us to our parents or children. Some people, of course, turn their back on…

We are soon to come to the season of Advent. There are two directions we face in Advent – a looking backward and a looking forward. Two millennia ago, the Jewish people were looking backward at the promises made by God that a Messiah would come to their rescue … and clutching those promises with…

‘Give us this day …’ Jesus tells us to pray for the needs we will have in each day … when the day comes. ‘Don’t worry about tomorrow,’ he says. ‘I want you to see God’s mercies in this day. Trust me for tomorrow, but enjoy and live in the now.’ If you are anything like me, though,…

The following comes to us from the Baptist World Alliance (thanks, Olwyn, for bringing it to our attention). Baptists across Israel and the Palestinian Territories request fervent prayer for just peace. This includes the Association of Baptist Churches in Israel with 17 Baptist churches and the Council of Local Evangelical Churches in the Holy Land…

We are never left without support. Sometimes we feel intensely isolated and alone. We wonder if faithfulness is really worth it, and it seems that it is us against the world. Elijah knew this experience very well. The mountaintop ‘fire-from-heaven’ experience had left him drained, and opposition had plunged him into a deep depression where…

Happenings 4 May 23