Sometimes life seems like you just can’t keep your head above water. The demands of life keep crashing in like the tide hitting the beach. It seems like when we just get ahead a little bit that another wave is pushing right behind the last one. As I write this post I’m still trying to figure out the reason behind daylight savings. I was sitting in the office and realized that one clock wasn’t changed. And yep that’s the clock we were using to determine the length of our conversation. Needless to say a frantic pace ensued as soon as we determined that we were a whole 60 minutes off! Continue reading
Ever feel like all is lost? Ever feel like nothing can go right? Ever feel like just throwing in the towel and just giving up? Well, I know the feeling. There are days when it feels like everything I touch just falls apart. Perhaps it’s a word I have spoken that is taken out of context and ends up hurting someone I love. Maybe I didn’t go out of my way to show how much I care quite enough and it’s taken personally. Whatever the trouble, sometimes we just need a little hope. 
There is only one name that will really make a difference. You could try to use any other name you’d like but all of them will end up failing you at some point. So I’d like to just save you the time and effort. Now I know some of you are thinking well he’s a pastor so that’s why he’s telling us all of this. He kind of has to doesn’t he? Well, no I don’t have to, but I’ve found that nothing else will do. 
Well tomorrow is Christmas. Tomorrow we celebrate the birth of a child whose name was to be called Immanuel. But what does that name mean for you and me today? Many of us know the name Immanuel means God with us. But it goes deeper than that. Each letter in his name can remind us of exactly how God is with us.
We’ve all seen it. Many of us have one in our houses this time year. Our churches pull them out of storage as we approach Christmas. The manger scene is a staple in our Christian celebrations of Christmas. We’re so familiar with the characters in the story that we likely don’t even give it much thought. The wisemen came from lands afar to see the baby born. The shepherds respond to the angels’ call to hail the birth of an unlikely king. Mary and Joseph were just trying to find out what it meant to be parents as they coddled their newborn son in the stable that quiet night.
On Wednesday nights at Living Word we’re journeying through the famous story by Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol. It’s a wonderful story of a man caught up in himself who is led to a major life change by visits from four different Ghosts throughout Christmas Eve. We started this series with a visit from the 
Cuts, scars, pimples, blemishes, weight issues, height, dress, muscles or lack of them, hair color, hair style, braces, birthmarks – these things and many more affect the way people see me. But why can’t people see the real me? Why can’t people see beyond the scars and the image in the picture to see who I really am? This is a question with which many struggle – daily. 
