So here’s the deal. You remember Joseph, right? The guy with the crazy life story: mean brothers, sold as a slave, crazy lady, jail time, wonky dreams, etc.? Read more about Joseph here Yeah, that guy. But the only verse about Joseph in Hebrews says this: “By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, … Continue reading The Gift of Faith: Always at Work.

I am 34 years old and have never had a ‘real’ career and I have a college degree.  A B.A. in communications from Bethany Lutheran College.  When I graduated, I started working at the lumber yard I had worked at the summer before (because that is where my dad had worked for 25 years…I wonder … Continue reading The Gift of Faith: Wandering or Lost

The Christian life can be confusing.  We have a God who has accomplished it all for us and still works in our lives, yet we still struggle, and life is difficult.  We struggle with our own sin and the sin of others around us.  We even struggle with God. Jacob is a man who struggled … Continue reading The Gift of Faith: The Wrestling Match

This week we have settled in on the story of this family.  Abraham, Sarah, and their son Isaac.  Despite Abraham trying to tell pharaoh’s that his wife was his cousin.  Despite Sarah telling Abraham to sleep with her servant.  Despite Isaac almost being sacrificed.  God used this family to bring hope, in the flesh, into … Continue reading The Gift of Faith: His Work. Our Life.

Christ works in the barren places.  He brings life to places that only knew death.  He brings life where it never has been before.  Sarah had been unable to bear a child.  New life had not been created in her womb. These passages speak over and over again of what their faith did.  If we … Continue reading The Gift of Faith: Laughter

So Abraham. I’m not sure why I picked this guy to write about. Honestly, I think I have a lot more in common with Sarah. Woman who gets tired of waiting for God’s plan? Yep. Woman who talks her husband into a crazy plan because God’s timing doesn’t make sense? Um, yes. She and I … Continue reading The Gift of Faith: He Promised. He is Faithful.

When we are thinking Advent, we are thinking Christmas.  When we are thinking Christmas, we are thinking of new life wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in the manger. This week is less death and more life.  Chances are this is a little more of what you expected of an Advent study.  Abraham’s faith assured him … Continue reading The Gift of Faith: In Life. In Death

I’ve heard a lot recently about how ‘bad’ the world is getting.  In the same line I hear a lot about what is wrong with this generation or that.  The conversation often dwindles to a point of hopelessness.  Sometimes people part ways with an oh well can’t do anything about it, it is what it … Continue reading The Gift of Faith: Death, yet…

We will all experience death.  Well all of us except for a few people.  One of the few who did not is our topic for today, Enoch. Three verses are what we get regarding Enoch. “When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methusalah.  Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and … Continue reading The Gift of Faith: Steps to Him