There is a name unlike any other and that name is Jesus. The same voice that spoke to the storm and calmed the waves is the same voice that called the dead out of the grave. His name doesn’t just comfort us. It saves us, completely and eternally. And because of who He is, He alone is worthy of all our praise.

The true meaning of Easter is that Jesus sacrificed himself over everything and got crucified on the cross for our sins only to be resurrected 3 days later reconciling with God.  He has given himself over to us to celebrate eternal life within him. This is a new covenant between God and humanity giving us rebirth into the spiritual realm.

Holy Week begins by shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” It ends with shouting, “He is risen! He is risen indeed!” We as Christians love to celebrate and glorify the King of kings, our Resurrected Savior. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that! But what happens when we jump from the heights of Palm Sunday to the even higher heights of Easter Sunday is we forget the in between.

Have you ever thought anymore about St. Patrick’s Day other than a day of green, green and oh – more green!  I hadn’t until this week and decided to check into it a little more.

t’s already such a cool experience having a child show you something they’re proud of. The quick speed as they race toward you, the excitement and spark of joy in their eyes, the eager anticipation expressed in fidgeting fingers and tapping toes. That, to me, is such fun to witness. It’s even cooler to see this kind of enthusiasm surrounding their faith.

Change is difficult, this can be any kind of change, from something as simple as a change in where you sit at work or school, to having a pastoral change. As you all know we are going through a huge change as Pastor Lou has come in as our brand new pastor. God consistently brings up how good change is in the world.

We live in an imperfect world where some “things” are just as imperfect. Unfortunately, sometimes, there are simply no just answers. When bad things happen to good people, as a society we often say, “Why would God allow this?” This is a saying I have struggled with in my own life. When we buried our son Jonathan, after being born with a fatal birth defect, I struggled with this a lot. 

This Sunday marks a meaningful moment in the life of our church. Tomorrow will be the final Sunday serving with us for our interim pastor, Bob Flint. Next Sunday, we will celebrate a new beginning as we welcome our new lead pastor, Lou Reyes.

World perspective: loss, brokenness, bankruptcy. Kingdom of God perspective: love, life, comfort.

As we enter the season of Lent, scripture reminds us that we have an example to encourage us for 40 days. Jesus demonstrates how to live in the anticipation of mourning and being comforted. The Father’s plan was the Son to be rejected, despised, crucified. But while fulfilling the Father’s plan, time after time Jesus experiences divine comfort.

Weeks of intense and unrelenting rainfall have triggered catastrophic flooding across parts of southern Africa, including Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. The floods have claimed the lives of hundreds and forced hundreds of thousands of people into temporary shelters for those displaced due to the weather.

The Church of the Nazarene is a global denomination, making disciples of all nations and all areas of the world. We not only strive to spread the gospel to every ear that will listen through evangelism, but we also seek transformation into Christlikeness through discipleship. In addition, we care for the sheep already in the flock.

When we find ourselves without the words to pray and we feel as though God does not know what we are going through or if He can hear our thoughts when we are unable to speak, the Holy Spirit takes our words and thoughts that we just can’t get out and advocates for us divinely.

After much prayer and listening for God’s leading, Pastor Lou Reyes has accepted the call to serve as Lead Pastor of One Hope Church of the Nazarene. We truly believe God is guiding us into a new and hopeful season as a church.

Grow up. God has equipped his people for a mission, but to do the job we need to be mature members of a united body.  Mature in our individual faith and mature as a church. That maturity is not measured against each other, or against other churches, but measured against the standard of Jesus.

We often say young people are the future of the church—and they are. But they are also the present. God is at work in their lives right now, shaping character, faith, and purpose. Investing in the next generation requires more than encouragement; it calls for loving discipline and faithful example. Discipline is not punishment—it is training. What is practiced today becomes the foundation for tomorrow.

Festive mood, music, decorations, yummy food, special times with family and friends, and most importantly, celebrating Jesus’s Birthday make most of us feel better than any other time of the year. But why only then? Is it so hard to keep that Holiday Spirit all year long?

Mary and Joseph didn’t hear basketball teams or gifts being sorted or talk among friends. They didn’t have a sterile hospital room or trained nurses or experienced doctors. What they had were bleating lambs, bellowing cows, scratchy hay, and frigid wind seeping through the cracks in the stable. Uniquely as he came, Jesus rang out his very first cry, and the sound of love come down from heaven echoed throughout the universe.

Many people tend to think about the birth of Jesus - and Christmas as a whole - from their own perspective. However, the child's perspective of the birth of Jesus may be very different from an adult or seasoned perspective. 

As you continue to reflect on the coming of Jesus (God's gift to the world), I encourage you to go back to the beginning of Matthew. You might have been tempted, as I often am, to skip past Matthew 1:1-17 as a list of names of people you mostly don't know. This time, don't think about it as a list of names, but as a parade of kings leading to the introduction of the King of kings.

Into the heaviness of grief, God gives us a word that is gentle and strong at the same time - this word represented in that first flame. Hope can sometimes remind us to simply move on, for there is much greater in store for the future. Our loved ones were called to God early and they will be with us as soon as God is ready for us. Grief happens and it hits our hearts with such agony, but hope allows relief in that pain.