In Their Steps

  • Before the First Step

    For better or worse, we can usually see ourselves in the disciples of Jesus because have so much in common with them. Still, their stories can seem far away.

  • When Your Night is Interrupted

    The shepherds of Luke 2 seem to get the same treatment as their ceramic images get from us each year. We get them out to celebrate the birth, then we put them away without thinking of them again.

  • At Last

    For most people, the day we meet Jesus marks a beginning of our journey. For Simeon and Anna, it was more like the other bookend. Their life had been spent waiting. Looking. Anticipating.

  • Alternate Routes

    “Don’t go back to Herod; take a different route.” That is rich sermon material. I don’t know if the warning came with reasons, but scripture tells us the magi revised their travel plans.

  • Primed

    John’s ministry worked like a primer for his disciples. Not only were they watching and waiting, they were being conditioned to be receptive to the ministry of Jesus.

  • Come and See

    John has primed them and pointed them to the man who supposedly is the Messiah of their people. With all the risk and uncertainty involved, following is their only option.

  • A New Name

    Jesus may have been hinting at something that would only become known to Simon over time, the reality that Simon would become a foundational force in the movement called the Church.

  • The First Skeptic

    I don’t know what was going on with Nathanael under the fig tree. Whatever it was, Jesus saw it, and when he revealed that knowledge to Nathanael it was enough to cause a seismic shift in Nathanael’s perception.

  • Interruptible

    The downpayment on the cost of discipleship is interruptibility.

  • Just Another Day

    Simon and Andrew, James and John knew that things would be different when they “left their nets.” But this different? This quickly?

  • The Wrong Crowd

    What happens when a rabbi invites a tax collector to become a student? The tax collector invites the rabbi to his home for a meal.

  • Rookie Advice

    The nets were cleaned of whatever debris had collected through the night. The knots were repaired. Simon had applied his best fishing expertise, but as fishing goes, even your best sometimes goes unrewarded.

  • Can He Do That?

    The religious leaders were not wrong, and even the crowds would have understood their objection. Why? Because God is always the offended party when we sin.

  • He Touched Me

    As if the disciples didn’t have enough to ponder, now they can add the question of why Jesus decided to touch a leper. It is a reasonable question given the fact that he didn’t have to touch in order to heal.

  • The Great Leveler

    As you read the Gospels you will notice something that consistently levels the playing field with people. It is need. Not just any kind of need, but needs that touch us in deep, personal ways.

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