Episodes
Friday Jan 01, 2021
Luke 2:21-38 ~ "Jesus Presented at the Temple" ~ Pastor Bill Slabaugh
Friday Jan 01, 2021
Friday Jan 01, 2021
Tuesday Dec 22, 2020
Luke 2:1-20 ~ "What Christmas Is All About" ~ Pastor Bill Slabaugh
Tuesday Dec 22, 2020
Tuesday Dec 22, 2020
In the TV program, “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” Charlie Brown asks in frustration, “Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?” Linus responded, “Sure Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about.” And Linus took the stage and recited Luke 2:8-14. This is what Christmas is all about.
Monday Dec 14, 2020
Luke 1:67-80 ~ "The Song before the Sunrise" ~Pastor Bill Slabaugh
Monday Dec 14, 2020
Monday Dec 14, 2020
In the early days of WWII, Winston Churchill told the people of Britain that they were in their “darkest hour.” Now we the people of America are in a “dark winter.” When we come to Zacharias’ song of praise in the first chapter of Luke, we see the end of a long extended darkness. We see the promise in which “the Sunrise from on high will visit us" (Luke 1:78)
Wednesday Dec 09, 2020
Luke 1:57-66 ~ "The Miraculous Birth of John the Baptist" ~ Pastor Bill Slabaugh
Wednesday Dec 09, 2020
Wednesday Dec 09, 2020
Concerning the birth of John the Baptist, who would prepare the way for the coming of Jesus into the world, the Gospel of Luke records,
“Now the time had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had displayed His great mercy toward her; and they were rejoicing with her.” (Luke 1:57-58)
There had been promises and prophecies. Now there was an actual baby and Luke is careful to tell us that this is a sign of God’s great mercy. God displayed His great mercy toward Elizabeth. It is a wonderful example of how God bestows His tender mercy on us as well.
Monday Nov 30, 2020
Luke 1:51-56 ~ "Glorifying the God of Judgment" ~ Pastor Bill Slabaugh
Monday Nov 30, 2020
Monday Nov 30, 2020
We most often think of giving God thanks and glorifying Him for His mercy and what He has done for us. But how often do we think of giving Him thanks and glorifying Him because He is a God of judgment? According to the Virgin Mary’s Song of Praise in Luke chapter 1, the coming of Jesus Christ into the world at Christmas is not only about extending mercy and grace and lifting up the humble. But it also about scattering into the wind those who are proud in the thoughts of their hearts and bringing down rulers from their thrones.
Monday Nov 16, 2020
Luke 1:46-50 ~ "My Spirit Rejoices" ~ Pastor Bill Slabaugh
Monday Nov 16, 2020
Monday Nov 16, 2020
Detrick Bonhoeffer said of Mary’s song of praise in the first chapter of Luke, “God is not ashamed of human lowliness but goes right into the middle of it, chooses someone as instrument, and performs the miracles right there where they are least expected. God draws near to the lowly, loving the lost, the unnoticed, the unremarkable, the excluded, the powerless, and the broken. What people say is lost, God says is found; what people say is ‘condemned,’ God says is ‘saved.’ Where people say No! God says Yes!’”
Monday Nov 09, 2020
Luke 1:49-45 ~ "How God Confirms His Word" ~ Pastor Bill Slabaugh
Monday Nov 09, 2020
Monday Nov 09, 2020
Mary, the young mother of Jesus, is a good example of how God confirms His Word to us. It was going to be hard for Mary but God, with whom nothing is impossible, is going to confirm it. Along the way, He is going to give confirmation and assurance in Mary’s humble obedience. Along with the greatest task that takes the most determined obedience comes the greatest joy and the greatest assurance and confirmation that this is of God and that He will perform it.
Tuesday Nov 03, 2020
Luke 1:26-38 ~ " A Lowly Maid from a Mean Town" ~ Pastor Bill Slabaugh
Tuesday Nov 03, 2020
Tuesday Nov 03, 2020
Martin Luther remarked, “[The angel] might have gone to Jerusalem and picked out Caiaphas’ daughter who was fair, rich, clad in gold embroidered raiment and attended by a retinue of maids in waiting. But God preferred a lowly maid from a mean town.”
When we come to the announcement of the angel to Mary that she would conceive and bear the Son of God, we must accept the essential spiritual fact that the Lord comes to needy people. The Lord comes to those who realize that without Him they cannot make it. The Lord comes to those who acknowledge their weaknesses and their spiritual lack. The Good News is not for the proud and self-sufficient because they are unable to receive it.
Monday Oct 26, 2020
Luke 1:18-25 ~ "The Consequences of Unbelief" ~ Pastor Bill Slabaugh
Monday Oct 26, 2020
Monday Oct 26, 2020
All of us who believe in Jesus Christ as Savior have experienced doubt. We believe, but we get our eyes off the Lord and onto the trial that looms before us. It’s like putting a penny close to your eye. It blocks out the brilliance of the sun. If you let problems and trials consume your vision, they block the glorious power of the Almighty God and we forsake certain blessings.
Monday Oct 19, 2020
Luke 1:8-17 ~ "Anticipating the Unexpected" ~ Pastor Bill Slabaugh
Monday Oct 19, 2020
Monday Oct 19, 2020
Someone has said that God is predictable in His unpredictability. This is a pattern that we see in the pages of the Gospel of Luke as he writes the account of the events leading up to the birth of Jesus. God shows up as it were in unexpected places. In Luke 1:8-17, the aged priest Zacharias was fulfilling his priestly duty of burning incense in the Holy Place of the Temple. The incense represented the prayers of the people ascending to God. Zacharias fully intended to burn the incense and leave the Holy Place where outside he and the other priests would pronounce the Aaronic Blessing and everyone would be on their way home. But suddenly, before he could leave the Holy Place, an angel of the Lord appeared to Zacharias and told him that his petition to God had been heard. Unexpectedly, God answered his long standing prayer.