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Have you ever had to tell someone the truth even though you knew it was not something they wanted to hear? Telling people the truth when you know it will not be received well requires courage, yet most of us will shy away from it usually to preserve a measure of peace in a relationship. But there comes…

Are you a skeptical person by nature? The other day my wife ordered some supplements for our oldest son. He has crone’s disease and we try to supplement the medicine he gets from the hospital with vitamins and supplements. One of the things that you can take to help with digestive issues is turmeric.…

Scripture states that it was the custom of Jesus to be in the synagogues on the sabbath. On this particular sabbath, Jesus stood up to read from a portion of the prophets as was customary at this point of the service… he took the scroll of Isaiah, found the desired place and He began to read Isaiah 61:1-2…

Understanding why Jesus would be called a Nazarene

God wants us to trust Him. Even when we don't understand the things that are happening. Recorded at Refuge TLH on Sunday, April 14, 2019.

We live in a pluralistic society. Obviously. Why then do we as a culture set aside weeks, if not months preparing for a distinctively Christian holiday, celebrating the birth of the Jewish Messiah? Do we even need Christmas? Come with the Grace United crew as we talk about and seek an answer to the question: "Who needs Christmas?"

How did the birth of Jesus fulfill prophecies of genealogy? What other prophecies were fulfilled with the birth and childhood of Jesus? What was the purpose of the birth of Jesus as a man into the world?

What comes to mind when we think of Christmas in 21st century America? Santa. The manger. Baby Jesus. Mary. Joseph. The wise men. Angels. Shepherds. Etc. But we know that the Christmas story was not "made in America." The setting was about 2,000 years ago in Israel. Roman occupied territory. Israel was looking for "Christmas": God's gift to set them free from Roman oppression. A Messiah. What does Scripture say about the Messiah? What exactly was his mission, both regarding Israel and the rest of the world? Come with the Grace United crew as we talk about God's gift embodied in Messiah.

As Christians, we live our lives by faith. We live by believing God and learning to trust Him. As weak humans, our faith can waiver, and following together with Jesus, we may find ourselves at times in spiritual highs and at other times in spiritual lows. In the midst of this, Jesus remains faithful. He remains steadfast, immovable, sure. He obeys the Father and He becomes for us the place where we find rest and refuge. We hope you'll begin to trust Him, too. There is no one like our God! Shared by Jonathan Albanese at Refuge Christian Fellowship Tallahassee on Sunday, March 1, 2020.

Jesus teaches in the synagogue in Nazareth and is rejected

Today, Tristram dives into the passage of John 1:45-51 where Nathanael asks Philip, "Nazareth, Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" We know this answer to be true. In this same way we can ask ourselves, "Can anything good from us as Christians and our faith in Christ?" Philip's response was, "Come & See." It takes our actions to make our faith real to others. They must see our faith lived out.

More Than a Missionary ( )( ) Read Luke 4:16-30 Why is God going back to his home country after how they treated him in at his sending out? After ministering in Capernaum, Christ traveled the twenty or so miles southwest of Capernaum to Nazareth to once again give them a chance to profit from His ministry.…

Life and testimony of Mary, the mother of Jesus

Jesus started his ministry by going back to the familiar and ordinary place where He grew up. We should start by looking back to who we are and where we came from. Start in our own backyard....

I think we all know that first impressions are important. Sometimes those first impressions tell us everything we need to know about someone and sometimes they were just an unfortunate introduction to someone. It’s hard to know if our first time meeting someone and how they act is really how that person…

One of the most common areas of scandals is the area of politics--both in history and presently. Politics is also one of the most heated areas of debate and division in our culture. In today's passage, we see a powerful ruler, King Herod, flexing his political muscles against King Jesus. His response is actually a picture of our hearts' response to King Jesus' authority; today's passage challenges our view of politics as well as the misplaced hope we put into it. It reminds us of the hope of Jesus' kingdom.

I grew up in an ELCA church called House of Prayer in Escondido, CA. It was my senior year in high school when I was offered the chance to preach as a part of our annual youth Sunday. The story is not for today, but it is the first time that I ever preached and I will say that it was that experience…

Don't get too comfortable that you miss out

Childhood of the King

You know, there is a great danger that comes when we are familiar with something. Familiarity is an attitude that we must be diligent in guarding ourselves from. For example, in 1998 I slipped on some ice. Not that big of a deal until you factor in that I was unloading a large fridge. By myself. With…

LESSON - No room at the inn The crèche or Nativity scene is a beautiful depiction of the mystery that we celebrate today. Our Lady and St. Joseph, with the shepherds and the animals adorning the newborn Christ in the manger. However, it is necessarily a static image, frozen in time at a moment, it is…