Forest Hills Mennonite Church

Is "uncertainty" the opposite of "faith"? If that's true, then Christianity is primarily about keeping doubt at bay. The New Testament, however, gives us a different picture of faith, one that inspires us to put our trust in Jesus. 

"Sometimes," Flannery O'Connor wrote, "it seems you have to suffer as much from the Church as for it." If that's true, it's an indictment of how far the Church has veered off course. Maybe we can find some wisdom by looking at the somewhat ambiguous figure of John the Baptist, and consider what it means to not take offense at Jesus. 

The prophet Isaiah declares, "Comfort, comfort my people," yet Rachel weeps in Ramah, refusing to be comforted. Where is God when people suffer? The stories of Christmas point in a surprising direction. 

Our society is experiencing the most widespread and rapid shift in religious affiliation since the Third Great Awakening following the Civil War. Some suggest that we would have to look back even further in history—all the way to the Reformation—to find some comparable to what we're living through today. How do we approach the celebration of the birth of Christ when it seems like almost everyone is rethinking their beliefs? Perhaps we can find wisdom in the stories (and silence) of the first Christmas. 

What if there's more to a posture of thankfulness than a single day each year? Javan Lapp invites us to consider God's words through the Prophet Jeremiah. 

If the universe isn't intrinsically just, then why do we humans have such an innate yearning for justice? And what does it mean to worship a God who is just? Let's explore how God's righteous justice—demonstrated most vividly through Christ—can inform and reshape our own sense of justice.

Is “karma” a relaxing thought? Psychological research has shown that many people have an intuitive sense that the universe is just: everyone, eventually, gets what they deserve. Good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. Jesus, along with the New Testament writers, seems to confound this understanding, offering us a richer and ultimately more hopeful promise of justice that travels outside of karma. 

There's an amazing grace to be found we exchange our heavy burdens for Jesus' yoke, which is easy and light.