Genesis 21:8-21 or Jeremiah 20:7-13; Psalm 69:7-10,16-18; Romans 6:1b-11; Matthew 10:24-39 Jackson uses the story of Hagar and Ishmael to examine life on the margins. “The margins are not the end of the story,” she...

Are there particular Biblical passages that you would prefer to skip and not think about their implications? Today’s preacher, Rev. Mandy England Cole admits that to be true of today’s passage from Genesis 22:1-14. However,...

At a youth conference that Anna Carter Florence attended a few years ago, the musician David Bailey played for one of the worship services. Florence, the Peter Marshall Professor of Preaching at Columbia Theological Seminary...

“Promise me you will come back. Do you promise?” Father Michael Renninger, pastor of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Richmond, Virginia, heard this question each time he left one of his dear elderly congregants. This...

Have you ever found yourself wondering, “How can God’s promises possibly come true?” People in scripture asked this question as well. In today’s passage, Genesis 18:1-15 and 21:1-7, we find that Abraham and Sarah had...