At Christmas, we celebrate that Jesus is God's gift to the world. But the gift isn't necessarily what we expect. Jesus doesn't come to wave his hand and solve our problems.

A sermon inspired by Jesus' sayings about shepherds deals with the behavior of reliable, caring shepherds versus the sometime carelessness of hired hands.

Tending to our faith is never easy. To follow in Jesus' footsteps is very hard. Some guidance comes from Jesus' sayings about the vine and the branches.

Who is the most important person in the congregation? Some might argue that it's the person with the most money to contribute to church missions. Others that it's the person with the most knowledge of the Bible. The story of Thomas' reaction to the crucifixion, however, suggests a surprising answer.