We focus on the Epistle today and read a devotion from Concordia Commentary: Colossians.

A very Merry Christmas to you! As we celebrate Jesus’ birth today, we read a portion of the Christmas Day sermon in Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel: From Valparaiso to St. Louis.

Today’s devotion focuses on the Gospel of the day and is from Meditations on the Gospels.

It’s almost Christmas, and most of us are preparing to travel over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house for the holidays. Check out these FAQs so your family can do your Christmas road trip better this year.

Our kids are in the glory years of Advent anticipation. Catie is in high school, our twins, Sam and Elisabeth, are in middle school, and Nate is in elementary school. Everyone is old enough to remember this season of gifts and miracles, but also too excited to fall asleep on Christmas Eve. A little maturity and a lot of wonder, that’s Advent around our house.

The Epistle is our focus today, and our devotion comes from The Christian Year of Grace.

What is it about death that scares us? What causes us to ignore it, for the most part, until death stares us in the face? Our culture tells us death is just part of life, or that it is natural, but that is not how the Bible speaks about death.

It’s a known fact: most Christians have “Read the Bible every day” (or some variation thereof) on their New Year’s Resolution list.

As we continue through the season of Advent, we focus today on the Gospel and read a devotion from LifeLight: Luke, Part 1—Leaders Guide.

Jesus began his public ministry in the Gospel of Matthew by saying, "Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand!" Repenting is clearly important to Jesus. What he was asking people to do back then—and us today—is turn away from the worldly kingdom. Jesus is asking us to turn from the things that are ruling and governing our lives, to take a step outside the walls of our self-built fortresses and begin to look for a new kind of King in a new kind of Kingdom.