We may not have stood beside the empty tomb, but we have experienced his grace. We have known forgiveness when we were carrying shame. We have received strength when we thought we could not continue. We have found hope in grief, peace in uncertainty, and a new direction when our lives had wandered far from God. Have we grown so familiar with grace that we have stopped talking about it?  Read More

When we turn back to God, our sins are wiped away. The image Peter uses is beautiful. The accusations written against us are erased. The guilt that clings to us is removed. The burden we were never meant to carry is lifted by grace.  Read More

Peter explains what has happened by reaching back into Israel’s Scriptures. God’s people had waited for generations for the promised day when God would act decisively, pour out the Spirit, rescue the people, and begin making all things new. Peter announces that this long-awaited work has begun.  Read More

I do not do this often enough…Today I was reminded—for the second week in a row—that I am deeply blessed. I am surrounded by God’s grace and by people who are living embodiments of that grace.1. For the nurses at Southern Oncology and Hematology Associates, I am grateful.Treatment day after treatment day, I watch them serve and care for others, often without giving much thought to the fact that I,...  Read More

Pentecost reminds us that Christianity was never meant to be a private belief system. The Holy Spirit fills ordinary people with heaven’s power so they can bear witness to Jesus. The same Spirit who filled that upper room still works today, and perhaps the most faithful response to Acts 2 is not simply to explain Pentecost, but to surrender ourselves to the Spirit’s work and allow God to transform us by grace.  Read More

Before Jesus ascends, the disciples ask a familiar kind of question: Is this finally the time when God will restore the kingdom to Israel? They want a schedule. Jesus gives them a mission.  Read More