1787 results for tag: Greg Albrecht

The Visitor

Christmas is a time when we became a "visited planet." God in the person of Jesus personally delivered a message for each one of us. The message? God is for you. He's your friend. He's on your side. God's favor rests on you. https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR096.mp3    

The Gift of Time – by Greg Albrecht

Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.—Isaiah 55:6 Time is the enemy of teachers, speakers and preachers—we are always battling with the clock. In the context of formal church services, this battle goes back to the so-called olden days when preachers walked up and took their place behind the pulpit. At the beginning of the sermon an hour glass of sand was turned on its end. The passing of time was determined as small quantities of sand passed from the upper chamber, which at the beginning of the hour was full, to the lower chamber.  When the last grains of sand filtered through the hour glass into the lower ...

Let It Be

Mary's pregnancy was different from that of many other women in the Bible - Mary was not desperately hoping to become pregnant. The most momentous birth in all of history is a departure from other biblical birth stories. https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR095.mp3

Information is Not Knowledge – Greg Albrecht

Wisdom, according to the prevailing notions popular early in this 21st century, is derived from access to information and the subsequent knowledge that applies that information. But just as information is not knowledge, knowledge is not wisdom. One must wonder whether our 21st century infatuation with information is helping make us and our world a better place. Is passionate addiction to information retrieval systems and inordinate desire for electronic connection enhancing or endangering wisdom? The Information Highway, as one former presidential candidate called the Internet, is not automatically producing more prudent and judicious ...

He Made Himself Nothing

The great American dream involves becoming someone and amounting to something. Parents hope their children will “make something” of themselves. But there was someone whose sole purpose was the precise opposite. Jesus was born so that he could become nothing.

Jesus — Our Servant

Why did God in the person of Jesus come into our world? To die for our sins, to set us free, to win the victory over sin and death. True -- those answers dominate our lists, but one of the most important reasons is that Jesus came to serve us.

God With Us

There are two realities about Jesus that are extremely difficult for us to grasp because they lay outside of our human experience, yet they are absolute bedrock elements of our Christian faith.

CWR Video – Greg Albrecht – Asking For God’s Blessing

Short 4 minute video by Greg Albrecht "Asking For God's Blessing" https://vimeo.com/100963281

The Visitor – by Greg Albrecht

The Visitor - Greg Albrecht       KEYNOTE SCRIPTURE: John 1:1-18   There are two biblical stories about the birth of Jesus. One is the factual story of who did what, when and where, given to us by Matthew and Luke. The other story occurs in our keynote passage.   The "other story" concerns itself with the profound significance of what happened at the intersection of time and eternity, when God in the person of Jesus came into our world to be one of us. The first 18 verses of the first chapter of the Gospel of John is powerful, majestic, and in some ways mysterious. As literature, this passage ranks among the most profoundly ...

The Sacred and the Secular

Christmas has always presented a challenge to humanity. Some take 12 days to celebrate it; on the other hand, the Puritans outlawed it and even today some cults say Christmas is wrong. The birth of Christ asks the question, “What do we do with this Christ who was born?”

The Search for Jesus

God brings interesting situations into our lives so we can "find" Him. The story of the Magi, or Wise Men, and their determined but difficult trip to find Jesus has some interesting parallels for our own lives.

When God Became a Man

Jesus didn't put on a mask and pretend to be a human. He didn't use make up or have cosmetic surgery so that he would appear to be human. Such was his love for you and me he actually became one of us! https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR249.mp3

Great Exchanges

by Greg Albrecht Your first thought at this time of the year might be those frenzied crowds in shopping malls and department stores on the days immediately following Christmas. People exchanging and returning gifts they received that were the wrong size, wrong color—or just plain wrong! But there's another exchange we need to keep in mind. This great exchange is the reality of the cross of Christ. Jesus Christ took our sin and died for it, paying the debt that we could not pay. In exchange, God, because of his grace, gives us eternal life. Our sin for eternal life! The great spiritual exchange. Great exchanges characterize the month of ...

What If God Was One of Us?

"Stop Acting Like God. Start Acting Like Jesus." The message, on a poster being waved during a rally in support of a minority group, confronted and challenged me. It seemed to be directed at me and my fellow Christians. If they really knew Jesus, I thought, they would know that he is God and he was God in the flesh! I continued to ponder the poster until a free translation of its intended meaning occurred to me: "Jesus, save us from your followers who seem to be acting like our stereotype of the Old Testament God." It was obvious they had a vague notion that Jesus didn't hurt people, that Jesus didn't abuse people, and that Jesus forgave ...

The Gift of Time

  Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.—Isaiah 55:6 Time is the enemy of teachers, speakers and preachers—we are always battling with the clock. In the context of formal church services, this battle goes back to the so-called olden days when preachers walked up and took their place behind the pulpit. At the beginning of the sermon an hour glass of sand was turned on its end. The passing of time was determined as small quantities of sand passed from the upper chamber, which at the beginning of the hour was full, to the lower chamber. When the last grains of sand filtered through the hour glass into the ...

The Visitor

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, ...

Ships That Pass In the Night

Jonah started out thinking he was on the same page as God, but as his ministry continued, he found out that he and God were more like two ships passing in the night.

The Temple David Could Not Build

The life of King David helps us to understand that God does not expect us to build spiritual edifices for him, that’s what he does for us!

Fiat Lux – The Light of All People – by Greg Albrecht

Friend and Partner Letter from December 2022 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. – John 1:1-4 When we think of the birth of Jesus, and then of his subsequent life and teaching here on earth, we often forget the many things that happened at night. We don’t know for certain, but Jesus may have been born at night – if so his first meal at the breast of Mary was at night. He had his last meal at night. A man named ...

Is It Time to “Hunker Down?”

Some believe and preach that the end is here… again! Is this the time of the end? Is it time for us to “hunker down”?