FREE Christmas Sermon Prep Webinar

Join Pete Scazzero on December 5th at 2 pm ET

Christmas Sermon Prep Webinar

šŸŽ HOLIDAY SALE!

Buy All EH Discipleship Course Books at a Deep Discount While Supplies Last!

SALE

Personal Assessment

How Emotionally Healthy Are You?
Take a free 15 minute personal assessment now!

*We respect your privacy by not sharing or selling your email address.

Personal Assessment

Close

Tag Archives: Refugees

Blue Christmas

This past Wednesday, Geri led our New Life staff team through a Blue Christmas service. It was so profoundly moving, that we plan to do it with our whole church later this month. A Blue Christmas service is a space created for people to grieve their losses while holding on to the reality that Jesus is the Light and Savior of the world. It is usually held around the winter solstice (December 21Ā or 22), the longest night of the year and the day that marks the start of winter. Theologically, it integrates the fuller Christmas story ā€“ both the joy surrounding Jesusā€™ birth and Herodā€™s horrific slaughter of all the male children two years oldĀ and younger. For many people the Christmas holidays are a painful time. A loved one has died. Others have lost meaningful relationships, marriages, jobs, security, or a sense of direction. Others find themselves battling cancer or some other health crisis. Read more.

ISIS and the Church

Jesus promises that part of the Holy Spiritā€™s ministry is to unpack His wisdom for every new situation we will face so that we will know how to think and act afresh to every new challenge. Amidst the uncertainty and upheaval of such brutality and carnageĀ now at our doorstep, done by people determined to destroy us, what might be our response as Christ-followers? How do we mentor others who look to us for leadership? I do not, by any means, have the final word on this. But the following are a few things to consider: Love and pray for ISIS. How do we love our enemies? We begin by praying for them — in this case ISIS young men and women. They need a revelation of Jesus Christ. Thankfully, we have many contemporary testimonies of Muslims having extraordinary conversions to Jesus via dreams, visions, etc. Grieve. We need to lead our people to grieve. Read more.