Read the story of the death and resurrection of Lazarus found in John 11: 1-44 (NRSV) John 11:3 So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, "Lord he whom you love is ill." John 11:40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" (NRSV) Tola Babalola, from Lagos, Nigeria, had been crying out to God asking for a particular door to open for her, and when the door did not open she grew depressed and doubtful. She began to feel that God did not care about her. She wondered if Mary and Martha felt the same way in today's reading. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were all friends of Jesus, and John 11 makes it clear that Jesus loved them. Yet when Lazarus was s

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, "go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. James 2:14-18 (NRSV) Buford was a fifteen-year-old who lived deep in the backwoods of Handshoe, Kentucky. He suffered from an external brain tumor that parted his scalp and extended partially over hi

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is bot life more than food, and the body more than clothing? look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor real nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? Any why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is

For thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. i will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land. I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich

And my God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 (NRSV) John Cramer, from Oklahoma, grew up the son of a sharecropper in the late 1930s. Each evening we would sit down at the table, and Dad would read scripture to his five children and talk a little bit about what it meant. Then Mom would lead them in singing an old hymn before Dad said a prayer of thanks and blessed the food. On many evenings after Mom and Dad read scripture, sang, and prayed they would get up and leave the table because Mom had no food to prepare for the evening meal. At those times, Dad would always say, "Don't worry; God will see to it that we do not s

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Psalm 19:1 (NIV) On August 21, 2017, people across the United States from Oregon to South Carolina were able to witness and experience a total solar eclipse, where the moon passed between the earth and the sun, blocking the sun's rays for several minutes. It was am amazing event that brought many people together around the world. As Laura Andrews, from Tennessee, watched others gazing at this celestial sight, wearing protective solar glasses, she realized everyone was focused on something much greater than themselves. It also occurred to Laura that all our differences and opposing points of view had been laid asi

Paul's prayer: "For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more

Sing praises to God and to His name! Sing loud praises to him who rides the clouds. His name is the LORD - rejoice in His presence! Father to the fatherless, defender of widows - this is God, whose dwelling is Holy. God places the lonely in families (*God gives the desolate a home to live in); he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy. But for rebels, there is only famine and distress. Psalm 68: 4-6 (NLT) (*NRSV) When Jason Robinson, from Wisconsin, was in school, his father attended all of his activities - football games, basketball games, wrestling tournaments. For a long time Jason thought it was only because of their close relationship. However, his support of student athletes con

Once, when he was in one of the cities, there was a man covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground and begged him, "Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean." Then Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, "I do choose. Be made clean." Immediately the leprosy left him. Luke 5:12-13 (NRSV) Live in harmony with one another, do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Romans 12:16 (NRSV) Karen Wingate, from Illinois, and her husband make it a practice to give physical goods rather than cash to someone in need. So when her husband, Jack, rolled down the car window and asked Karen to hand money to the shiv

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. John 1: 1-5 (NRSV) Bless is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it; for the time is near. Revelation 1:3 (NRSV) William Findlay, from Scotland, bought an electronic tablet to gain access to his emails. However, he quickly found out that the tablet contained many mo

People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, "Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it." And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them. Mark 10:13-16 (NRSV) Karen Woodard's, from North Carolina, son has a severe form of dyslexia that makes school-work very difficult for him. Karen met with his teacher to design an education plan specifically for him. After thei