Spring of Hope

Buy my book   " Joy in the Journey " on Amazon now 20% goes to missions                Experiencing sound quality issues?  Please Click here    Why did Jesus receive John's baptism? Right after Christmas, the birth of Jesus, Joseph and Mary had to move to Egypt. When Herod the King died, the angel appeared and asked them to return to Judea. Joseph settled in Nazareth after the death of Herod (Matthew 2:23). After leaping over much of Jesus' childhood and early adulthood, Matthew introduces John the Baptist nearly exclusively to point forward to Jesus' narrative reappearance. That is, John the Baptist’s function was solely to "prepare the way of the Lord" (3:3). The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus at his baptism, and a voice came from heaven " When Jesus was baptized in Jordan river, there came a voice from heaven. Luke 3 and Mark 1 record the voice as addressed to Jesus by saying "You are my b...

Buy my book   " Joy in the Journey " on Amazon now 20% goes to missions                Experiencing sound quality issues?  Please Click here    Searching for Jesus When Jesus was 12 years old, his parents went to Jerusalem as they did every year at the feast of the Passover. When the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the company, they went a day's journey, and they sought him among their relatives and acquaintances; and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, looking for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. The story is narrated by Luke's gospel chapter 2. This is the only canonical story of Jesus’ boyhood, accepted by early fathers to be part of Holy Scripture. Apocryphal works tell other s...

Buy my book   " Joy in the Journey " on Amazon now 20% goes to missions               Experiencing sound quality issues?  Please Click here    Epiphany Epiphany is the celebration commemorating the visit of the Magi (Wise Men) from the East bringing gifts when they came to see the baby Jesus. The Gospel writer Matthew reports that they brought three gifts. It is generally assumed that there were three wise men. The text does not tell us how many were in the group.   Some say that there could have been six or even more in the group. This delightful tale of strange Wise Men from the East, from some faraway land who brought Christmas presents to the baby Jesus is filled with mystery and intrigue.   The Christmas season is gift giving season, which is followed by gift return and gift exchange season in the month of January.  We return or exchange due to various reasons ...

Buy my book   " Joy in the Journey " on Amazon now 20% goes to missions               Experiencing sound quality issues?  Please Click here    Life is a Combination of Contrasts A new employee had been caught coming in late for work three times and the fourth time the manager decided to discipline him. He said, “Look here! Don’t you know what time we start to work around here? He replied, “No, sir. They’re always working when I get here.” Knowing the time and keeping the time are different things for different people.  In the book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3, we read, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens." These words of wisdom teaches about the conundrum of what we call 'Time'. Life is full of events with a combination of contrasts. The author, believed to be Solomon, illustrates this truth by comparing the opposites —fourteen pairs of contr...