The season of Lent is 40 days and 6 Sundays as we prepare for the great celebration of Easter Sunday.

Nothing is more reasonable and relevant than to try to understand the cross and live in the spirit of what the cross stands for. The cross is certainly personally relevant for each of us. Jesus said, -If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.- (Luke 9:24) Don't miss the miracle of God's truth and love revealed in Christ.

Christ confronts our world today with his claims, his ideas about life and God and humankind and the world, his principles and propositions. Life consists of values we choose: What we choose to do, say, support, stand up for and how we choose to live. A key to successful living is making the right choices. Character may well be the sum total of our choices. Some day you will ask yourself the question: "What would I do differently if I had it to live over again?" One of the things is to start now by making a decision to stand for what is highest and best, the principles and truths revealed for...

Jesus taught great truths about life and faith and morality - but not in abstractions. Instead, he told interesting stories about everyday people like us, in ordinary settings, such as we know -parents and their children, people at work, pray¬ing, attending weddings, going down the highway, or at a dinner party. In his incomparable stories Jesus helps us understand how to live wisely and well. It is those immortal stories, and their meaning for our lives, which I ask you to consider in the next chapters, beginning today.

It is easy in our lives to get confused, loaded down with peripheral concerns that don't matter. We need to recover a clear picture and get at the essence of things. We need to do this in our personal lives. We may ask: What do I really want in life? What are my personal goals? What is life all about? How can it be abundant? And back of all of this is our need to get at the heart of our religious faith. To try to find some answers, or at least to deal with the questions, is the reason for this series of messages entitled: Understanding Our Faith by Dr. M. Glynn Burke

Enjoying life is important because it helps us live at our best. Enjoying life creates good in the world - for ourselves and for others. Enjoying life is part of God's intention for us. One of the most important, personal and practical questions is this: How can I enjoy life more? This is the essence of the deep human quest. We are all engaged in a search for a more satisfying and enjoyable life. To enjoy life is really nothing else than conformity of our human nature with its intended purpose. "Good Things To Be Thankfully Enjoyed " is the first message in a series of sermons entitled, "...

Asking The Right Questions Dr. Burke said, 'One of the first events recorded regarding Jesus is of a boy asking questions. The scripture says his parents found him in the temple "sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.' Luke 2:46 The first message in this series is entitled, "What Kind Of Religion?" The second message entitled, "Are You Reasonable?" is based on the scripture found in Philippians 4:4-9. "Having a reputation for being reasonable." (4:5) The third message entitled, "Ashamed And Unashamed?" is from Jeremiah 6:10, 13-15. "No they were not at all...

We want to make the most of ourselves, to do the very best we can with our lives. That is what we mean by successful living. And that is the theme of this series of messages. We want to discover the good life God has planned for us. How do we do that? What are the qualities of successful living? Success is defined as "the favorable outcome of an undertaking." And that, after all, is the ultimate aim for each one of us. We want a favorable or satisfactory outcome to life itself. In this series of six messages we consider certain ingredients of what Jesus called "the abundant life."

A Supreme Personality has come into the world. To see his revelation of God, his way of living, his spirit and quality of character and seeing him to have faith in him, that is the power that can make us better men and women and lift us to a new level of moral and spiritual living.

"Look at the world today It takes more than knowledge to make us wise. How much deeper a thing is wisdom than intellect alone Wisdom involves spiritual insight, integrity of character, a love of things worth loving, a scale of values that puts first things first, and transcendent loyalties to which one's soul is given. "Wisdom can make your life pleasant...." says the scripture. "Those who become wise are happy; wisdom will give them life." Is it any wonder then that the scripture says, "Getting wisdom is the most important thing you can do." (Proverbs 4:7)