After years of urban living had ground down my childhood love of nature, I found it suddenly rekindled through my friendship with a young photographer named Bob McQuilkin. I was working as a magazine editor at the time, and Bob seemed determined to drag me out of my stale routine and reintroduce me to the joyous world outside.

Once Bob drove his jeep to my office and insisted that I come see two baby ...

The greatness of God is most clearly displayed in his Son. And the glory of the gospel is only made evident in his Son. That's why Jesus' question to his disciples [in Matthew 16] is so important: "Who do you say that I am?"

The question is doubly crucial in our day, because [no one is as popular in the U.S. as Jesus]—and not every Jesus is the real Jesus. …

There's the Republican Jesus—who ...

The omnipotent God, primal power of the world, being himself supremely good, could not permit anything evil in his works, were he not so all-powerful and good as to be able to bring good even out of evil.

...

Enter comedian Stephen Colbert, host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report. The man has DNA, and someone thinks his DNA is the perfect "seed" for a new humanity. Really! In the fall of 2008, Colbert's DNA was digitized and sent to the International Space Station to be kept in a time capsule. The courier for the DNA was video game tycoon Richard Garriott, who spent ten days in space in October ...

Thelma and Victor Hayes struck it rich. In August of 2005, the Canadian couple won more than $7 million (Canadian) in the lottery.

There are a few additional facts that make the story interesting. According to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission, Thelma and Victor are one of the oldest couples ever to win such a large jackpot. At the time they won, the Hayes' had been married 63 years, and both ...

In January, 2008, a story made the rounds about a 15-year-old girl in Australia named Demi-Lee Brennan. Brennan became the world's first known transplant patient to change blood types from O negative to O positive, taking on the immune system of her organ donor. At first the doctors assumed someone had made a mistake, because it's always been assumed that a change like that can't happen. Now they ...

Charlotte's Web is the story of a pig named Wilbur (Dominic Scott Kay). Wilbur is scared of the end of the season, because he knows he's going to end up on the dinner table. He hatches a plan with Charlotte (Julia Roberts), a spider that lives in Wilbur's barn, to ensure that this will never happen.

In this particular scene, Wilbur and Charlotte are meeting for the first time.

"I think now is the time ...

Charlotte's Web is the story of a pig named Wilbur (Dominic Scott Kay). Wilbur is scared of the end of the season, because he knows he's going to end up on the dinner table. Wanting to ensure this will never happen, Charlotte (Julia Roberts), a spider that lives in Wilbur's barn, begins to spin webs calling attention to the pig's virtues. Wilbur is astonished to find notes about how "wonderful," "radiant," ...

Object Lesson:

Display pots of soil, a watering can, and a seed packet.

I am going to plant seeds in these pots. Over the next few weeks as we see them growing, they will remind us of the new life Jesus brings.

Shake the seed packet near the microphone so those nearby can hear the rattling of the seeds. Tear the top off the seed packet and attempt to pour the seeds into the soil while squeezing the ...

Stephen Baldwin is one of the famous Baldwin brothers, a family of Hollywood actors.

Referring to his newfound faith in Christ, Stephen said, "I've never been as excited or happy about where I am in my life. There's no one I know in Hollywood who can say that."

Stephen's wife came to Christ in 2000 and announced to Stephen, "I'm going to be serving Jesus now." Baffled at her conversion, Stephen thought, ...