SYDNEY (RNS) The ubiquitous praise song “Shout to the Lord” can be found in many U.S. churches on any given Sunday. What fewer people probably realize is that it comes from a megachurch on the ...

Last Sunday I preached a church in Ashe County, North Carolina. While I have never served Bethany United Methodist Church as a pastor I have been "supply" preaching there for some 15 years now. The ...

The lectionary epistle reading for Christmas 2 in Year A is Ephesians 1.3–14 (though it is worth starting reading from verse ...

In some quarters we hear the cry for more worship in our churches, and less preaching. Many church members are asking pertinent questions in this respect. Why is so much modern preaching (even within ...

Pope Francis urged Catholics on Wednesday to praise God not only in happy times, "but above all in difficult moments." In his general audience address on Jan. 13, the pope compared those who praise ...

nor my covenant of peace be shaken, says the LORD, who has mercy on you. (Isa 54:9-10). This promised fulfillment became the context for the preaching of John the Baptist. The people were invited to ...

A rabbi once noted that when most people pray, they talk to God, but when Jews pray, they first listen. The Sh’ma, their most important daily prayer, begins with the word, “Hear.” “Hear, O Israel, the ...

FOUR years ago Christine Varney, White House staffer and proud mum, took her small son to eat in the office canteen. A hamburger later, his face smothered in ketchup, the three-year-old encountered ...

SYDNEY (RNS) The ubiquitous praise song “Shout to the Lord” can be found in many U.S. churches on any given Sunday. What fewer people probably realize is that it comes from a megachurch on the ...