Almost Peaceful: My Journey of Healing from Binge EatingFriendship, Listening, and Empathy: A Prayer GuideDraw Near: A Lenten Devotional Two Hands: Grief and Gratitude in the Christian LifeSabbath Keeping: Finding Freedom in the Rhythms of Rest Fasting: Spiritual Freedom Beyond our AppetitesA Renewed SpiritualityNurturing Hope: Christian Pastoral Care in the Twenty-First CenturyThe Power of ListeningJoy Together: Spiritual Practices for Your CongregationPrayers of the New TestamentPrayers of the Old TestamentPersonality Type in CongregationsSabbathA Garden of Living Water: Stories of Self-Discovery and Spiritual GrowthDead Sea: A NovelDeadly Murmurs: A NovelDeath in Dunedin: A NovelBeating Burnout in CongregationsReaching Out in a Networked WorldEmbracing MidlifeFriendingAdvent Devotional

Life in Christ brings freedom, parts 1 and 2

Lynne Baab • Friday June 26 2026

Life in Christ brings freedom, parts 1 and 2

Overall theme from January until next month: God’s law is love

Lesson 12: Life in Christ brings freedom, parts 1 and 2 (Colossians 2:6-23)

Key verse: As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith. Colossians 2:6-7a.

Stepping into the Word

The Apostle’s Creed has guided Christians for more than a millennium. The word “creed” comes from the Latin credo, “I believe,” the first two words of the creed. We usually think of a creed as a list of truths, something connected to our brain and our thinking process. Oddly...

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Communal discernment of the heart of the Gospel, parts 1 and 2

Lynne Baab • Thursday May 28 2026

Communal discernment of the heart of the Gospel, parts 1 and 2

Overall theme for the next few months: God’s law is love

Lesson 9: Communal discernment of the heart of the Gospel, parts 1 and 2 (Acts 15:1-21)

Key verse: “God, who knows the human heart . . . has made no distinction between them and us.” Acts 15:8-9

Stepping into the Word

Communal decision-making is seldom easy. Families who try to decide together about the location for a vacation know this. Anyone who has participated in committee meetings at work or at church has experienced this.

Kerry and Jamie serve on the board of their church, and they have found that they frequently have different perspectives. Kerry, a long...

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Keeping the law inwardly, parts 3 and 4

Lynne Baab • Tuesday March 17 2026

Keeping the law inwardly, parts 3 and 4

Overall theme for the next few months: God’s law is love

Lesson 5: Keeping the law inwardly, parts 3 and 4 (Romans 2:12-29, parts 1 and 2 are here)

Key verse: Real circumcision is a matter of the heart — it is spiritual and not literal. Romans 2:29

3. Faith and Actions

Christians have long debated the relationship between faith and actions. The apostle Paul has already noted in Romans 1:17, “The one who is righteous will live by faith.” Our actions still matter, as Paul will explain in Romans 6:1-14. In Romans 2, Paul is laying a foundation for the significance of our actions by indicating that what...

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Keeping the law inwardly, parts 1 and 2

Lynne Baab • Tuesday March 10 2026

Keeping the law inwardly, parts 1 and 2

Overall theme for the next few months: God’s law is love

Lesson 5: Keeping the law inwardly (Romans 2:12-29)

Key verse: Real circumcision is a matter of the heart — it is spiritual and not literal. Romans 2:29

1. Stepping into the Word

Sometimes we talk about obeying the letter of the law but not its spirit. Sarah can remember coming home as a teenager before her curfew in order to obey the letter of her parents’ law, but after they were asleep she snuck out again. They had never told her not to go back out after coming home! She had come home at the right...

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Featured books

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Meeting God in Grief and Gratitude

Lynne Baab • Wednesday January 22 2025

By Lynne M. Baab, author of Two Hands: Grief and Gratitude in the Christian Life

Nurturing a contemplative stance for navigating challenging times

Lynne Baab • Friday August 11 2023

By Lynne M. Baab

Yes, Jesus Told Us to Pray in Secret. But He Also Prayed with His Friends.

Lynne Baab • Saturday October 9 2021

By Lynne M. Baab. Originally published in Christianity Today, July 8, 2021