In the New Testament, a mystery is not a secret that God withholds from you; but rather a truth that He reveals to you. One of the greatest mysteries of the New Testament is that the Gentiles are included in salvation! Jesus lived and died not just for the Jews; but for all people . […]
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I […]
This Advent season, we have been working with the idea of Jesus as the “Christ.” The word “Christ” is a title for Jesus; it teaches us that He is the long promised Savior of the Old Testament times. He is the Son of God who has come into the world to do the work of […]
Advent is it time when we remember and rejoice that Jesus is the Christ, the long-awaited Messiah of the Old Testament times1. This is a crucial part of the Gospel; this is the storyline of Holy Scripture; the word “Christ” captures the Person and Work of the Son of God! The Lord Jesus is the […]
Some of you have probably sat on a jury before, and the rest of us have seen enough ‘law and order’ type shows that we have a good understanding of what it means. In a trial, a line of witnesses come forward to testify that something is true. The jury listens to the evidence and […]
How many Advent seasons have you celebrated throughout your life? For many of us, we’ve been celebrating Advent every year of our lives; for others, Advent may be somewhat new, and for others, maybe even unknown. Advent is part of the Church Year — the Church Year is basically a calendar where each day and […]
The Bible talks a lot about peace. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Your relationship with God the Father is restored because God the Son Jesus Christ died for your sins and cleanses your conscience. You have been reconciled to God, you are welcome into His presence, and you know that […]
Think about marriage for a minute. Marriage begins with the wedding ceremony. The wedding ceremony usually takes 30 minutes or so; but it begins a lifelong relationship between a man and a woman. They are now husband and wife; and together, they begin a new family. Holy Baptism is similar. The Baptism service usually takes […]
I am sure that you have all seen tombstones, especially in old western movies, that have RIP written on them. RIP is from a Latin phrase that means “rest in peace”. RIP seems to have been a practice of the early Christian Church. Graves dating back to 400AD have been found with the inscription. But […]
Over the last several weeks, we have been looking at key dates of the Lutheran Reformation, events in the lives of our spiritual ancestors in the faith that affect us. Today we’re going to look at one more date, a date that also affects all of us, 1974. What were you doing in 1974? I […]