We are so blessed to live in this great country. God has blessed our nation throughout its history, and has blessed us with its freedoms. But he gives the greatest freedom, the liberty that lasts forever, only through his Son.
Christians expect persecution for Jesus’ sake. Nevertheless, we are sustained by the Word of our God. His gospel makes us bold to confess him before the world. Only the perfect life and death of our Savior make us willing and able to make the confession and live the life of his people.
Our fellowship with Christ severs our fellowship with evil. Our peace in Christ will cause division and strife with those who still cling to their fellowship with evil.
God is serious about his holy Word. It is his power for salvation. It gives us life. Therefore he doesn’t want anyone adding anything to it or subtracting anything from it. It may be difficult to stand against those attacking his Word, but it is always worth it.
Your heavenly Father’s love for you is constant, and he wants you to have peace based not on abundance of possessions but on the contentment of living out of his hand. The God who never leaves us or forsakes us meets our every need according to his glorious riches. That leaves no place for worry or discontent.
The mystery of the Holy Trinity is beyond our comprehension. Yet it is proclaimed in Scripture and believed by Spirit-wrought hearts of faith. We believe in the one true God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Triune God is our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. Lose this doctrine, and you lose it all.
The fifty days have passed and the promised Holy Spirit is poured out upon the Bride of Christ. The oncehidden gospel is no longer the possession of a chosen few. For the Spirit enables the message of salvation to inflame hearts for bearing witness to the ends of the earth.
Our Lord Jesus Christ ascended to the Father's right hand to rule over all creation for the good of all who believe in him, and now calls us to be his witnesses to everyone.
The love of God who lives in us leads to a life of obedience. Jesus’ promise of another Counselor is a loaded one: the Holy Spirit gives us the ability to do what Jesus asks. Today’s lessons teach that love for our risen Lord means obedience to his commands. Only Jesus’ promises make that possible.
I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. Christ’s message is so exclusive that it rejects all others. He doesn’t say, “I show you the way,” or “I have the truth,” or “I lead to life,” but “I AM the Way, the Truth, the Life.” The exclusivity of salvation resting in the person of Jesus Christ is a rock against which the unbelieving world crushes itself, but upon which God builds his Church.
On “Good Shepherd Sunday” our attention is fixed on Jesus the Good Shepherd of the sheep. His care and concern are recognized by those whom he has called as his sheep. Even in suffering, his sheep know his care for them and follow him.
The certain hope of eternal life with God is founded on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God had carried this hope in his Word through the ages. How did the disciples fail to anticipate the resurrection? How did the people of his day fail to see the Messiah God had promised? They let their wants and cultural expectations color their view of Scripture, and hope was lost. But God restored hope by raising Jesus and pointing his people back to his promises.
In the face of doubt, Christ gives us proof and peace. To the doubting disciples, he gave certain proof that led to certain peace. Through his Word and sacraments, Jesus gives the same proof to all people. “Peace be with you,” said our Lord. Then he sent his people forth with this message of peace based on the proof of his resurrection.
On this holiest of days, we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord. Connected by grace, through faith, to our risen Lord, we rejoice in the victory of the resurrection and in full confidence of our own resurrection from the dead.
Darkness descended on the world that day as God draped Creation in the darkness of mourning. For the Light of the world was flickering out. Though guiltless, he was tortured and cursed; though innocent, he died among criminals. Who could ever call this day “good?” Only those who know the truth of the cross: “Sing my tongue the glorious battle; sing the ending of the fray. Now above the cross, the trophy, sound the loud triumphant lay. Tell how Christ, the world’s Redeemer, as a victim won the day.”
Historically, Holy Thursday marked the day when people who had been under church discipline and had repented were restored to the church (hence the German name Gründonnerstag, or “Green Thursday,” recognizing the new life of the penitent). They were publicly welcomed back into the fellowship. Preparation for this time means self-examination, but Holy Thursday also offers a refreshing welcome and an invitation to the most unexpected place: being served at the table by Jesus and feasting in communion with God.
Lutherans have a long history of remembering the Savior’s Passion in midweek services during the season of Lent. The more common practice, in history and in the experience of the wider church, is to read the Passion history on the first Sunday of Holy Week, as we are doing today...
Jesus will raise us from death to life. The crown jewel of the coming kingdom is the resurrection of the dead. One day, Jesus will defeat the last enemy and life will reign in our new Eden with God. On our Lenten walk to Calvary, the Church sees the Savior who came face to face with death and defeated it. God help us remember that Jesus, the Life, has made us heirs of eternal life.
Jesus is the Light of the world. He shines to give sight to the blind and judgment to the blinded. Christ comes to shine his light into our darkened eyes so that we might see him and live. He gives blinding judgment to those who reject him; he displays the work of God in the lives of those who now walk in his light.
The gift of God comes by faith to those of all nations. Not a holy life, not our acts of obedience, but simple trust in the promise of God brings the gift of living water for thirsty souls. By faith Christ gives his righteousness to all who believe and enfolds us into the family of God.
The gift of God comes by faith. Not a holy life or acts of obedience, but simple trust in the promise of God brings the gift of living water for thirsty souls. Abraham believed God’s promise. He had faith in God who justifies the wicked, and God credited it to him as righteousness. By this same faith, Christ gives righteousness to all who believe.
The Son of God goes forth to war and defeats the devil for us. The Prayer of the Day sets the tone for Sunday: the ancient foe warred on mankind in the garden, but God promised to send a champion to battle on our behalf. The Second Adam came to do what the first could not, and in the desert the battle was joined. But for us fights the valiant one … he holds the field forever.
Return to the Lord! Ash Wednesday calls us to a forty-day journey of repentance and renewal. Recognition of our sin leads us to cry out for mercy and trust in God’s promised forgiveness. Return to the Lord for he is gracious! Having obtained his pardon, we seek a renewal of faith and life that we might live as baptized children of God.
Jesus appears in glory as the Son of God. Before he suffers as man’s substitute, Jesus gives his Church a glimpse of the glory that he set aside to be our Savior. See how he loves us! The Majestic Glory became a man to suffer and die for us, just as Moses and the Prophets had foretold. How good to be here!
Let your light shine! Jesus tells us: You are … so be. You are the light of the world, so be light for the earth. You are the salt of the earth, so be salt for it. Our calling as children of God means our lives will reflect our new status, and the world around us will be blessed by us.
The Savior’s Sermon: Trust in God’s strength! The Beatitudes are hard for us to swallow. Jesus seems to be espousing a Christianity imbued with fatalism at best or defeatism at worst. Look closer, however, and see what he says. The weaker you are, the stronger God is in your life. The weaker you are now, the more ready you are to trust in a future reward. Trust God’s grace and you will find many reasons to trust his strength.
Jesus appears as the light that shines in the darkness. Dark places remain covered in the shadow of sin and unbelief. There are, however, bright places too, and there you can find God’s children. Jesus shines his light by preaching repentance and the good news of the coming kingdom, and he invites us to follow to a new life illumined by him.
Jesus appears as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This Lamb would take away the sins of the world and bring both Israel and the Gentile nations into the kingdom of God. The hearts that see this Savior in faith cannot help but take news of this salvation to the ends of the earth.
The long-expected Christ has arrived; the waiting is over as the Son of David is anointed. The Father’s approval sounds from heaven and book-ends the season of Epiphany, when with the Holy Spirit and with power it thunders again on the Mount of Transfiguration as the Son is revealed in glory.
The Eastern Church celebrates January 6th as the Nativity of our Lord. For the West, the Epiphany of our Lord is the continued celebration of the birth of the Savior of Nations. So bright is the dawning of the Son, so great is the fullness of his glory, that his light not only fills the dark streets of Bethlehem, but the ends of the earth. Jew and Gentile alike gather to worship him who is born ruler of Judah and Shepherd of all Israel.
The Son of God came into this world to serve as our Substitute under the law of God. As our brother in humanity, Christ did what we cannot — he perfectly kept that law of God, and he freed us from the guilt and power of sin.
God’s Word for us this day raises us up above the cute and the trite and the trivial; for so many people that is all that Christmas is about. But there is nothing trite or trivial in what has happened today: The deepest lowliness is but the mask for the greatest glory — the glory of him who came to be our Savior!
“But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.” Just as Mary, on the very first Christmas, we too meditate on the mystery of Christmas. Christ was born in order to live, die and rise from the grave for us! The Word became flesh and through faith we see his glory! Glory to God in the highest!
This last Sunday of Advent, we celebrate together the promise and fulfillment of the One born Immanuel, “God with us.” As we get closer and closer to Christmas, we ask God to prepare our hearts to receive the baby born in Bethlehem as his wonderful gift of salvation.
In this season of Advent (Coming) we focus on the three “comings” of Christ: his coming into this world as a baby to put himself in our place and to pay for our sins, his coming in glory at the last day to take us into the full enjoyment of our salvation, and his coming into our hearts now through the power of his word which gives us faith and makes that salvation our own. And all three of these comings lead us to REJOICE....
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near! The Forerunner prepares for the coming Christ by preaching repentance that brings renewal of life. The Root of Jesse will come in swift judgment on the unrepentant but in mercy and grace for God’s people. His coming will end the wickedness of the world and usher in a new age restored to the perfection with which God made it.
Eagerly looking forward to Jesus’ second advent, we join in the excitement of the Palm Sunday crowd, making the preparations God instructs and joining our voices to shout: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” This Sunday, we clearly proclaim the purpose for Jesus’ coming. His coming brings salvation.
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