May 5 2024 — The entirety of God’s Word can be summed up in one word: love. God’s Law is all about love. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart…” and “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37,39). The gospel is all about love: “For God so loved the world that He gave…
April 28 2024 — Generally, our actions are shaped by our beliefs. People who eat low-carb diets do so, probably not because they hate pasta, but because they believe it healthiest. If a man buys stock in a company, it probably is because he believes in their business plan. Our beliefs shape our behavior. This…
April 21 2024 — Scripture frequently pictures spiritual care in terms of a shepherd watching over sheep. Even folks unfamiliar with shepherding are able to grasp the meaning. Sheep are helpless animals—an easy meal for predators. For sheep to survive they needed a shepherd who not only leads them to sources of food, but who…
April 14 2024 — A platitude is a statement aimed at helping soothe some sort of emotional unease. “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Or “Life is a mystery.” Or “Good things come to those who wait.” While platitudes may be well-intentioned, at best they come off as trite. And since platitudes provide no…
April 7 2024 — In most world religions, the alleged foundational event was experienced by only one person. A self-proclaimed prophet would allege he alone had some special encounter with God. “No really! Just trust me. It really happened.” The resurrection reality is so very different. In the Great Resurrection Chapter (1 Corinthians 15, which…
March 17, 2024 — As we approach Holy Week and prepare to watch Jesus’ suffering and death, the natural question to ask is “why?” This Sunday, God’s Word answers that question. All of it, this fulfillment of God’s plan of salvation for us, gives glory to God. Throughout the season of Lent, we’ve seen Jesus…
March 10, 2024 — Throughout Lent, Scripture has shown us that being a sinner in a sinful world has its challenges: temptations, the cross, distraction from the heart of worship. Today we see the solution for our failures. While we are tempted to focus on the difficulty of the struggle, God lifts up our…
March 3, 2024 — Throughout Lent, we are seeing the battle between Christ and Satan. Today, the arena is worship. Satan tries to distract us from doing the Father’s will at worship. If He cannot keep us from going to the house of the Lord, He tries to blind us to its beauty by either…
February 25, 2024 — In the season of Lent, we witness a battle as Jesus takes our place in His passion. As the battle continues, Satan redoubles his attacks. This time, he attacks Jesus by placing temptation in the mouth of Jesus’ friend, His most ardent supporter, the “rock”—Peter. Every Christian knows the truth that…
February 18, 2024 — In the season of Lent, we witness a battle as Jesus takes our place in His passion. This week the battleground is temptation. We know temptation. While we’ve never been asked to sacrifice a child, as Abraham was in our Old Testament Lesson to see if we trust God and place…