Before Lent, we learned (but may have forgotten by now) that Paul petitioned for the Roman legal system to hear his grievances. He could do that since he was a Roman citizen. Paul knew that the Jewish Sanhedrin would not give him an honest hearing for preaching and teaching “the Way.” But more than that, […]
1 John 5:4-10: The Spirit, the Water, and the Blood Still Testify to Us Today
April 12, 2015 by
In the accounts of Jesus’ crucifixion, we find that each Gospel writer mentions different facts about what took place on the cross. Here’s how St. Mark describes Jesus’ death: “Jesus let out a loud cry and breathed His last” (Mark 15:37). But John and Matthew want you to know that Jesus “gave up His Spirit” […]
1 Corinthians, Lesson 15: Baal of Peor
April 12, 2015 by
In this lesson, we only covered 1 Corinthians 10:8. A good discussion took place about the implications of Paul’s line of thinking on communion at the Lord’s Table. We’ll continue, Deo Volente!, with the rest of 1 Corinthians Chapter 10 net week. Paul continues to deal with the issue of whether it’s okay to eat […]
John 20:1-18: Christ is Risen!
April 5, 2015 by
Christos Anesti! Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! Our Gospel reading for today follows the story of Mary Magdalene, Mary from the town of Magdala. The Apostle John only mentions that Mary as she approached the tomb of Christ. The other Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, clearly tell us that other women were […]
Good Friday Sermon: It All Came Down to This
April 3, 2015 by
Comparing the Old Covenant with the New, the book of Hebrews tells us: Unlike the [Jewish] high priests, Jesus doesn’t need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his sins, and then for the sins of the people. No, he did this, once for all, when he sacrificed himself. [Hebrews 7:27] It all came […]
John 6:51-58: Unless…
April 2, 2015 by
According to legend, in a time of starvation, a mother pelican may dig into the side of her chest until it bleeds to feed her chicks. And so starting from the 2nd century, the Church has adopted the pelican as a symbol for Christ. The pelican represents Christ on the cross because, like a pelican, […]
Holy Week Services
March 31, 2015 by
On Thursday, April 2nd, is our Maundy Thursday service at 7:00 PM, which will focus on the epicenter of Christ’s New Covenant for us: His Supper. In this service, we will use parts from the oldest liturgies in the Church, even including the liturgy of St. James (the New Testament Church’s first liturgy used in […]
John 12:12-19, 1 Maccabees 13:43-48, 51-52, Zechariah 9:9-12: The Jesus You Need
March 31, 2015 by
Lent began with Jesus fasting. Immediately after He was baptized, the Holy Spirit led Him into the wilderness to face down the devil. During those 40 days, Jesus chose not to eat food, spending time in prayer and meditation, battling against the tempter. Now those 40 days of temptation, of Lent, draw near to their […]
1 Corinthians, Lesson 14: Learning from Old-Covenant Israel
March 31, 2015 by
Paul continues to deal with the issue of whether it’s okay to eat the meat that was earlier sacrificed to idols. Paul used himself as an example to show how he understood Christian freedom: It was not to serve the self, the view that some in Corinth had taken, but to build up the body […]
How We Got the New Testament
March 28, 2015 by
This is our pastor’s newsletter article for April, 2015. It follows last month’s article, “How We Got the Old Testament,” which you can read by clicking here. ——— The Early Church Last month, we looked at how we got the Old Testament. The Church met in council to state which books were Scripture because three traditions […]
