Matthew 2:1-12: Where is the One Born King of the Jews?

About 1,000 years before the birth of Christ, the Queen of Sheba journeys to visit the King of the Jews. She travels from what today is Ethiopia. The Queen arrives with camels and many servants bearing gifts of gold, spices, and jewels. She is curious and wants to confirm what others tell her about the […]

Galatians 4:4-7: The Fullness of Time

The Law God gave to Moses reflected His perfection, restating the Law He imprinted on our hearts when He created us in His image (Romans 2:15).  So, if you explore the different cultures throughout human history, you will discover much overlap with the Ten Commandments. God engraved His written Law because the law in our […]

Psalm 27: The Lord is My Light and My Salvation

Christmas Day is past.  The multi-colored lights are coming down, and dried-up trees now find themselves in the trash heap.  Is the season of Christmas so soon dimmed?  The grand season of blinking lights comes and goes, with little more effect than crumpled tinsel on a discarded tree. Such gloomy thoughts may cause us to […]

John 1:1-14, Revelation 12:1-5: The Cosmic Battle of the Incarnation

Our Lord’s coming in Luke’s Gospel gives us the crèche and the baby’s manger.  In John’s Gospel, we, instead, find a cosmic battle tucked within.  He mentions no characters by name, not Mary or Joseph.  The singing angels and awestruck shepherds are missing in action.  Where is the mention of Bethlehem? In the beginning is […]

Luke 2:1-20, The Song of the Angels

Christmas night: The night when God’s blessings come to us—and more.  They also come to calm our troubled souls.  In ages past, long ago, God revealed Himself in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.  He also revealed Himself, not only in a still small voice but also in […]

Deuteronomy 18:15-19: Jesus, the Greater Moses

The Ten Commandments always hammer home the same truth.  God gave His “Words,” which is what the Hebrew of the Old Testament calls them, at Mt. Sinai, described in Exodus 20.  God carved His words on a stone tablet for His people, Israel.  The event filled God’s people with fear: Thunder boomed, lightning cracked, and […]

Church is Cancelled for Sunday, December 18

All Church activities for Sunday, December 18 are cancelled. The weather forecast has a 50% chance of snow Saturday night, with an accompanying possibility of icy roads.  Even if your roads are clear, the church’s steep driveway becomes dangerous to drive on with a thin layer of ice. What made us decide to cancel church, […]

Romans, Lesson 16: Living in Christian Hope

In this life, we will experience suffering, for we live in a fallen world.  “In Christ,” His suffering is ours—even if we are not suffering for being Christians.  If we are in Him, we have what He gives us, which includes being glorified with Him on the Last Day.  We know how the story ends—and […]

The Canticles of Christmas: Luke 2:25-35, “Simeon’s Song”

Our Lord Jesus comes to His Temple as an infant.  He will come many other times: when He is 12 to sit and teach the teachers, in His last week before His death to drive out the moneychangers.  Jesus will also come to His Temple in mercy to proclaim the Kingdom of God and, on […]

Romans, Lesson 15: Life in the Spirit Directs us to Our Redemption

Paul is now going full bore into what it means to be living life in the Spirit.  This life in the Spirit is the Christian reality because the Christian is “in Christ,” which Paul earlier revealed takes place in baptism (Romans 3:3-5).   Life according to the Spirit and according to the flesh Read Romans […]