We heard many words in our Christmas Gospel, telling us of Jesus. He is the Word. He is God and Creator, even Life and the Light of all people, shining in the darkness. He is the one-and-only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. Such beautiful and truth-filled words for our Savior, which […]
Jesus, our Brother, has Come into the Flesh
December 24, 2015 by
Now in those days, it came to pass that a decree went out from the Prince of Darkness, the Prince of this World, that all the world should be taxed. And this was the first taxing when Adam chose to become Lord of his life and master of his soul. For when he ate of […]
Christmas Day Service: The Service of Christ’s Mass
December 20, 2015 by
Our Christmas Day Service will be a “Christ’s Mass” service, which is a Service of the Sacrament of our Lord’s Supper. The service time will be at 10:00 AM. As we celebrate Jesus becoming incarnate for our salvation in His birth, so also will we celebrate Him becoming “incarnate” for us in His body and […]
Micah 5:2-5: The Fruitful House of Bread
December 20, 2015 by
Today, we heard Micah prophesy of God coming to His people. “As for you, Bethlehem of Ephrathah, although you are small among the clans of Judah, from you, one will emerge who will rule over Israel for me. His existence has been from of old, even from eternity.” So, little Bethlehem is not so little […]
2 Corinthians, Lesson 17: True Apostles versus False Apostles
December 20, 2015 by
Dealing with the false teachers who have inserted themselves at Corinth, with approval of some of the congregation, Paul and Timothy said that those teachers used their own standard of measure to assess themselves, not “the Rule” (ho kanon; 2 Corinthians 10:13, 15; “influence, ESV). Although we don’t know what that “rule” was, we find […]
2 Samuel 7:1-17, Isaiah 11:1-10: God Prunes His Family Tree
December 20, 2015 by
In our first midweek Advent service, we heard how God planted the Seed of His Savior to defeat sin, death, and the devil. He would do this through His Promised Seed, who would come to crush that serpent Satan. That prophesied Seed, Jesus, would come to graft us back into life with Him. Last week, […]
Zephaniah 3:14-12: Because of Christ’s day, He makes all our days His
December 20, 2015 by
When we look at how life is going, we often see it as a series of good days and bad days. For our lives are full of both. And when we have a bad day, we look forward to when life will turn around and get better. We think, “It can’t get any worse; I […]
2 Corinthians, Lesson 16: Do Everything According to “The Rule”
December 20, 2015 by
Paul and Timothy continue dealing with the false “super-apostles,” who have swayed some in the Corinthian congregation with their false teaching. Comparing and Contrasting Real Pastors with False Ones Read 2 Corinthians 10:12 What do Paul and Timothy say they are not doing when it comes to these false teachers? “classify or compare”: […]
2 Corinthians: Lesson 15: Tearing Down, if Needed, but only to Build Up
December 20, 2015 by
We now find the warm and friendly tone of 2 Corinthians 8-9 change. Having dealt with the misunderstandings between the Corinthians and he and Timothy (1:12-7:16), and having requested the Corinthian congregation to participate in the collection for the Jerusalem saints (8:1-9:15), Paul now focuses on the unrepentant minority who have embraced the “super-apostles” (11:13). […]
Genesis 12:1-3, 15:1-6: Faith Receives What God Wants to Give
December 9, 2015 by
To plant a seed, you make a small hole in the ground, put the seed in it, and cover it with soil. But then you have to wait until the seed germinates, for until then, there’s nothing that you can see. And so a planted seed gives us a beautiful picture of faith. Waiting for […]
