The Old Testament isn’t easy to read. It has so much killing in it, people rebelling against God, and more history than most of us can handle. It’s also hard to understand. But don’t let that keep you from the Old Testament. If you have the patience to take in what God has for you, […]
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, […]
John 8:42-49: For you and because of you
March 25, 2015 by
For you—two words of supreme significance! Without them, a Christian veers away from Word and Sacrament, trying to find some assurance that he really is saved. He could look to his good works, thinking he must be saved because of what he has done. He could look to his emotions, trying to find in his […]
Acts, Lesson 25: Paul’s Troubles Begin
February 1, 2015 by
Paul finally arrived in Jerusalem, having completed his third missionary travels. He knew from repeated warnings that trouble awaited him, but “constrained by the Spirit,” he made his way to Jerusalem anyway (Acts 20:22). But it’s more than those warnings that prepare us for what awaits Paul. In Jerusalem, Luke shows the change in how […]
Matthew 3:13-17: The Baptism of Our Lord
January 25, 2015 by
As Christians, we usually point to Jesus’ death on the cross and say, “That’s why I’m saved.” And, yet, we often miss that we could just as easily point to Jesus in the water of the Jordan River and say the same: “There is my salvation, forgiveness, and life!” But how can we say that? […]
Matthew 2:13-18: Holy Innocents
December 28, 2014 by
See how bitterly and shamelessly Satan hates the newborn Son of God. He incites King Herod to massacre the infant boys of Bethlehem, in his bloody rage to cut down Jesus. But see even more the lengths to which God the Father will go to protect His Son. He tells Joseph to take Mary and […]
Your Future Reality Invades Your Darkness
December 10, 2014 by
Malachi 3:1-4, Philippians 1:3-11, Luke 3:1-6 The name Malachi means “my messenger.” And it’s a fitting name, since that prophet so powerfully spoke about God’s coming messenger. That messenger would be like a powerful soap to purify and cleanse the Levites, the chosen priesthood of Israel. God chose that tribe of Israel to be His […]
The Relation between the Tree of Life and the Sacraments
October 16, 2014 by
The Two Trees Note: In this lesson, the translations from Genesis are your pastor’s. He has done this, hoping you can you get a better “feel” of the poetic language in the Hebrew text. Genesis 2:9: And YHWH, God, made sprout from the soil every tree that was pleasing to the eye and good for […]
Acts, Lesson 9: Simon, Philip, and Saul
August 6, 2014 by
In the last lesson, we saw God choosing to act in ways He has not promised to do so. In particular, we saw God the Holy Spirit coming to a new group of people only through the hands of the Apostles. It’s almost as if God was chastising the Apostles for not leading the way […]
