Revelation 22: I Am the Alpha and Omega

I From Adam and Eve to you and me, we can chant the psalm.  “Behold, how pleasant and sweet for brothers to dwell together….  The Lord decreed this blessing of […]

The Parables of Jesus, Lesson 9: The Parable of the Final Judgment

Intro In the last Lesson, we studied The Parable of the Ten Virgins and The Parable of the Talents, which all deal with being prepared to meet Jesus.  They both […]

Jeremiah 33:14-16, Luke 21:29-31: Jesus Ushers in a New Springtime of Life

Although we are now on the cusp of winter, some of us are already looking forward to spring. In our Gospel reading, we heard Jesus speak of spring, when leaves […]

Matthew 25:31-46: The Hidden Jesus

What’s surprising about the resurrection of the body on the Last Day is that every physical body ever born will rise. Jesus will show to all that He DID take […]

Amos 5:18-24, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18: The Day of the Lord

When we imagine the prophets of old, we often see a fire-and-brimstone preacher breathing out God’s judgment and wrath. And that’s what Amos did in our Old-Testament reading for today. […]

The Relation between the Tree of Life and the Sacraments

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 […]

What is our true comfort in death, our souls being in heaven or our body and soul being reunited on the Last Day?

Introduction The typical North-American Christian worldview is one that values the spiritual but often sees little value in how God uses the physical. After all, Protestant America often views baptism […]

Augsburg Confession, Article 17

AC XVII: The Return of Christ as Judge Our churches also teach that at the end of the world Christ will appear for judgment and will raise up all the […]

Matthew 25:1-13: The Parable of the Ten Virgins

When Jesus tells a parable, pay attention!  For if you don’t, you’ll miss the meaning in the details of everyday-life events that Jesus uses. So, in today’s parable from Matthew […]

Revelation, Lesson 15: Christ’s Final Victory

Last week, we saw the only time Revelation showed what anti-Christic worship looked like, of course from an eternal perspective.  It was full of lament.  Now, in contrast, we again […]