The Great Fire of Rome, 64 AD Backdrop The Roman Empire enabled Christianity to spread without the effort needed in earlier centuries. The Empire’s unifying infrastructure aided the Gospel’s expansion of the Gospel: well-laid roads made travel easier, most people spoke Greek, and a mighty army kept the peace. An Empire runs on unity and […]
Acts, Lesson 13: Persecution Begins From the State
September 4, 2014 by
Last week, we had a look into the church at Antioch, the first place where Christians were labelled with the disparaging term, “Christian,” one belonging to Christ. Today, we find such disparaging words grow into an even greater persecution. Martyrdom and Imprisonment Read Acts 12:1-5 Herod and his descendants, also called “Herod” ruled Judea […]
Making a Faithful Confession
August 18, 2014 by
Instead of an article that I normally write, I put in its place an article written by Pr. Matthew Harrison, assistant pastor at Village Lutheran Church in Ladue, Missouri and also Synod President of the LC-MS. This is a short article that he wrote about what we can do concerning the specific and targeted Christian […]
Acts, Lesson 6: Persecution from the Jewish Leadership
July 3, 2014 by
In last week’s lesson, Ananias and Sapphira had decided to deceive the Apostles and congregation in Jerusalem by stating they sold property for a certain amount, deliberately understating the amount they had received. After that fear-inducing event, Luke takes us to see what is going on with the Apostles in Jerusalem, in particular, Peter. […]
Revelation, Lesson 12: The Two Interludes after the 6th Seal
September 1, 2012 by
After the Apostle John observed heavenly worship, he saw Jesus, represented as a wounded but victorious lamb, receive a double-sided scroll with seven seals. Revelation then moved into four successive visions of each seal as Jesus breaks each one. And, for the most part, we also see a fairly linear chronology. Seal 1: Mary gives […]
John 15:26-16:4
June 5, 2011 by
Jesus says that whoever confesses Him before others, He will confess before His Father in heaven (Matthew 10:32). The Apostle Peter says, “Always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3:15). So, every Christian in his everyday life is to point others to Jesus. […]
