Bible Study: Colossians 1:9-14 — March 24, 2024

Bible Study: Colossians 1:9-14 — March 24, 2024

Colossians 1:9–14 (NKJV)9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

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"The donkey serves Christ faithfully and nobly" Palm Sunday 2024

"The donkey serves Christ faithfully and nobly" Palm Sunday 2024

The donkey serves Christ faithfully and nobly in surrendering its body to Christ’s service. He doesn’t look to Himself but looks to His master. The donkey that bears Christ walks safely under Christ without fear and anxiety. He does not fall victim to pride, failure, or error. Christ leads and guides Him by the bridle so He does not go astray. Christ curbs him so He does not run off into his conceit and presumption. If he falls, Christ lifts him back up. Christ corrects him with the rod if he is reluctant, idle, or lazy. He remains ever near Christ. And whatever honor is given to Christ is enjoyed by the donkey. Whatever good is done to Christ, the donkey also enjoys, whether it is garments, palm branches, singing, or praises.

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"If anyone will keep My Word, He will not see death eternally" Judica 2024

"If anyone will keep My Word, He will not see death eternally" Judica 2024

The Lord Christ said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, If anyone will keep My Word, He will not see death eternally?' Here Christ points to the power of God's Word. In other words, He said, "Whoever hears My Word and keeps it with a believing heart, and clings to it until the end, he will not see death eternally?' The Word will so contend for him that even in the midst of death he will be assured, and press onward to the place where the Word resides in truth, to the right hand of the Father in eternal life.

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"We celebrate the most despised: the death and cross" Wednesday of Lent 4 2024

"We celebrate the most despised: the death and cross" Wednesday of Lent 4 2024

Contrary to all thought, we celebrate the most despised: the death and cross. His death is our highest good. What is mocked and shameful to the world is a treasure and joy to the Christian. So, don’t run away. Don’t be scandalized. Don’t look elsewhere to know the mind and wisdom of God. Look to Jesus, “the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame” (Heb 12:2).

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Bible Study: Colossians 1:1-8

Bible Study: Colossians 1:1-8

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse:Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.3 We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; 5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth; 7 as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 8 who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.

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"Jesus just keeps on forgiving, healing, and loving." Reminiscere 2024

"Jesus just keeps on forgiving, healing, and loving." Reminiscere 2024

It seems we have yet another case of Jesus being misunderstood. Who would have thought? Certainly not Jacob, who, in today’s reading from Genesis 32, thought Jesus had come to kill him. And certainly not Jesus’ disciples, who were with him day in and day out, and yet somehow still managed to miss the point of the Canaanite woman coming to Jesus for healing. And let's not forget the religious leaders, who were supposed to be experts in the law and yet couldn't grasp the simple fact that God's grace and mercy are freely given to all who ask.

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Bible Study: Ezekiel 48 — February 25, 2024

Bible Study: Ezekiel 48 — February 25, 2024

All this means that we enter His temple preeminently in worship, where he is spiritually and sacramentally present. And as the "Jerusalem above" (Ps 137:6; Gal 4:26) descends upon the pilgrim city below, momentarily erasing the boundaries of space and time, we participate in, but also empirically look forward to, the Day when the last enemy will have been destroyed (1 Cor 15:26,54), and we, with all the saints in glory already, will forever be “there,” where Yahweh is. “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev 22:20).

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Bible Study: Ezekiel 47:1-12 — February 11, 2024

Bible Study: Ezekiel 47:1-12 — February 11, 2024

The indwelling of the Glory of Yahweh in the temple was necessary for the life-giving water to flow from the temple, and that indwelling points to the incarnation of Christ, “in whom all the fullness of the Deity dwells bodily” (Col 2:9). The water flows past the altar because the sacrificial atonement by Christ was necessary for the new life brought by the river to come to the dead and barren creation. The river is a prefiguration of Christian Baptism, following the LXX “water of forgiveness.” The same word for brook or stream can be translated as “release” and is used in the NT for forgiveness or remission of a debt, as in the Words of Institution and Baptism proclamation.

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"Jesus promises to hear our cries of Kyrie eleison and answer them!" Quinquagesima 2024

"Jesus promises to hear our cries of Kyrie eleison and answer them!" Quinquagesima 2024

When we pray the Kyrie during the Divine Service or privately, we can think of Jesus asking us this same question: “What do you want Me to do for you?” We don’t pray the Kyrie idly or mechanically, with nothing in particular in mind, but we trust that the same Lord who stopped this entire procession so that He could inquire of a blind beggar stops before us poor beggars and inclines his ear to us, too. It won’t be long before our eyes will sleep the sleep of death. What’s important is that our faith saved us, that our eyes will open again on the Last Day, and behold the same Lord who stands before us when His Word opens our eyes. It is this faith that we desire: saving faith that sees Jesus.

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Bible Study: Ezekiel 46:19ff — February 4, 2024

Bible Study: Ezekiel 46:19ff — February 4, 2024

All the rest of the book is a vision of the new land, confirming that 40-48 has been otherworldly and eschatological. The vision shown by Ezekiel is nothing that could be implemented by Ezekiel’s fellow Israelites after the exile, nor could it be implemented by Christians during the millennial reign of Christ on this earth. Only God Himself can bring about the rejuvenation of the land to a new Eden, as He promised to do after the return of Jesus Christ (Revelation 21–22). Ezekiel 47-48 depicts the new heavens and new earth in which all God’s redeemed believers will dwell for eternity. See also Romans 8:10-23 which promises that after the return of Christ, all believers will be raised bodily to eternal life, and even “the creation itself will be freed from its slavery to decay into the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Rom 8:21).

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"To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God" Sexagesima 2024

"To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God" Sexagesima 2024

Jesus is letting you see that the work of His kingdom given to us in the church is exercised by the office of the Holy Ministry and every Christian as an officeholder in the priesthood of the faithful. We are called to preach, instruct, and apply God’s Holy Word, written for our use in the codex of the books of the Bible. Like Jesus, we are given to speak God’s Word in truth and love to everyone with no thought of what we think it’s going to quote-unquote “work” or whether they’ll like it, receive it, or believe it. 

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Bible Study: Ezekiel 45:18ff

Bible Study: Ezekiel 45:18ff

What is said of the Prince and the people in v. ten can be applied to Jesus Christ and the Christian church. It also has application to the pastor as he leads the congregation in worship. Especially on festival days, traditional Christian worship can begin with a processional into the nave with a cross, representing the presence of Christ, which is then placed in the chancel. Usually, an Introit or entrance hymn is sung near the service's start. During the service, Christ comes to his people through His Word and Sacraments and bestows his gifts of forgiveness, life, and everlasting salvation. After the service, the cross is carried out during a recessional. Christ goes with his people as they leave and perform their vocations during the week. He continues to abide with his people, who have been edified by God's Word and fed in the Holy Supper. In that way, Christ can be said to enter and leave the church with his people.

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"God's good and gracious will for your whole life" Septuagesima 2024

"God's good and gracious will for your whole life" Septuagesima 2024

The keyword is that Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven is the same as...” He says this describes our whole life, body and spirit, with God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are given to live in this world but not of this world. Our lives are lived now under the meaning of the story. We are given to understand everything in and outside the church according to the truth revealed in this crazy story. God cares for all people according to His good and gracious will. This grace is not comprehensible to reason and flesh, but it is good.

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"Lift up your eyes and see Jesus only" Transfiguration 2024

"Lift up your eyes and see Jesus only" Transfiguration 2024

Moses and Elijah, like John the Baptist, all had their given role to play. But once the promised Messiah Christ has come, they must decrease that He increases. Indeed, now that you have Jesus, you can finally escape the past and nostalgia for what once was. Yes, God used those prophets and everyone and everything that has happened for this moment. But this moment can’t be caught in a bottle, any more than you can go back to what was or make any guarantees about what will be. Lift up your eyes and see Jesus only. Hear Him and follow Him wherever He takes you.

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