We beseech Thee, Almighty God, mercifully to look upon Thy people, that by Thy great goodness they may be governed and preserved evermore, both in body and soul; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

--Common Service . . .

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(Note: this is an updated version of an essay first posted in 2019)

The feeding of the five thousand is one of the most well-known miracles of Jesus' earthly ministry. It is one of the very few things mentioned in all four Gospels (hint, hint...that means it's a very big deal). It is one of the stories we learn as . . .

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(Note: this is an updated version of an essay first posted in 2019)

"I believe...in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit [and] born of the Virgin Mary." We confessed that truth recently as part of the Apostles' Creed. As soon as the birth of Jesus happened in history over . . .

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"Surely goodness and mercy will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the LORD forever" (Psalm 23.6 EHV).

The verb 'follow' is a powerful, active verb. We are being chased by God's powerful love. We run form it. We try to escape. We fear that goodness, because then we are no . . .

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"He called the crowd and his disciples together and said to them, 'If anyone wants to follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. After all, what good is it for a man to gain . . .

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Writing on Jesus' healing of the blind man in John 9, Bruggemann rightly highlights the showdown between the Pharisees and Jesus. He describes this encounter as "a contrast between old established truth that keeps everything in place, that has all the answers, that keeps everything under control and assures certain entitlements, and . . .

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