looking for God in all the wrong places
reflections on Luke 2.41-52
Our church follows the Narrative Lectionary, and yesterday's Gospel reading was Luke's record of Mary and Joseph losing track of Jesus after the Feast of the Passover. In this account, Jesus famously asks Mary, "Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?" (Luke 2.49 NKJV). . . .
Posted in: reflectionssacramentstheology
finding God where he promises to be found
lection reflection for 23 Sept 2019 / reading the bible daily with the church
Today's Old Testament reading (2 Kings 5.1-19) is one of my absolute favorite accounts in the Old Testament. In it we are reminded of several essential truths that tend to run counter to our own thinking about how God should behave and work. For this reason...
First, we learn that we may find God precisely where he promises . . .
Posted in: reflectionssacraments
God's work in the sacraments
from Martin Luther
In the sacraments your God, Christ himself, deals, speaks, and works with you through the priest. His are not the works and words of man. In the sacraments God himself grants you all the blessings we just mentioned in connection with Christ. God wants the sacraments to be a sign and testimony that Christ’s life has taken your death, his . . .
Posted in: quotessacramentstheology
encouragement: a means of grace
The book of Hebrews, believed by most commentators to be an ancient sermon manuscript written to a Jewish-Christian congregation, contains a series of warnings and exhortations against falling away from the faith. Multiple times in this book, we are encouraged to remain steadfast to Christ, not forsaking our salvation and being allured . . .
Posted in: lifesacramentstheology
on terror and comfort
the work of Christ in us
At times our conscience terrifies us, and our heart panics. It looks for something good in us or some good work—something for our hope to grasp hold of and think that surely God would be merciful to us and forgive us our multitude of sins, if just for this one elusive thing. Usually, our searching is for not, as we realize that we are not . . .
Posted in: sacramentstheology
