All Things New
Read: Isaiah 65:17-25 For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered. (v. 17) Doesn’t it feel good to put up a brand-new calendar at the first of the year? While January 1st may be an arbitrary starting point, it’s encouraging to think of a fresh […]
Worthy!
Read: Revelation 4:1-11 Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power. (v. 11) It is fitting to conclude our reflections on Jesus’ birth by hearing again the glorious song “Worthy are you!” What Jesus did to redeem the cosmos is so stunning, the hosts of heaven will never stop […]
Antichrists
Read: 1 John 4:1-6 This is the spirit of the antichrist. (v. 3) Most of us have heard of the Antichrist. And most of us have picked up on the idea that some Christians believe the day will come when a singularly evil person will take over the world. We assume then that the New […]
Be Not Deceived
Read: 1 John 1:1-10 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. (v. 8) Most of us are more familiar with John 1 than with 1 John 1. But it’s obvious the same apostle wrote both. John again harks back to “the beginning” and he has plenty to say about light and darkness […]
Family
Read: Galatians 4:1-7 God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” (v. 6) Earlier this month in looking at the family tree of Jesus in Matthew 1, we noted that at the end of the genealogy Joseph was not listed as “the father of Jesus” but only as “Mary’s […]
Epiphany
Read: Titus 2:11-15 For the grace of God has appeared . . . (v. 11) In ten days the church will mark Epiphany. The word means “to appear,” and on January 6 the church in some traditions will mark the appearance of the star that led the Magi to the Christ, and other traditions will […]
Emptied Out
Read: Philippians 2:5-11 [He] emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant. (v. 7) Paul loved the Philippian church. But he had heard that the sin of pride had become a problem for them. It often is for all of us. Pride tears holes in our Christlikeness and fractures congregational unity because pride is […]
The Dragon
Read: Revelation 12:1-6 And the dragon stood before the woman. (v. 4) If you read today’s passage on this Christmas Day, then you know we are a long way from “Silent Night.” John on the island of Patmos shows us what the birth of Christ looked like from a heavenly perspective, and it’s pretty terrifying. […]
Why Jesus Came
Read: 1 Timothy 1:12-17 Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. (v. 15) The letters to Timothy and Titus are called “The Pastoral Epistles” because Paul wrote to these young men in their roles as pastors in Ephesus and the island of Crete. Timothy and Titus represented the second generation of preachers, and […]