In the words of Father John,* a Russian monk now in Heaven: “This earthly life of ours is truly a sea of ups and downs, and our little boat has to go through various misfortunes, with danger of shipwreck. Nevertheless, we must not be depressed. With God’s help let us try to sail across this […]
Fun Fact: Many of the key New Testament passages about Baptism are found in a chapter three: Matthew 3:13-17, Galatians 3:27, Titus 3:5, 1 Peter 3:21, and John 3:3-5. Recently one of our young people, a confirmed Lutheran, was asked by a well-meaning Christian to share when and how she had been born again. Through […]
Acts 1:15-26 When, in Acts 1, Matthias is chosen to take the place of Judas, it meant that another man was not chosen. His name? Joseph Barsabbas Justus. The man no one remembers. That’s mainly because he wasn’t chosen. But it’s partly because three names is a lot to remember. The last of his names, […]
“Mary remained with her about three months” (Luke 1:56). It’s called the Visitation: when Mary, pregnant with our Lord, visited the much older Elizabeth, pregnant with John the Baptist (about six months older than Christ). And it looks like Mary spent roughly the first trimester of her pregnancy visiting Elizabeth: helping her, serving her, preparing […]
“Seek, and you will find” (Matt. 7:7). As I write these words, it is the 25th day of Easter. We are just halfway through the Easter Season. The season’s greeting continues to be, “Christ is risen!” This is the happiest time of the year. We still hear the words of the angel: “You seek Jesus […]
“A righteous man falls seven times, and rises again” (Prov. 24:16). A tradition holds that the Savior fell seven times on the way to Calvary. For those familiar with the fourteen Stations of the Cross, seven of them, it can be noted, are falls. (Stations III, VII, and IX are called “falls,” while IV, V, […]