'Gospel' Tagged Posts
WHERE IS THIS WRITTEN?
From time to time, it is helpful to list some of the main teachings of the Bible along with some of the main passages where these teachings are found: The one, true God is the Triune God – one God in three PersonsDeuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 3:16-17; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:15 The Scriptures are the verbally inspired and inerrant Word of GodJohn 10:35; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:21 The Law shows us our sin and the Gospel shows us…
WHERE THE LOVE OF GOD LEADS
On the 10th of November in ’75, the Edmund Fitzgerald sank beneath the waves of Lake Superior in a terrible storm. Gordon Lightfoot composed a ballad to immortalize the 29 men who went down with the ship. His ballad, the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, has a sad line in it that asks: “Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?” Jesus asked something like this when He hung helplessly from…
THE CONSOLATION OF BRETHREN
In one of our Lutheran Confessions, The Smalcald Articles, Martin Luther talks about the different ways in which the Gospel gives us counsel and help. Predictably he says, “Through the spoken Word…Secondly, through Baptism, Thirdly, through the holy Sacrament of the Altar, Fourthly through the power of the keys.” And then Luther adds this neat little phrase: “And also through the mutual conversation and consolation of brethren.” “The mutual conversation and consolation of brethren” is what happens when Christians…
WHERE IS THIS WRITTEN?
In the second chapter of his second letter, Peter releases a blistering attack on false teachers. We know that false doctrine is poisonous. We know that true doctrine is the only antidote. In the Small Catechism Luther was accustomed to ask: “Where is this written?” He then set down the Bible passages where a given doctrine or teaching was found. By way of review and for your personal Bible study at home, here are some of the main teachings of…
“DO NOT HINDER THEM” – A REVIEW OF INFANT BAPTISM
“Baptism now saves you,” says Peter in his first epistle (1 Peter 3:21). Baptism is never spoken of as something we do for God, but as something God does for us – an expression of the gospel. In The Gospel According To St. Mark, we are introduced to John’s “baptism for the forgiveness of sins,” and then to our sinless Savior who comes to Jordan’s bank for baptism as our Substitute to fulfill all righteousness. Understandably, as people were first…
THE MARRIAGE ARENA
St. Paul wrote one last letter to young pastor Timothy from death row, his “green mile,” in a Roman dungeon. The old lion in winter sounded a warning: “Know this: In the last days there will be terrible times…” (2 Timothy 3:1 EHV). He lists a legion of symptoms. We see the truth of Paul’s warning all around us, don’t we? The family feuds, rebellious children, irresponsible parents, recreational sex, gay marriage, abortion dumpsters, out-of-control love affairs with alcohol, unscriptural…
“DO NOT HINDER THEM”
The Gospels tell us that little children were brought to Jesus that He might bless them. The Gospel According To St. Luke uses the term “babies.” One of the chief ways we bring our children to Jesus is in Holy Baptism. There are some denominations which do not offer this means of grace to little children. A review of what the Scriptures say is always helpful. In The Gospel According To St. Mark, we are introduced to John’s “baptism for…
THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD
Each year, as is our custom, we gather to meditate on what has been called “The Greatest Story Ever Told.” It is not a mere story of course. It certainly is not fiction. It is fact. It is history. It truly happened. Nor is this true and greatest story ever told only an academic exercise, a dusty old document detached from your life and mine. It is, instead, the story of God’s bleeding love for every soul ever born.…
IS THAT ALL THERE IS?
At age 45 Howard Hughes dated actresses, test-piloted exotic aircraft, and worked on top-secret CIA contacts. He owned a chain of hotels around the world, and even an airline – TWA. 20 years later, at the age of 65, Hughes still had plenty of money – $2.3 billion – the richest man of his day. But he was also one of the most pathetic. He now lived in small, dark rooms atop his hotels, the curtains pulled. His scraggly beard…
POTEMKIN CHRISTIANS?
Ever hear of a “Potemkin Village?” In the late 18th century, Catherine the Great, Empress of all Russia, was out touring the provinces of her country. But Russia was a mess. Poverty and squalor were all over the place. Conditions were disgraceful. The second most powerful person in the empire was her boyfriend, Prince Grigori Aleksandrovich Potemkin. Potemkin wanted to put on a good show for the empress as she toured the country. So at the first village she came…
WHERE IS THIS WRITTEN?
From time to time, it is helpful to list some of the main teachings of the Bible along with some of the main passages where these teachings are found. Perhaps you will want to slip this half-page into your Bible for easy reference. The one, true God is the Triune God – one God in three Persons Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 3:16-17; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:15 The Scriptures are the verbally inspired and inerrant Word of God John…
“GLORY!”
In Genesis 15, Abraham sees a vision of a smoking fire pot and a blazing torch moving between the sacrificial animal pieces – a vision of “the glory of the Lord.” This combination of fire and smoke appears in various forms throughout the Old Testament – in the burning bush, in the pillar of cloud and fire in the wilderness, in the thunder, fire and smoke on Mt. Sinai when God gives the Ten Commandments, in the bright cloud…