Transfiguration and the Lenten Journey

I realize that this post is a couple of weeks late, but the more I work through our lenten journey at our church the more importance Transfiguration Day takes.  I have come to appreciate the placement of the story of the Transfiguration in the Gospels in a completely different way since becoming a pastor.  A few days [...]

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The Samaritan Woman and Repentence

In John 4, it is recorded that Jesus knows about the woman’s relationships, that she has had 5 husbands and the one she is living with currently is not her husband.  Yet, unlike the beloved, though highly questioned as to its authority or accuracy, story of John 8 where Jesus instructs the lady to “sin [...]

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Mary, mother of Jesus, & Pentecost

A few questions for the online community:
Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the women were with the disciples in “the upper room” waiting as Jesus had told them to (Acts 1:12-14).  And in 2:1 Luke writes that “they were all together in one place.”  Did the Spirit fall upon Mary and the women?  Did they [...]

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“Revealed” and Spiritual Reality

“…until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:5)
Often times it seems the church thinks of what is yet to come using terms such as ascending and descending.  Yet, Peter uses the word “revealed.”  The picture is that of the curtain being drawn, and the [...]

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The Living Hope of Resurrection

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.” (1 Peter 1:3-4)
Here the Apostle Peter reminds the early [...]

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Calvin Introducing 1 Peter

John Calvin writes:
 ”The design of Peter in this Epistle is to exhort the faithful to a denial of the world and a contempt of it, so that being freed from carnal affections and all earthly hindrances, they might with their whole soul aspire after the celestial kingdom of Christ, that being elevated by hope, supported [...]

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The Easter Season

The Lord IS Risen!
Easter truly is the greatest celebration in the Church calendar. It is on this day that we celebrate God’s awe-some triumph over His enemies as put on display in the Resurrection of Jesus the Messiah. Yet, after the day is done the church goes back to business as usual, forgetting [...]

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Be Perfect

Last Sunday’s text ended with: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Because I did not mention this much in the sermon, due to the volume of other material, I thought I would say something brief on this passage. This text is often used to scare people into repentance, reminding them [...]

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Important Quote on the “Sermon on the Mount”

Bishop NT Wright says this of this very well know speech of Jesus:
“The sermon…is not a mere miscellany of ethical instruction. It cannot be generalized into a set of suggestions, or even commands, on how to be ‘good’. Nor can it be turned into a guidemap for how to go to ‘heaven’ after [...]

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The Day of the Lord and the Response of God’s People

In light of this Advent season, as we are anticipating the second Advent of our Lord, it is important to note our role in His coming. As mentioned in the last post linking to 2 Peter 3, we are told that we can hasten the day of His coming. This is shocking to [...]

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