I've had an Epiphany!

Galatians 4:4-7 4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son to be born of a woman, so that he would be born under the law, 5 in order to redeem those under the law, so that we would be adopted as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts to shout, “Abba, Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if you are a son, then you are also an heir of God through Christ. Galatians 4:4-7 is one of the great texts of the Bible. It teaches the incarnation of Christ, the two natures of Jesus as God and Man, and that through Jesus as the Son of God and Son of Man, we are made heirs of the heavenly Father. These four verses are used in our Lutheran Catechism to teach to our youth and adult confirmands why Jesus had to be true God and true Man. I’m sure your pastor drilled the meaning of these verses into you in Catechism class. This morning, we’re going to do the same. To help you remember the importance of these verse, I wan...

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. ” After Charlie and Jenny were married, they were blessed with two children. But several months into Jenny’s third pregnancy, she suffered a miscarriage. Charlie and Jenny were devastated. It took them a long time to recover and feel passionate towards each other again. Finally, God blessed them with another child. But there were complications during the pregnancy and their son was born with serious health and mental disabilities. Charlie and Jenny didn’t care. They loved their son and poured everything into caring or him. Jenny quit work to stay home full-time with their son. Charlie worked as much overtime as possible to be able to afford the best doctors and therapists for their son. But as Jenny poured her passion into her son, she didn’t leave room to be passionate toward her husband. Charlie was so exhausted each night that ...

John 1:14 The Word became flesh and dwelled among us. Over the years, I have talked to lots of pastors and people about the benefits and blessings of celebrating the Lord’s Supper every Sunday. I tell people that at Epiphany we celebrate communion not just on Sundays, but also festival services like Epiphany, Ascension, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. At one point I was asked why we receive the Lord’s Supper on Christmas morning This dear person felt it was a little strange for a service celebrating the birth of Jesus to transition into receiving this baby’s body and blood. And I get it — the juxtaposition is a bit jarring. Christmas is a celebration of life. The very Word of God “became flesh and dwelled among us” (John 1:14). Our hymns this morning are filled with hope and joy. We exchange gifts with those we love in remembrance of God giving us the gift of himself in the Christchild. We have nativities set up with angels, Mary, Joseph, humble shepherds, and wise...

Acts 4:12 “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.” It is common to be given a nickname when you are in college or the military. Think about some of the nicknames of your college friends or military buddies. Do you remember why those names were given? My college friends had nicknames like Max, Zod, Wierval and Digger. Mine was simply Z. Max was from the movie Max Duggan . Zod was from Superman II . Digger was the cute little mole character on Shirt Tales . Wierval was some weird mash-up of last names given by upper classmen. Mine is pretty easy to figure out. We still call each other these names decades later. The Son of God was given nicknames, too. This morning we heard some of them – Immanuel, Prince of Peace, Branch, Word, King, Lamb and Shepherd. Each one of those nicknames was given to tell us something more about God’s Son. They help us to capture the uncapturable grandeur of God. But n...

The  Lord  reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment. (Psalm 9:7) Amen. The story of Rahab is a story of judgment. Rahab knew judgment was coming. All the citizens of Jericho knew, too. They heard what the God of the Israelites had done to the Egyptians with the plagues and drowned the Egyptian Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea. They heard how the Israelites, newly escaped from Egypt, overwhelmed the nomadic Amalekites with Joshua and Aaron holding up Moses’ arms during the battle (Exodus 17:8-16). They heard how the Israelites had defeated the Midianites with one thousand soldiers from each of Israel’s ten tribes (Numbers 31:1-8). They heard about the Israelites defeating the Amorite kings Sihon and Og (Deuteronomy 2-3). Even though the inhabitants of Jericho were physically stronger and bigger than the Israelites (Numbers 13:28-33), even though they had had a huge wall fortifying the city of Jericho, they were terrified that the Israelites ...

Matthew 11:2-11 2 While John was in prison, he heard about the things Christ was doing. He sent two of his disciples 3 to ask him, “Are you the Coming One or should we wait for someone else?” 4 Jesus answered them, “Go, report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the gospel is preached to the poor. 6 Blessed is the one who does not take offense at me.” 7 As these two were leaving, Jesus began to talk to the crowds about John. “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 What did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? No, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. 9 So what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you! And he is much more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written, ‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ 11 Amen I tell you: Among those ...

December 4,11,18 [Midweek Advent]  Genesis 21:1-7; Hebrews 11:1   J.D.Roekle Genesis 21:1-7 Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. 3 Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” 7 And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” Hebrews 11:11 By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.   Advent Women: Sarah Dear Friends ...