Our heavenly citizenship and loyalty are infinitely more valuable than any national identity we might also cherish or party with which we might align. That means all politics and political activity the Christian takes up as part of their duty as a citizen is done for God's glory and our neighbor's good. When we “do politics,” we are called to do it Christianly.

Christ, who gave himself for us once for all on the cross, gives himself to us continually in the Supper.

Everything in our life depends on God’s self-revelation. It is summarized in his Name and most fully made known in God the Son, whose saving Name is rooted in this revelation at the Burning Bush, where God met Moses and commissioned him to go to Egypt.

A summary of Sunday’s sermon notes.

The early Christian Church was marked by the emergence of several pivotal figures whose teachings, writings, and martyrdom helped shape the theological and organizational foundations of Christianity. Among these figures, Clement of Rome, Polycarp of Smyrna, Ignatius of Antioch, and Justin Martyr stand out for their devout scholarship and leadership

In the often-perceived battleground between science and faith, particularly the Christian faith, many assume that one must choose a side, relegating the other to the realm of irrelevance or outright opposition. However, a deeper exploration reveals that science and the Christian faith are not enemies but partners contributing to the common good.

In the discussions of eschatology within the synoptic gospels, particularly the discourse in Luke 21, it is crucial to heed Jesus' explicit statement that "these signs are NOT yet the end." This clarification by Jesus is pivotal and yet often overlooked. He indicates that the foretold events, including wars, natural disasters, and persecutions, serve as precursors to a more immediate climax, namely the destruction of Jerusalem, not to the end of the world. His prophecy aimed to prepare his followers for the impending crisis of the city's fall rather than a distant apocalyptic event. The use of these texts to suggest they describe the end of the world is a significant misreading.

What did Paul mean by “the weakness of God,” and why does this matter to us? How does weakness help us understand God’s ways and the path we take as followers of Jesus?

When Paul wrote, “We don’t know how to pray as we should,” he followed it immediately with, “But the Spirit helps us…” That’s our constant encouragement in prayer. Do I know how to pray? Not really. Are my prayers fruitful and effective? Not like I wish they were. But the Holy Spirit is working in my praying, despite my many weaknesses, and he knows what’s needed even when I don’t

We believe because the Spirit uses the apostles' witness in the Scriptures to bring us to life in Christ. But the apostles first heard the great rumor of hope from these faithful sisters, whose words they dismissed as "nonsense" (24:11). Thank God they "kept telling" the story (24:9)!

We cannot alter the past but because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, we can bring the past to the altar. The One who was, and is, and is to come redeems us, reigns over us, and will return for us.

Politics isn't to be forsaken or service in the government (in its many forms) despised. But a more robust vision of such service, informed by a much earlier understanding of what that means, together with at least a grain of the humility that boasts in weakness rather than prowess, would go a long way toward the renewal of a constructive engagement that eclipses the current destructive, burn ‘em and hang ‘em narratives of the so-called evangelical politics of the alt-right and the despairing statism of the far-left.

The darkest night, the deepest pain,

Cannot the hope of Heaven stain

For He who rose, the grave defies,

My Savior lives, and so shall I!

One of my favorite moments in the stage Musical version of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables is when Jean Valjean sings in wonder at the grace of the good Bishop. “He called me brother”, and that revelation, the truth that he was in a new family of faith by grace and mercy, changed his life forever.

Reconciliation with God begins with God's unwavering desire to bridge the chasm between us caused by our sin. How could it be otherwise? Just look at the words Paul employs to describe our situation - weak, ungodly, sinners, enemies; what a disaster had overtaken us. Nevertheless, God made us the objects of his mercy out of sheer grace and love.

This passage encapsulates the essence of the gospel—redemption and justification are not achieved by human effort but gifts received by God's intervening, liberating grace secured by the sacrificial love of Jesus. He is the elder brother who comes to the distant country of our rebellion to rescue us, paying the price to liberate us and bring us home.

Yet it is exactly here that we notice a twist in the tale: Christ offers the atonement, but he’s not the offending party in the relationship - we are! Shouldn’t we then be the ones offering the atonement? Astonishingly, God intervenes and makes the atonement himself. We don’t offer this sacrifice; Christ offers his own blood as a substitute, as a sacrifice on our behalf.

That word ‘stirred’ in Matthew’s description of what happened in Jerusalem that day is eseisthe, the ancient Greek root of our word seismic. Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem unleashed earth-shaking power that could not be ignored. With apologies to James Bond, the city was ‘shaken not stirred’ and shaken to the core.

It turns out that prophesying is a tough business, especially when it’s for keeps. In fact, the Hebrew people took ‘prophesying’ very seriously, and if you spoke a false prophecy, you were toast—literally. It wasn’t just your bracket that ended up broken!