Posts with the tag “advent-2021”

Today we begin the celebration of Christmas. At service we will remember the babe in the manger, the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Due to familiarity and nostalgia brought on by years of tradition and Christmas programs, it is easy to overlook the significance of what we are actually celebrating.  Read More

“Amen! Come Lord Jesus!” The final prayer of all Christians and Creation closes out the Bible.   Read More

Creation RestoredGenesis 8:1 – 9:17Revelation 21 – 22Luke 7:1-23Psalm 104:1, 31-35LSB 336 Lo! He Comes with Clouds DescendingAttend Divine Service and receive Holy Communion.Advent Midweek services are Wednesday at 9am and Thursday at 6:30pm. ...  Read More

Every week this Advent, we have read a passage from the very beginning of the Bible and a passage from the very end. Just as we started week one with Genesis 1, we will be finishing off this week with the last two chapters of Revelation. From creation to the new creation.  Read More

God remembers. In the story of Scripture, God’s salvation always comes with the idea that God first remembers.  Read More

The word redeem simply seems to buy back or to set free. The Jews in Jesus’ day thought that God’s Messiah was going to come and set them free from Roman rule.   Read More

Worthy. Who is worthy? That is the big theme in this chapter of Revelation and the song that comes from it.  Read More

Creation RedeemedGenesis 7Revelation 5:1-14Luke 24:13-49Psalm 104:1, 24-30LSB 337 The Night Will Soon Be EndingAttend Divine Service and receive Holy Communion.Advent Midweek services are Wednesdays at 9am and Thursdays at 6:30pm....  Read More

Did you know that a major symbol of the Church is a ship? One of our red paraments, which are most often seen at Pentecost (the birth of the Church), displays a ship. The main area of our sanctuary (where the congregation sits) is called the Nave. Nave comes from the Latin word “navis” which means ship.  Read More

Genesis 7, while describing how the flood came and took away everything upon the face of the earth, is also about how God is cleansing and starting over. This is how God will fix the world. It starts by destroying in order that God can build again.  Read More

Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. - Luke 17:26 God’s judgement is a terrifying thing. Our sinful flesh, the Old Adam, doesn’t like to hear about it. We just want to hear about how nice Jesus is.   Read More

As we continue with this week’s theme of Creation judged, Revelation 14:6-16 gives us an image of God’s love and judgment.  Read More

Creation JudgedGenesis 6:5-22Revelation 14:6-16Luke 17:20-37Psalm 104:1, 19-23LSB 513 The Clouds of Judgment GatherAttend Divine Service and receive Holy Communion.Midweek Advent services are Wednesdays at 9am and Thursdays at 6:30pm....  Read More

“They will say, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.’ For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished (2 Peter 3:4-6).”  Read More

God is sorry he made man. That makes me wince when I read that. But imagine the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, who at the beginning loved everything that He had made. How he delighted in it all. God had made a partnership with mankind to care and tend the creation, but that all seems lost now. Now the feeling of regret hangs over the Lord of all.   Read More

And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. - Matthew 1:30-31 It is with these words that the promise made in Genesis 3:15 finally begins to be fulfilled.  Read More

Our text for this day is a text that plays on the hope given in Genesis 3. The hope that through Eve, a descendant would come who would destroy the serpent and restore God’s creation.  Read More

Creation FallsGenesis 3Revelation 12:1-17Luke 1:26-38Psalm 104:1, 19-18LSB 346 When All the World Was CursedAttend Divine Service Wednesday at 9am or Thursday at 6:30pm and receive Holy Communion....  Read More

If God exists, why is there evil? This is a major objection to Christianity. God is either all powerful or good. He can’t be both, or so the objection goes. If He is all powerful, he could stop evil from happening. If He is good, he would want to. Since there is evil in the world, He either can’t stop it or doesn’t want to. This objection, however, ignores major themes in the Scriptures and misunderstands the character of God.  Read More

He did it! She did it! That wily snake did it! Really God, you did it! Adam goes from praising Eve as being “bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh” who also shares in the image of God, to then also treating her as a science experiment to see if she does die after eating the forbidden fruit. And then worse, Adam throws her under the bus.  Read More

What do stewardship, thanksgiving, and an Advent theme dealing with creation have to do with one another? For the answer, let us first turn to the explanation of the first article of the Apostle’s Creed, found in Luther’s Small Catechism. It says, to paraphrase: God created everything. He provides everything I need. For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him.  Read More

In Genesis 2:5, we are told a line that perhaps would be easy to not take a second glance at. “When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground…”  Read More

What is a Christian to think about the climate change debate? As with the marriage debate, let us take a step back and look at what God has to say about it.  Read More

How you view the creation will determine how you treat it.   Read More

Last week we learned that God created everything with a purpose. It was not some random act, but one that was carefully planned. We continue that theme this week as it specifically applies to us.  Read More

Perhaps one of the things that we should note in Revelation is the imagery and constant refrain of worship. In fact, in much of our liturgy, frequent calls to Revelation are made. Therefore Revelation is perhaps one of the most comforting books in the Bible.  Read More

Advent Midweek 2 - Male and Female  Read More

One of the most polarizing topics in our culture is the topic of marriage. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the politics and personal stories and such, but it’s important as Christians to first take a step back and look at what God says.  Read More

Genesis 2:4-24 teaches us a lot about God’s intent and purpose for the creation. In fact, there are eight really good points for us to chew on that I will briefly highlight here but welcome further questions and feedback on.  Read More

This world, the universe, and even you were not created by accident. Creation was a deliberate act by a loving God. It wasn’t the result of gods fighting. It wasn’t the result of random mutations and chance. God did it. And because of that, we respond with praise and thanksgiving.  Read More

This text carries powerful images of heavenly creatures in a never-ending cycle of praise and worship to God. So much imagery is used that it is hard to fathom exactly what is going on. In Heaven, worship is ongoing. It never ends.  Read More

Before you read this devotional today, sit down and read Genesis 1. If you didn’t know anything about evolution, creation, or any science or history, what would you conclude the passage is trying to say? Is it allegory? How long did it take God to create everything? How did God create everything? Did God create everything? Does it even matter if God created everything?  Read More

Order. Purpose. Intention. Design. When you read our Scripture reading for today’s devotion, that should be what you see in all of this.  Read More

Creation. What comes to mind when this word is stated? Perhaps images of our world the midst of a great expanse of space. Perhaps forests and grassy plains are in view. Waterfalls, mountains, oceans, and deserts. Together they form the places where we live and the places where God has put us.  Read More