We have a new identity in Christ. We are powerful, strong, supported by God, living our lives based on him. We are like our Savior in so many ways. So the question is, what now? It would be easy for us to take our new identity and keep it to ourselves. It would be easy…

In Psalm 147, God is doing many things. He builds cities, gathers outcasts, heals the brokenhearted, binds up wounds, and lifts up the humble, just to name a few (verses 2-3, 6). But when you think about it, there’s little mention of God physically doing things in the Bible. He doesn’t create Jerusalem out of…

Yesterday I wrote about how God changes us to be more like him. Today I ask you, who would want to be more like us? It sounds ridiculous. We have problems. We’re weak, weary, and confused. We forget about God and try to do our own thing, which always fails. Who in their right mind…

The Bible has a habit of describing God. For example, in Isaiah 40, we learn that God “sits above the circle of the earth” (verse 22). He is the “everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable” (verse 28). This tells us…

I know this will come as a shock to you, but the people you see in church every Sunday are not perfect. Are you shocked? I didn’t think so. You know that your Christian friends and family make mistakes. They are not immune to temptation, doubt, or apathy. They need to hear about Jesus just…

The Israelites were, in a word, terrified. Moses describes the scene: “As soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders. And you said, … ‘If we hear the voice…

In Mark 1, Jesus is calling his first disciples. “Passing along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.’ And immediately they left their…

There’s been a lot of talk recently about “Christian cleavage.” Should Christian women wear modest clothing so they don’t encourage men to lust? Or should the responsibility be put on Christian men to control their lustful thoughts around women? That’s the debate. There was a similar debate going on in Corinth. Some Christians were eating…

After Jesus called his first disciples, “they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching” (Mark 1:21). This wasn’t out of the ordinary, except for one thing. My Lutheran Study Bible footnote on verse 21 says this: “Jesus never used the prophetic formula ‘thus says the Lord.’ In…