There is something emboldening and celebratory about the gathering of a sports team or even a military unit that knows that it is going to win a contest. It is this sense of celebration that we are invited to take into “the lockerroom” of our faith as we don the armor of God to fight…
This section of Ephesians 5 is wildly unpopular among many brides. The notion of submission in a marriage is a stumbling block that it is very hard for us to overcome, the clear reason for this is that like in Mark 7, “submission” is so often couched in the external “law” of submission that has…
It can be hard to live our lives in a way that reflects Christ. This was no less true when Paul was writing to the Ephesians than it is today. Paul’s letter here shifts the focus of how we live in community with one another (gifting one another with community) as the Church to how…
There are many whom we can give ourselves to as gifts, and we can give of ourselves in many different ways – but the “Gifting” of living in Church community with one another is a distinct kind of gift that we can share with our Brothers and Sisters in Christ. We can share in a…
God’s gift of Communion or the Lord’s Supper is a particularly powerful gift, as it unites us with the “breadth and length and height and depth” of the love of Christ that we may find our root in Him. This gift is a miraculous gift – every bit as miraculous as walking on water or…
We continue our “ReGifted” series with a consideration of our Baptisms, looking at what it means to be granted access to the Trinity in one Spirit, as well as to be united with brothers and sisters in Christ through this sacrament. We were once far off, but God has granted to us His gift of…
As we begin our series on “ReGifting” with an epistle lesson that we had earlier in this Church Year, specifically the 2nd Sunday of the season of Christmas. This provides us with an ample opportunity to talk about the Gift of God, Jesus Christ. In July, it is sometimes even hard to remember what we…
About the Fourth Sunday in Lent: This Sunday is a rare time when the theme verse for the annual focus (Ephesians 2:8-10) coincides with the Epistle reading. As we look at the context of the theme verse of our annual focus, we see that Paul is encouraging us to look at our new lives in…