Because He

What does God say about you?

The Gospel of the “Because He” series comes to a zenith here in the Transfiguration. As we see Jesus glorified and having conversations with Elijah and Moses, we know that we too will be glorified with Him and will have conversations with all of the saints in glory forevermore. The Transfiguration And after six days…

Who are you having breakfast with?

About this Sunday: While the notation in the Gospel reading is almost easy to skip over, the role of Jesus’ life of prayer cannot be underestimated or detached from Jesus’ ministries of healing and preaching. Likewise, we are called to pray “in His Name” meaning praying in His identity and character. Jesus Heals Many And…

What gives you the right?

About this Sunday: It may shock us that the same authority that Jesus used to cast out the demon in this Gospel reading is the authority that confers to us in our Baptisms. When we are His disciples we are called to live out His authority. This means that we are called to speak with…

What if the disciples said no?

About this Sunday: Jesus followed the will of the Father, and because of that, we are called to follow Him in order to do the Father’s will. We continue to talk about what it means for us to be disciples of Jesus Christ and how that cannot mean anything but being set in a community…

Who are you known for?

This Sunday is the first Sunday in Epiphany that we consider Jesus’ call to discipleship. Normally we think about Jesus’ action of calling the disciples as calling us to discipleship, but if we take seriously the idea that we have Jesus’ identity in our Baptisms, we also need to take seriously the audacious responsibility that…

Was John the right guy?

Baptism of our Lord is a celebration of the fact that Jesus was Baptized by John the Baptist in the River Jordan. In the Lutheran Baptismal prayer, it says that this action “hallowed all waters to become a lavish washing away of sin [in Baptism].” This starts of the season of Epiphany, which is a…