Weekly Devotional - Pentecost 24 - November 8, 2026
Encouragement: Christ Will Return
Grace, Mercy and Peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore, encourage one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4)
This is our text.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Winter is coming again. We don’t really question this pattern... December approaches, and the temperatures drop. After Summer comes Fall, and after the Fall, Winter. Then, throughout the cold of Winter, we look forward to Spring. This is the order of things. We expect one to follow the other.
Likewise, as Christians, we live in the expectation of the coming of Christ. There is the order of our faith. First - Jesus came to us in His miraculous birth. Next, He lived for us - teaching, healing and fulfilling Scriptural Messianic prophecy. Then, He set His face toward Jerusalem, went to the cross, suffered and died for us to take away our sin. He was then raised again in glory to conquer eternal death for us. He ascended into heaven, and lives as our Advocate and Mediator with all authority at the right hand of the Father. And because all these promises have been fulfilled and completed by Christ for us, we may rightly wait in the confident and simple expectation that He will come again in glory for the judgement and for our Resurrection.
We are in the last 3 weeks of Pentecost, which are the last 3 weeks of the church year. Our Scripture readings get us thinking about the Coming of Christ. Then, moving into Advent season, a new church year begins, and we continue to meditate on the ways that Jesus comes to us - in the Gospel word, in the Sacraments, in our love and service to one another, and especially as we look forward to Christmas, how He has come to us in the Incarnation, as the Christ child, our Savior.
We are re-immersing ourselves in these Scriptures that assure us of promises fulfilled in Christ, and God’s sure promises yet to come. Our epistle reading from 1 Thessalonians talks about Christ’s final coming - and in it we are called not to fear, but to encourage one another with this message. His return means the joy of our own Resurrection, and our eternal life with Him in the new creation. We encourage one another with these words of hope. Paul expected Jesus to return in his lifetime, and so do we. It is part of being a disciple of Jesus. He said that He will return, and because He and His words are true, He will. We expect it! We stay prepared and watch. We don’t know when; no one does, only the Father knows... But, like the wise virgins in our gospel parable, we keep our lamps filled with oil, and wait for the Lord.
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
Beautiful words of encouragement: we will be with the Lord, always... And being ready for Jesus Christ to return is not a fearful process for us. When Jesus comes, we will run to Him and fall on our knees, for He is everything we have been waiting for. He will bring to pass in us the fulness of the good work that He began in us long ago!
Perhaps we have read the End Times passages in Scripture with an unhealthy fear, wondering if we will be caught unprepared. However, Jesus, in Luke chapter 21 teaches us that when the signs of His coming begin to take place, we can straighten up, and raise our heads, for our redemption is drawing near.
You see, Jesus Christ has filled our lamps with the oil of His grace and forgiveness. We have been united to Him in Holy Baptism. He has washed us clean in His precious blood, clothed us in His righteousness, and made us children of God. Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, has begun a work of new creation in us...
So, with our lamps full of the oil of faith in Jesus by the Holy Spirit, we go forth in the strength and grace of Christ. Our lamps burn with His light and love.
The epistle of 1 John says that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all (1 John 1). And further on in 1 John, we see that God is love... [and] by this we know love, that [Jesus] laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for [one another]. 1 Jn 3:16.
So, we live as if Christ is returning this afternoon. And we encourage each other with these words of truth, that He will come and make all things right and we will be with Him always. And whether He comes today or later, either way, we will see Him face to face very soon. In the 39th Psalm, we pray,
O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Behold, You have made my days a few handbreadths... Ps 39:4–5.
Either way, whether He comes soon, or at the end of our earthly sojourn here, we will see our precious Lord face to face, and will know Him fully as He has always fully known us. 1 Corinthians 13. Fear has been swallowed up by Christ’s work of redemption for us. Established in His love, we cast off our fear of punishment.
Jesus proclaims in John chapter 5:
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life (John 5:2). Hence, we are encouraged that Christ will indeed come again, and together we can say with confidence, “Come, precious Lord, take our hands, lead us home.” And we will be with Him always.
And now may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
All Saints’ Sunday - November 1, 2026
Precious Lord, Take My Hand
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Seeing the crowds, [Jesus] went up on the mountain, and when He sat down, His disciples came to Him. And He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth...” (Matthew 5)
This is our text.
Dear Brother and Sisters in Christ
Thomas A. Dorsey, now widely considered the father of Gospel music, wrote the lyrics and the tune for our opening hymn, Precious Lord, Take My Hand (Hymn 739). He lived in Chicago with his young wife Nettie. In 1932 Nettie was pregnant with their child, a son, whom they named Thomas Andrew Dorsey Jr.
In the summer of 1932, Thomas Dorsey Sr went to St Louis to perform and promote Gospel music at a large church revival and Baptist convention. While there, he received a telegram from Chicago informing him that Nettie was dead. In shock and unbelief, he rushed home to find that Nettie had gone into labor, and due to complications, she had died. Their son survived only 2 more days. Thomas Dorsey was devastated. If anyone was ever poor in spirit, it was he. If anyone had ever truly mourned and needed comfort and mercy, it was Thomas Dorsey.
It was under these tragic circumstances that he wrote, Precious Lord, Take My Hand... lead me on, let me stand, I am tired, I am weak, I am worn...
Thomas A. Dorsey did not compose this hymn in a wave of feel-good inspiration; he wrote it as a broken man who had just buried his family. 32 years old and distraught, he was unable to do anything for days. Feeling empty and isolated in grief, he struggled to pray.
Thomas Dorsey had moved from being a Blues and Jazz musician to being a Gospel music composer when Gospel music was relatively new and not widely accepted. Dedicating his musical gifts to the Lord, he must have wondered how God had allowed this tragedy to happen.
Yet, Thomas Dorsey wrote in our hymn: Through the storm, through the night, Lead me on to the light. Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.
These words are the raw pleadings of a man who needs his Lord and Savior’s hand of strength just to take the next step forward, to somehow pull him out of the darkness and confusion.
Our hymn continues: Hear my cry, hear my call; hold my hand lest I fall...
This song has been considered by many as the greatest Gospel hymn ever composed, perhaps rivaled only by Amazing Grace. Precious Lord, Take My Hand was Martin Luther King Jr’s favorite hymn and became an inspirational anthem for the Civil Rights movement.
In our Gospel reading, Jesus begins His most profound sermon ever recorded with the pronouncement of blessings on His people. He bestows His blessings, not upon the powerful and the self-sufficient, rather upon the poor in spirit, upon humble disciples who were hungering and thirsting after a righteous Savior. For a Messiah who is both meek and gentle, but also, the One who had the heavenly authority to give them true rest and eternal comfort. People like Thomas Dorsey. People, tired and worn out. People like us. At various moments in our lives, we are poor in spirit - downtrodden and ill-equipped to save ourselves from anything, and our only hope is in Jesus our precious Lord. Perhaps we mourn over lost loved ones who we still miss so deeply. Maybe we are grieving over the corruption in a power-hungry world. Lamenting over our own sin. Even struggling to pray. Our plea goes out again and again: “Precious Lord, take my hand.”
The Beatitudes are our precious Lord’s hand extended to us, blessings of eternal peace and wholeness to the poor in spirit - a promise to those of us who have nothing left in ourselves except the hope of God’s goodness in Christ; His promises of mercy and comfort to those of us who can’t seem to find any of it in a world seemingly without grace and truth. In these blessings, Jesus gives us a sure word of promise that in Him we will one day have mercy and comfort and we will be in His eternal kingdom of peace as children of God.
This word of promise is the Lord taking our hand and leading us forward in faith in this troubled world, with greater unseen promises in the world to come.
Precious Lord, guide my feet, hold my hand... lead me home.
Today we remember our loved ones with the Lord. They survived their pilgrimage hear on earth, and at the end, when their earthly body wore out, the Lord reached out and took their hand and led them home. Now with the Lord they wait for us. And we persevere with Christ. We gather together in Word and Sacrament and in the fellowship and love of Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit of hope.
We act as Christ for each other. We take each other’s hands and share in each other’s burdens. With angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven, we encourage each other onward through the travails of this uncertain life, trusting that not only will the Lord lead us home one day, but also that He knows our plight here in this fallen world. Isaiah 53 says,
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces. He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely, He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:3–5).
The blessings of our precious Lord are sure and trustworthy because Jesus Christ, who preached that greatest of sermons on that mountain in the region of Galilee, also went to another mountain, the mount of Calvary and bore our sins in His body on the tree. And on that hill, pierced for our transgressions, He was the ultimate peacemaker, the preeminent Man of sorrows, the poor in spirit for us, persecuted unjustly for righteousness - suffering all things in solidarity and on behalf of you and me and Thomas Dorsey and his wife and son and for all who trust in Him. And now, the Son of God, the Resurrection and the Life: He lives and reigns to all eternity.
Indeed, we have this promise from our precious Lord. Our robes are washed white as snow in His precious blood. We will stand before the throne of God and He will wipe away the tears from our faces. Jesus will take each of us by the hand, with His own hands that bear the nail prints of the cross, and lead us to the Father, and we will see (as our epistle reading says), “...what kind of love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are” (1 John 3). And so we are!
And now may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Sermon - Reformation Sunday - October 25, 2026
Abide and Be Reformed
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered Him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:31-36
This is out text.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
We, individually, and collectively as the body of Christ, are always under a process of reformation and renewal in Christ. God is always at work in us, bringing us back on track, back to Scripture, back to the Gospel. It is always helpful to stay grounded in the trustworthy proclamation of Jesus Christ crucified and risen for you and for me, abiding in the assurances of the Sacramental means of grace established by Christ (Baptism and the Lord’s Supper). This is what Martin Luther and the other reformers did. Back to the Gospel of grace. Back to Scripture. But first, Martin Luther had to go through his own personal reformation by the Holy Spirit through the true Gospel.
In our reading today (from John 8), Jesus connects the personal reformation of becoming a disciple with abiding in His word. Abide is an important word in the Gospel of John. The Spirit abided on Jesus in His baptism (chapter 1). His word abides in those who believe (chapter 5). Jesus says those who eat and drink His body and blood abide in Him (chapter 6). Believers cannot abide in darkness (chapter 12). Rather, the Holy Spirit abides in us (John 14:17).
The way that abide is used in our gospel passage means to stay put, to remain. To abide in the word of Christ is not to just listen superficially and move on, but to hear by the Holy Spirit, to receive by faith the gifts of Christ’s redemptive work, to allow His truth to take root, producing in us a life of abiding unity with the author and perfecter of our faith - Jesus our Savior. Perhaps the best passage that brings these ideas of abiding and discipleship and reformation (personal and church) together is from John chapter 15:
I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit... Jesus goes on to say, Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing... If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples (John 15:1–8, in part).
This is God’s work of reformation and renewal in us as we abide in unity with Christ. Grafted into Him as the true vine, we bear the good fruit of love for God and neighbor. This is reformational discipleship. And God continues to prune us so that we may become even more fruitful disciples of Jesus.
In the final line of our gospel passage, Jesus says that when He sets us free, we are truly free. He says the slave does not remain... This is the same Greek for abide. The slave to sin cannot remain/abide in the house forever. The Son abides forever. Hence, to abide with God forever, we must no longer be slaves, rather beloved children. This is what Jesus has done for us. Through His death and resurrection, He has moved us from slave to free. He has taken our sin away. He has given us the gift of adoption into the family of God. And as adopted sons and daughters of Heavenly Father in Christ, we have the assurance of abiding with God in His house forever. This is the freedom that Jesus is talking about in our passage. He is saying to us as believers, “Abide in Me. And allow my true words of salvation to abide in you. Trust Me, I am the way, the truth and the life, and in Me, you are beloved children of our Heavenly Father, and as such, we may abide in His kingdom together forever and ever.
And now may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Weekly Devotional, Pentecost 21, October 18, 2026
Image Bearers of Christ’s Light and Love
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Show Me the coin for the tax.” And they brought Him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said, “Caesar’s.” Then He said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When they heard it, they marveled. And they left Him and went away (Matthew 22:15-22, in part).
This is our text.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
In past times, I have too often been guilty of negative self-talk. Perhaps I thought that speaking poorly of myself was necessary for humility. But this is not humility, nor is it helpful for a follower of Jesus. Of course, I’m not talking about the fact that we are sinners in need of Jesus our Savior. And I am not talking about thinking too highly of ourselves... I am referring to the harm of self-deprecating talk that really denies who we are in Christ.
Genesis chapter one says, God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them (Genesis 1:27). Indeed, we are image bearers of God. And although the image of God has been marred by sin and death, in Christ the image of God is being restored in us.
In Christ, we have forgiveness; He has made us holy and clean. Therefore, as the Lord tells us in Scripture, “What God has made clean, do not call impure” (Acts 10:15). Therefore, we can believe both that we have been saved by grace through the gift of faith in Christ, and also now, because of Jesus, we are beloved children of God and grateful bearers of His image.
In our Gospel reading, Jesus points out the image of Caesar inscribed on the denarius coin, and then He says, "Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Earthly treasure bears the image of earthly kings. U.S. bills and coins bear on them the images of U.S. presidents (now deceased). So, if we can identify earthly currency by the image inscribed upon it, then how do identify the eternally valuable things of God? Where can His image be found?
As always, we begin with Jesus, the eternal Son of God. In Colossians chapter one, we read this about Jesus: He is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). Hebrews chapter one says that [Jesus] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature (Hebrews 1:3). 2 Corinthians chapter 4 says that the glory of God is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the perfect manifestation of the unseen God the Father. And so, Jesus is not only the true revelation and image of God, but in unity with Him, we also are, by grace, the image bearers of God. To bear God’s image means that we reflect His love and light to the world and to one another.
1 John 4 says,
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him....”
Jesus says to render unto God that which is God’s. As children of God created in His image, we belong to Him, and therefore we render unto Him our whole lives. In Christ, we have eternal value. So, we should speak of ourselves as such. We all know that we fall short and miss the mark on a daily basis. No one is beyond the need for repentance. But more profoundly, no one is beyond Christ’s redemption. Hence, we don’t speak ill of our neighbor, nor should we speak ill of ourselves. Rather, Christians are encouragers. We speak the truth, but we speak the truth in love.
Paul, in in our epistle reading to the church in Thessalonica, says,
For we know, brothers loved by God, that He has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord...
Here is some great practical counsel from Scripture. When I look around this church, I see people in Christ that I want to imitate. I see children of God who are in Christ, and in whom Christ dwells. Temples of the Holy Spirit. And His light and love shine through you.
Paul in Ephesians chapter 5 (v 1-2) says it very plainly: Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
This is bearing the image of God. This is recognizing that Jesus has made us His own. That He has purchased us with His own precious blood and has set us free to be His image-bearers. We are the children of God. Therefore, we imitate one another in love as we imitate Christ and His self-giving love. This is rendering and surrendering the things of God to God.
And now may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Sermon, Pentecost 20, October 11, 2026
Be Reasonable
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4-7)
This is our text.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
With divisions and contention over politics, the economy, and even religion... With wars and crime and violence; with potential pandemics, and with the stress concerning the unknown future of Artificial Intelligence, and so many other things on our hearts and minds, we need reasonableness!
It is illuminating to see that Paul in our Epistle reading from Philippians commends us to let our reasonableness be known to everyone. We are known as disciples of Jesus by our Christlike love for one another, and we are called as followers of Him, amidst all the chaos of this world, to reflect a reasonableness to our neighbor. Christlike love and reasonableness go hand-in-hand.
Reasonableness is a Christlike trait. In 2 Corinthians 10:1, Paul uses this same Greek word from our Philippians passage to describe Jesus. This same Greek word (reasonableness) in other Bible translations has been translated as moderation or gentleness. (Not the same “gentleness” of humility stated as one of the parts of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians, but in another sense.) The essence of this word in Philippians is describing a person who is not legalistic, a person who does not rigidly insist on his or her own way, a person who deals with others in a level-headed manner; fair, not impulsive, not panicky, not engaging in petty squabbles. Balanced, mature, one who looks toward a path of peace with everyone where possible.
This does not mean that anything goes, rather, a reasonableness that is confident and secure in Christ and in His truth, and therefore secure in his or her identity. There is no need to get all worked up, because we trust that Jesus has matters well in hand. This book of James describes this characteristic well while using this same unique word. (the ESV uses gentle instead of reasonableness, but the overall meaning is clear enough).
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace (James 3:17).
We are, by grace, children of God, operating in His wisdom, not rigid, not harsh, or defensive. Jesus models this in Scripture. One example comes from Luke chapter 9: After a Samaritan village rejects Jesus, James and John ask Jesus if they can tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them. And Jesus then rebukes them for the unreasonable idea. As we are called to love, we are also called to be reasonable and gentle and fair minded. We let God be God, knowing that He alone is the King, trusting Him to make all things right in His good timing.
Of course, we have not been fully perfected in love and gentleness yet. But the Holy Spirit is at work in our lives sanctifying us, even in the unreasonable messiness of this life. We can take heart. Jesus has overcome the world for us. He walks with us day by day, and His truth and gentleness lift us above the strife, rivalries and dissensions of the world. In unity with Christ by faith, in His grace and strength, as temples of the Holy Spirit, God will grow this gracious reasonableness in our new creation hearts.
Paul goes on to say in this same Philippians chapter (verse 8) that,
Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
This of course describes Christ and all good things related to Him. In church, in Scripture (which testifies of Him), in worship (Word and Sacrament) - this is where we find, meditate upon, and receive these good gifts in Christ. Here our faith and trust are strengthened by the Holy Spirit so that we can face the chaos of this world with reasonableness and love in Christ.
And now may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Devotional,
Pentecost 19 (Matthew 21:33-46) - October 4, 2026
Jesus is the Cornerstone
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? Therefore, I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him” (Matthew 21:33-46, in part).
This is our text.
Dear Brother and Sisters in Christ,
In our Gospel reading, Jesus, the Cornerstone of life, truth and salvation, is being the greatest of tough-love teachers to the chief priests and Pharisees. He tells them this hard parable (from Matthew 21:33-46) about themselves to wake them up, to get them to quit resisting the Holy Spirit’s call to follow Him. He is telling them that although God in His relentless patience and mercy keeps sending them His representatives of goodness and truth, they keep abusing and rejecting them. And now when God has sent His Son to them, the very Rock and Cornerstone of their salvation, they are going to kill Him.
Near the end of the parable, Jesus then quotes from Psalm 118, a passage of Scripture that the Pharisees would have known well. And Jesus is applying the image of the cornerstone in the Psalm to Himself. But then Jesus adds something important. He draws not just from Psalm 118, but also from Isaiah 8 and Daniel 2:
“... And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” This is the tough-love part that is meant to wake them (and us) up...
At times in our lives, we all have stumbled over the stone of truth. We all, at some point, have rejected the cornerstone of Christ. We all in our repentance have been crushed by the Law. But our crushing is never the end of the story. Instead, Jesus the Cornerstone has crushed the head of the serpent to give us forgiveness. He has crushed death that we might live forever with Him.
As you know, a cornerstone is the first stone set in a masonry foundation. It orients the building and gives alignment to all other stones. It is the load-bearing, foundational stone. Jesus Christ is the Cornerstone of His church. Our lives are built upon Him and His truth. He has borne the load of our sins, and now bears us up and aligns our lives with His own.
Both Peter and Paul called Jesus the Cornerstone in New Testament Scripture: After healing a man born lame in the name of Jesus, and then being questioned by the religious authorities, Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said,
“... This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:8–12, in part).
Jesus in our Gospel reading said to the religious leaders, “... Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.”
This is us. The kingdom of God, the rule and reign of Christ, has been given to all believers who have Jesus as their life’s Cornerstone. We are the fruit-producing stewards of His vineyard.
Peter and Paul describe what this cornerstone life looks like in us (as the church of Christ). 1 Peter chapter 2 says:
“As you come to Him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house... you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
Indeed, as Paul says in Ephesians chapter 2,
“For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”
What a blessing to be the living stones of the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, with full access to the Father, and all held together by Jesus (the chief Cornerstone), and in alignment with Him and His salvation.
And now may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Weekly Devotional
Holy Cross Day, Sep 13, 2026
We Preach Christ Crucified
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
“Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself.” He said this to show by what kind of death He was going to die (John 12:20-33, in part).
This is our text.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
We preach Christ crucified. The cross of Christ shapes our knowledge of who God really is, and it shapes our lives as followers of Jesus. To be a follower of Him, to be conformed to His image, is to know that we share in His sufferings, to live cross-shaped lives of self-giving love, to understand that like Jesus, suffering comes before glory. As you know, today we commemorate the day of the Holy Cross.
With the cross, God, once again, has turned the wisdom of the world on its head. He has made this Roman INSTRUMENT of torture a symbol for Christian hope and salvation in Christ. Of course, we do not worship the cross, rather, we acknowledge its prophetic importance as the instrument upon which Jesus won our salvation.
Our Old Testament reading today from Numbers 21:4-9 seems like a strange event, but it is a wonderous account from God’s Word that points to Jesus Christ on the cross. The Israelites who had spoken against God were dying from the bites of fiery serpents. In the process of their repentance, God had Moses make a serpent of bronze, set it on a pole, and lift it up so that the people would look at it and live. The bronze serpent looked exactly like the cause of their suffering and death. In the same way, Jesus is lifted up on the cross, carrying in Himself our sins, the cause of our eternal death. And we look to Him in faith so that we may live eternally... 2 Corinthians 5:21 says that for our sake God made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
The One who never sinned was so filled up with our sins that He became sin itself. All our griefs and sorrows and guilt and shame and sins, every sin ever committed and every sin that will be committed and all their wrathful consequences, are borne in Him on the cross, absorbed, and extinguished through His atoning Sacrifice on the cross, once for all. This is the Gospel. This is what Paul calls the “word of the cross.” This is why we here at Chapel of the Good Shepherd preach Christ crucified. As 1 Corinthians says, “For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Cor 1:22-25).
We preach Christ crucified. Yes, and risen, too! Our faith is futile if He was not raised, but indeed He was! And this affirms that what Jesus did on the cross was true, complete and effective for you and for me.
Jesus said, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
The wisdom of the world would never think that the glorification of God our Savior could happen on a cross, in the death of the Son of God, much less amid mocking and torture and blood, and perceived weakness and failure. Yet, in this moment of suffering and death our redemption is won. And in it we see not only the clearest evidence of God’s love for us, but also the most powerful revelation of who God really is. No wonder Paul said in Galatians 6: “Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” We do not find God first and foremost in human strength or power or worldly glory. The cross humbles us to see that salvation is a gift that none of us can pay back. We are left only to receive it by grace through the gift of faith.
What a privilege it is to be called to serve Christ and His people here at Chapel of the Good Shepherd. My primary calling and vocation here is to preach Christ crucified and risen for you. To proclaim to you the forgiveness of Christ. To place it in your ears. To humbly deliver it to you in His sacramental Gospel gifts. Jesus was lifted high upon a cross. And He has drawn us all to Himself. We belong to Him, and are thereby set free from sin and death and the devil.
And now may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Devotional, Pentecost 15
September 6, 2026
Like a Child of God in the Kingdom of Christ
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to Him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:1-20, in part.
This is our text.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The truth that Jesus gives us in this reading flows from His response to the disciples’ misguided question in verse one. They ask,
“Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
And within this misguided question are other hidden questions about obtaining greatness for ourselves, and about who in the Kingdom should be acknowledged, and perhaps who may be ignored.
In response, Jesus calls a child over and sets us all straight.
“Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
The unifying truth of what Jesus is saying is that this child represents neediness and humility. Utter dependence upon God for all things. Unreserved trust in Jesus Christ for truth and salvation. A kingdom child is teachable, not self-sufficient, and definitely not one who is seeking worldly power and seats of honor.
This discourse by Jesus once again turns the wisdom of the world on its head and redefines what it is to be great under the reign of Christ. The last are first and the first, last. We are all the little children of our Heavenly Father, and we are all completely dependent upon Him for all good things. Becoming like a child is becoming aware of this truth. As James chapter one teaches,
Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change (verses 16-17).
Moreover, our Gospel reading from Matthew also calls us not only to remember that we are all grace-dependent children of God, but also that we are called to pay attention to the neediest, and many times, the newest among us.
As brothers and sisters of Heavenly Father’s kingdom, we prioritize receiving the vulnerable and struggling as if we were receiving Christ Himself, for He identifies intimately with the least of these. We are called to pray for, to serve, to love and pay the most attention to those of our little brothers and sisters who are in spiritual trouble. To not bring temptation and sin into their lives, but to bring to them the comfort of Christ’s Gospel.
Sometimes we may think that we are going to become spiritually mature solely by our own rigorous, religious efforts, that one day we will be able to stand on our own spiritual merit, independent. No. Christian maturity is not marked by independence but by dependence upon God, a growing awareness of how much we need, every moment of every day, the grace and mercy and wisdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And being a child in the kingdom means that we have a dear Father. We are grateful that Jesus has revealed the heart of the Father more clearly in the New Testament. Roughly speaking, God is referred to in the Old Testament as Father about 15 to 20 times. In the New Testament, God is referred to as Father about 240 times. This greater emphasis in Christ that God is our Father is key to our identity as beloved children of God in the Kingdom of Heaven.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. Romans 8:14-17
Jesus in His incarnation led the way. He became a helpless little one in His own fallen creation in order to be our Redeemer. He, although fully God, humbled Himself, and submitted perfectly to do the will of His Father, so that we can also call the Father, our Father.
And now may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Weekly Devotional, Pentecost 14
August 30, 2026
Lose Your Earthly Mind to Find Your right Mind in Christ
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to Me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it (Matthew 16:21-28, in part).
This is our text.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
So many of the Christian truths are paradoxes. They may not make sense at first, at least not from our human perspective, but as we continue to follow Christ, we come to find deeper Christological truths in the parables and paradoxes of Jesus. He teaches one of these in our Gospel reading this week from Matthew 16:
"For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."
As followers of Jesus, we lose to find, and we die to live. The last are first, and the first are last. The poor in spirit inherit the kingdom of God, and the meek inherit the earth. God lifts up the humble, and humbles the self-exalted. The servants are the greatest in God's kingdom, and God's power is made perfect in weakness. And true freedom is found in having Jesus as our Lord and Master.
In a world that runs on merit and the success of self-effort, it may be difficult to understand the truth of grace. We stand on the merit of Jesus, not on our own. We are saved by grace, by the gift of faith, apart from works of the law, that we may never boast in ourselves, but only in the Lord. But paradoxically, although we are not saved by works, where faith in Christ is, good works are always present.
As our Romans reading says... Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Romans 12...
This is not a list of things to do in order to be justified before God. The entire book of Romans is all about salvation by grace through faith. Rather, this is a description of what the Bride of Christ (the Church) looks like in action when Christ has gotten a hold of us, and has applied to us His finished work of redemption. These are the fruits of faith and love in Christ, for God’s glory.
The greatest paradox of Scripture is Christ Himself, who is both fully God and fully man. Jesus, Yahweh in the flesh, who had legions of angels at His beck and call, voluntarily emptied Himself of His heavenly rights and became a helpless baby, still and quiet in the womb of Mary for 9 months, and mostly unseen to the world for His first 30 years. The Eternal One, through whom all things were created, deigned to wash His disciples’ dirty feet, and taught them to not lord their authority over anyone, but to serve them. The One with all authority in heaven and on earth came lowly and humble of heart inviting all to come to Him and find true rest. And then He allowed Himself to be arrested, abused and nailed to a cross, pierced for our transgressions. On the cross, we see LOVE manifest in its most exquisite display ever. God’s power in weakness, forgiving His murderers, and surprisingly bringing forth eternal beauty for us from the ash heaps of our sin. Although it doesn’t make sense to the world, Christ’s grace wins. In Him our sins are fully atoned for. And somehow, His precious crimson blood washes us clean, white as snow. And because of Him, we let go of the old. We set our minds on the things of heaven, and we take up our cross and follow Him.
And now may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Sermon: Pentecost 13
August 23, 2026
Listen, Hear and Confess Christ
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 16:13-20, in part)
This is our text.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Active listening is a great skill. It’s actually a Christlike skill. It is the opposite of self-centeredness. You look at the person talking, you ask genuine questions, and you really hear what they are saying. When done right, it employs both the physical senses, and the spiritual senses of faith and prayer, too. And of course, the environment that we are in matters. Sometimes it helps to find a quiet place.
But Jesus in our reading takes His disciples to a very interesting and unexpected environment for this pivotal moment in the Gospel of Matthew - the confession of Peter. Jesus leads His disciples to the outskirts of Caesarea Philippi, first to listen to them, and then to have them listen and hear the voice of God.
Caesarea Philippi is 25 miles northeast of the sea of Galilee at the foot of Mount Hermon, a rocky area surrounded by lush green, near the entrance of a cave that had water flowing from it. The cave entrance was called by the locals the “Gates of Hades.” For devout Jews this location would have been an unclean place, to say the least. It was dedicated to the god of Pan (half man and half goat). There would have been shrines and niches carved out of the rock for all kinds of pagan worship, and many of the rituals would have been debauched by acts of immorality. To the pagan mind, the cave entrance was the entrance to the underworld. The literal door to death and hell. It is in this setting - the setting that denies the one, true and living God - that Peter listens, hears, believes and confesses His faith in Jesus. And it is upon this confession of faith that Christ will establish His church.
Jesus wisely begins by asking a question and then by listening to their responses. “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” Good question. Who do people say that Jesus is right now in our time and place? If people are saying anything at all, they are saying that He was perhaps a good, moral teacher among many. Others have said that He was just a myth.
What we believe about God - as revealed in Jesus Christ - affects how we live. If we believe that God is like a watchmaker, that He made the watch, wound it up, and then walked away; that He made the world, and is now distant and uninvolved, then why pray? Why follow Jesus at all? Peter confessed, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” There it is! That is truth. God revealed this grace to Peter. God is living and active and He sent His Son into the world to redeem us eternally.
Jesus asks us the same question: “But who do you say that I AM? And we listen, and our Heavenly Father through the Holy Spirit, right in the middle of all the noise of this fallen world, speaks into us that Jesus is the Christ - our Savior - our Redeemer - the eternal Son of the living God. This is our confession of faith. No matter how weak we think it is, it is valid.
And then Jesus tells us, just as He told Peter, that it is upon this rock, this testimony of faith in Christ, that we are blessed; that it is upon this truth that Christ builds His church - you and me together, united by faith to Christ, in one Baptism, and thereby in communion with Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one faith in the author and perfecter of our faith, Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God.
Jesus takes His disciples 25 miles on foot to stand by this rocky cave entrance, considered the entrance of hell, amid all the pagan idols, all the noise and lies of the world, to really listen and to hear God’s voice and to establish His church on the testimony of our faith in Jesus and His Gospel, to drive home the point that Jesus has overthrown hell and death for us.
And now may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Weekly Devotional, Pentecost 12
August 16, 2026
Looking at Jesus' Words through the Lens of the Cross
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
And [Jesus] answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” (full Gospel reading is Matthew 15:21-28)
This is our text.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I recently heard a Lutheran pastor tell of a woman who came up to him after a service in which this same passage was read, and she told him that this verse had offended her, and that it was because of this Scripture that she had quit coming to church in the first place. Taken in isolation, this saying of Jesus may seem harsh, but I have often found that the most challenging passages can be the ones with the most to teach.
Many have tried to apologize for what Jesus said. They say that the term in Greek doesn’t really mean “dog.” Rather, it implies a term of endearment that refers more to a cute puppy. And others have said that Jesus was merely testing her faith. But these apologies don’t really hold water given the original Greek and the context.
So, what are the facts? Jesus and His disciples have left the Jewish region of Galilee, and have walked 11-12 hours into the non-Jewish territory of Tyre and Sidon.
We also know that the woman is Canaanite (Mark’s account clarifies that she is Syrophoenician). In any case, she is not Jewish. Yet she is calling out to Jesus, to the great annoyance of His disciples, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” Our reading also shows us that the disciples of Jesus are literally begging for Jesus to send her away. But He does NOT send her away. In fact, Jesus, in complete control, seems to be heightening the drama of the situation on purpose in front of the disciples in order to show them and us that the order of things is beginning to change. Many of the Jews had come to forget that even though they were the first covenantal people of God, the promise of God (fulfilled in Christ) had always been that through them God would bless ALL nations (Genesis 12:1-3).
This account with the Gentile woman of faith is the beginning of the breaking forth of the new order of things, that the Good News of Jesus Christ is for all people. And in the seeming harshness of His words to this faithful daughter of God, He gets His disciples’ attention, and ours, too. This woman knows who Jesus is and already has faith in Him. She knows that He is the only One who can free her beloved daughter from this demonic oppression. She calls Him “LORD,” and “Son of David.” Hence, she knows that not only is He is the true Messiah, but also that He is her Messiah. Additionally, Jesus knows this woman. He knows how she will respond. So, in His graciousness, He allows her to teach us in Scripture all these 2,000 years later. Let’s look again at the exchange.
The woman pleads for mercy and help. Jesus responds, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” [Jesus here confirms God’s initial order of things... to the Jew first and also to the Greek (Romans 1).
Yet, undeterred in her faith, she came and knelt before Him, saying, “Lord, help me.” And He answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” [Here Jesus gets our attention and reflects the common attitude of many of the Jews at the time]. She doesn’t take offense. She doesn’t change what Jesus says. She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table.” Then Jesus answered her, “O woman [not dog, but O woman], great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly. In a time and place that women were seen in a dim light, if even seen at all, Jesus saw her and let her response show us what true faith looks like.
From a human perspective, many might say that she had the right to be offended, to be angry and defend herself. Yet, she doesn’t do this. She doesn’t alter what Jesus says... She adds something to it - the assurance by the Holy Spirit that her Master is not only loving, but eternal LOVE itself. She doesn’t stand up for herself, rather, she appeals to His goodness. Our perception of God affects our perception of His answer. In fact, our perception of God affects our relationship with everyone. By faith, the Canaanite woman trusts that whatever Jesus is saying and doing, He must be acting out of love, and for a deeper and eternal purpose. Jesus says in Matthew 11, “And blessed is the one who is not offended by Me.”
This Canaanite woman is bearing the fruit of the Holy Spirit in patience and sacrificial love (for her daughter). And she reflects the truth of Proverbs 19:11, which says,
Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is [our] glory to overlook an offense, Proverbs 19:11.
This story may even challenge us personally, “Are we too easily offended?”
As brothers and sisters in Christ, we should not only be quick to forgive each other, but to also put ourselves in each other’s shoes, and to assume in each other the best of intentions, understanding that we are all flesh, that we all fall short, and that we all need our Savior Jesus Christ. In this passage we hear that the Gospel of Christ is for the whole world, that we are all lost without Him. When we read this story through the suffering and atonement of Jesus, its meaning takes on new light.
Jesus has been called every name in the book. His good works of healing and liberation were called works of the devil by His opponents. He was unjustly arrested and mocked. And although He is the only One who never deserved any of it, He endured it without defending Himself and looked to the Love of the Father who would not abandon Him, but would raise Him from the dead.
So, Jesus shatters the assumptions of the disciples and allows the woman’s response to teach them and us that the Gospel is expanding outward, breaking forth to the ends of the earth, that the Good News and blessings of Jesus and His redemption are for all of us. Jesus healed the woman’s daughter, but even more profoundly, He carried her sins (and ours too) to the cross. Such is the goodness and kindness of God.
And now may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost,
Weekly Devotional, Matthew 14:22-33
August 9, 2026
I AM with You; Stay in the Boat
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
But when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
This is our text.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Many times in Scripture, the sea is an image of chaos and disorder.
For example, in Psalm 65, we see the raging seas connected to the tumult of God’s people. But then God speaks and brings peace and order to the chaos.
[God is the one who] who by His strength... stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult [our mayhem] of the peoples. (Psalm 65:6–7, in part).
Jesus in John 16 promises that in this world we will have to endure the chaos of life’s stormy conditions, but that we can take courage because Jesus has overcome the world.
Indeed, Jesus treads upon our chaos, grabs us by the hand when we are sinking, keeps our heads above water, gets us back into the boat (the church) so that we can be with each other and keep our eyes focused on the One who calms the winds and the waves.
When Jesus spoke to His disciples and said, “Take heart; it is I,” the It is I in Greek (EGO EIMI) means I AM, which is the very name of God revealed to Moses in Exodus chapter 3.
Jesus is saying to His disciples (and to us) in the midst of the storm, “Take heart; I AM.” In other words, “Take courage, It’s Me, God. Don’t be afraid, I AM with you through all the storms of life. I have drowned all your sins in the sea of grace, and have overcome death with My eternal life.
And now may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Pastor Larry
The Free Gift of God’s Transformative Nutrition
Devotional from Pastor Larry
Our Old Testament reading for the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost (August 2, 2026) curiously says,
Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. (Isaiah 55:1)
This invitation reminds us of Christ’s own words to the woman at the well: “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:13–14).
Scripture shines light on Scripture and teaches us that these are Gospel invitations from our Lord. Water, wine and milk represent God’s good and abundant gifts of salvation, forgiveness and eternal life. Grace upon grace in Christ. Indeed, there are sacramental implications here, too. In these words, we think of the cleansing waters of our Baptisms. And in the wine, we consider the Lord’s Supper, and the precious blood of Christ shed for us for the forgiveness of all our sins. As our Isaiah passage continues, we learn that consuming God’s spiritual food is connected with hearing God’s Word, listening to Him...
Listen diligently to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to Me; hear, that your soul may live... (Is 55:2–3).
The lifegiving water, the joy and grace of God’s priceless offer of wine and milk, the rich food of His kingdom - all free, secured for us by Jesus Christ. No quantity of gold or silver can purchase what Christ has done. No amount of good works can earn it! We can only accept it as a gift. We receive our Savior’s finished work of redemption by faith. And faith is a gift from God, too, which comes by hearing the Good News of Christ proclaimed in our ears. Strangely enough, we drink Christ’s spiritual water, wine and milk, and eat of God’s “rich foods” by “inclining our ears of faith toward the Word of the Lord that endures forever. And it’s FREE, paid for by Christ’s perfect Sacrifice for us.
Why do we try to satiate our spiritual hunger and thirst with “food” that perishes? Why do we continue to seek meaning and identity in earthly things that pass away? Jesus at the feast in John chapter 7, stands and cries out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.” Revelation 22 declares, “[L]et the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. In the hearing of these words, we have the invitation of Jesus to draw near to Him, and to receive His good gifts that truly satisfy our deepest and eternal hunger. Jesus is the Bread of Life. Taste and see that the Lord is good. (Psalm 34:8)
