κήρυξον τὸν λόγον

For nearly 2,000 years now, in divine service after divine service, week after week ... day after day ... Christians around the world have intoned with a certain solemnity ... but I pray, that it’s with even more confident joy ... that I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Amen. The Christians who composed those lines from the Apostles Creed ... which incidentally was not written by the Apostles but is instead named in their honor ... have given voice to the truth of God’s Word ... the truth that God creates us and redeems us and sanctifies us through the person and work of Jesus Christ, who has delivered to us the forgiveness of sins. And where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.  We were reminded of that truth today in our Gospel reading from John chapter 11. Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. The one believing in me, even if he may die, will live. And all the ones living and believing in me will certainly nev...

I wonder if I should ever give someone my word. What is my word worth, anyway? I can give you my word, but I know what it’s worth, and you don’t. I can give you my word, but you don’t know if I value it, let alone if I’ll keep it. When we don’t keep our word, we’re saying something else is more important. When you give your word and break it, you teach others, including yourself, that you can’t be trusted ... that your word isn’t worth a lick of salt. If your actions don’t prove the truth of your word, then your word is nothing more than a lie. Thank God, though, that we have His word. Scripture is filled with promises according to His Word ... I know the value of His Word. It is worth everlasting life. ... He spoke His Word in the beginning . It makes all things new. ... He gave us his word in paradise . It redeems us ... He gave his word to Abraham. It makes us righteous. He established his word with David. ... His Word breathes new life into a dead world.  His Word is always wit...

To use the words of Joan Jett, I love rock ’n’ roll, even if I can’t find dimes, let alone a jukebox. Every now and then I want to cue up the rock band U2. They offer something more than screaming guitars. You can definitely hear the influence of their Christian upbringing in the lyrics of many of their songs.  On album after album, Bono sings of things we can all identify with.  One man come in the name of love // One man come and go One man come, he to justify // One man to overthrow You broke the bonds and you // Loosed the chains Carried the cross // Of my shame Gloria ... in te domine // Gloria ... exultate  Gloria ... Gloria // Oh Lord, loosen my lips Like the band’s anthems, Bono is larger than life. He’s well known for his humanitarian work, especially fighting AIDS in Africa. Normally, I’m a little cynical about such things, but I have to say, he’s starting to grow on me. Asked about what drives him, what makes him tick, Bono answered, It’s a mind-blowing concept...

At one time, you were in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord (v. 8). Never has an emblem of torture and death been so magnified, so displayed, and so glorified as the ancient instrument of execution known as the cross. It’s been presented in sizes as small as a quarter inch to dangle around your neck, and as monumental as the Cruz de los Caídos in Spain, a towering structure that stands 492 feet tall. We dip them in gold or bronze, and paint them bright white. The biggest cross I’ve ever seen ... which just so happens to be the biggest in America ... is in Effingham, Illinois. It is a mere 198 feet tall. But the Cross Foundation estimates 20 million cars drive by it every year.  The cross has inspired untold millions of composers. Today, we just sang  In the cross of Christ I glory, Tow’ring o’er the wrecks of time. All the light of sacred story, gathers round its head sublime .  The cross is displayed in millions upon millions of homes. They cover two walls in mi...

Jesus answered and said to her, Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a wellspring of water welling up to eternal life. Imagine a spring of crystal clean, crisp water that wells up constantly, not merely to refresh us now but to give us new life. Imagine this source of living water providing not only pure refreshment for all the needs of this life but never running dry or flooding out. Imagine this source gushing forth in your life in such a way it produces an incredible harvest of fruit, a bounty of heavenly food that is the sweetest thing you’ve ever tasted.  We have access to such a source. Scientists tell us that water comprises 71 percent of our world.  So does it surprise you then, that so many of us are dying of thirst?  When our Lord Jesus sat down at Jacob’s well in the heat of the day in a strange land, He did so becau...