κήρυξον τὸν λόγον

[Let Us Pray] Almighty God, we give you thanks and praise for all Your goodness and tender care. Thank you for coming to us and standing for us through the gift of your Son who gives us refuge. Keep us in your steadfast love, bringing forth your good fruit in our lives. In Jesus’ name. Amen. [Introduction] God is for us (v 1). The LORD of Armies is with us (v 7). The God of Jacob is refuge for us (v 11). Is it any wonder why Luther loved this Psalm so much? At every turning point ... verses 1, 7, and 11 ... the Psalmist brings his listener back to the one thing he wants us to remember, spoken at the outset, specified in the hinge verses, repeated in the refrains.  God is for us (v 1). The LORD of Armies is with us (v 7). The God of Jacob is refuge for us (v 11). This is a song for the ages ... one we need to hear and sing more often than on just Reformation Day. This is a psalm of comfort for times of strife. This is a psalm of trust, by which the Church of God is enabled to ...

In the name of Jesus. Amen. In the beginning, when God spoke, he said, “ Let there be Light,” and there was Light (Gen 1:3). The Word of God brings Light. To hear the Word of God is to be enlightened. The Word of God enlightens you in The Faith. This Faith, the Faith, because there is only one Faith, comes through hearing, and hearing through the Word of God. ... The Word ... The Light ... The Faith. That is how it was in the beginning, for that is how God does what he does when God wills to be God for another.  In the beginning, when God spoke, he said, “ Let us make man in our image, after our likeness ” (Gen 1:26). Through the Word and the Spirit, God spoke man into being. YHWH Elohim ... the Lord God, if you prefer ... formed the man of dust from the soil and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being (Gen 2:7). ... The Word ... The Breath ... The Life. That is how it was in the beginning, for that is how God does what he does when God w...

Have this mind in yourselves, which also is in Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality to God something to be grasped, but he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being in the likeness of men, and having been found in form of a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient until death, even the death of the cross.  Therefore, God also has highly exalted him and graced in him the name that is above every name, so that in the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, into the glory of God the Father (vv 5-11). [Prayer] Lord God, Your Son humbled himself to the point of death, even death of the cross. Fix our faith upon his death and resurrection, enrich the proclamation of this Gospel, and enliven our hearts to live out this faith until Christ comes again in glory, in Jesus’ name. Amen. 3. Let’s begin with an extraordi...