Month: March 2021
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Palm Sunday
Readings: Zechariah 9:9–12 | Philippians 2:5–11 | Mark 14-15 Text: Mark 14-15 The Passion of our Lord is stark and cruel. There’s no painting it with a nice gloss to make it more attractive. It forces us to gaze deeply and uncomfortably at something grotesque: an innocent Man arrested and falsely accused, with no one…
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Lent Midweek V
Text: 1 Kings 21 Every one of the Ten Commandments protects a gift that God has given, as we’ve been hearing through the season of Lent. The Eighth Commandment protects God’s gift of a good name and reputation, which is a very precious thing, as it says in Proverbs 22, “A good name is to…
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Fifth Sunday in Lent
Readings: Jeremiah 31:31–34 | Hebrews 5:1–10 | Mark 10:35-45 Text: Mark 10:35-45 In Jeremiah 31, the Lord says in coming days that He will make a new covenant with His people. He says that in this new covenant, “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I…
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Lent IV Midweek
Text: 2 Samuel 11 Additional Reading: Luke 19:1-10 The Sixth and Seventh Commandments protect gifts of God. The Sixth Commandment protects the gift of chastity. The Seventh Commandment protects the gift of possessions. Neither chastity nor earthly goods come from ourselves. Both come from the Lord. Concerning chastity, it says in Proverbs 19:14, “House and…
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Fourth Sunday in Lent
Readings: Numbers 21:4–9 | Ephesians 2:1–10 | John 3:14–21 Text: John 3:14-21 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16—it’s one of the best loved passages in all of Scripture. It appears everywhere from signs in the…
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Lent III Midweek
Text: 2 Samuel 15:1-14 Additional Reading: Luke 10:25–37 The Fourth Commandment concerns God’s authority on earth. Through father and mother God rules households. Through president, emperor, king, and other civil offices God rules the nations of the world. The authority of father or president is not the authority of a mere man, but it is…
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Third Sunday in Lent
Readings: Exodus 20:1–17 | 1 Corinthians 1:18–31 | John 2:13–22 Text: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 St. Paul writes to the Corinthian Christians, who were a gathering of people from largely Greek backgrounds, yet they were called together to belong to God through Jesus Christ. But in being called to belong to Him, they often found themselves…
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Lent II Midweek
Text: 1 Kings 18:20-40 Additional Reading: John 5:1-18 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The Second and Third Commandments flow from the First. In the First Commandment the Lord indicates that he is giving us himself. He says, “You shall have no other gods,” which certainly is…