Genesis 2:7-17 It is difficult for us to imagine what it would have been like to live in the Garden of Eden. This garden is so very far removed from anything we have ever experienced: not only according to the distance in time that is involved; but also according to the totally different nature and…
Exodus 20:1-17 The text of the Ten Commandments that we heard read a few minutes ago, from the Book of Exodus, included the original and full wording of the Third Commandment as follows: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day…
1 Corinthians 1:18-25 “For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom.” There is a natural human inclination toward being religious or spiritual. But this natural kind of religiosity or spirituality – among those whose faith and piety have not been shaped by the divinely-revealed Christian gospel – takes more than one form. In…
Genesis 50:15-21 In the movie “The Godfather, Part 2,” the mafia boss Michael Corleone and his brother Fredo had a serious falling out, due to Fredo having taken sides with a competitor crime family, against his brother. After a tense meeting between the two, when Michael might have been expected to order his brother to…
1 Timothy 1:12-17 “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” All of us sometimes speak in superlative terms. This means that we sometimes describe something or someone as the very best of all, or as the very…
Presentation of the Augsburg Confession The Augsburg Confession gave expression to the convictions of the church of the Lutheran Reformation: especially regarding how the Triune God saves humanity from the guilt and power of sin, and from eternal death, through the gospel of our divine-human Savior Jesus Christ. In this, the Augsburg Confession was built…
Acts 2:1-21 “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.” One particular denomination in Christendom has appropriated the name of today’s festival…
1 Peter 4:7-14 As we heard a few minutes ago, St. Peter, in his First Epistle, writes as follows: “But the end of all things is at hand; therefore, be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” Be…