The lyrics of the Christmas carol “In the Bleak Midwinter” lull us into the chill of a winter gone by: In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan, earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone; snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, in the bleak midwinter, long ago. Our experience can… Read More »
Romans 1:1–7 1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of… Read More »
“To us a child is born, to us a son is given” (Isaiah 9:6). This promise was fulfilled when Mary gave birth to Jesus, fully God and fully man. He came and conquered sin and death, and we look for Him to come again. When He does, He will fulfill the rest of Isaiah’s promise:… Read More »
What follows below is a summary of what of the Gospels say about what happened at the tomb from the perspective of Jesus Himself. In the Tomb: Matthew 27:57–66; Mark 15:42–47; Luke 23:50–56; John 19:38–42 In the evening after the death of Jesus (Friday), Joseph of Arimathea took courage and secretly asked Pilate for the… Read More »
Titus 2:11–14 gives us the reason for why we should live as godly men and women, old or young, and in our places of service (cf. Titus 2:1–10)—the saving grace of God has appeared in the person of Jesus Christ to teach us how to live godly lives. Part of this godly life is to… Read More »
One of my favorite ways to explain the gospel is state how the Father communicates a resounding “yes” and “no” to us through His Son Jesus Christ. The “Yes” “Yes” is shorthand for a longer, amazing thought: “Yes, God loves you.” John 3:16 states, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only… Read More »
In Acts 13:32–33, Paul teaches that the promise of a Davidic king who would rule forever (cf. Acts 13:22–23) has been fulfilled in part through the resurrection of Jesus. Since Jesus had been put to death (cf. Acts 13:26–29), God raised Him up in order for Ps 2:7 to remain true of Him: “You are… Read More »
In Acts 6:11–14, Stephen is falsely accused of blaspheming God by speaking ill of the Mosaic Law and the temple. Acts 7 then records his speech, notable because it is the longest speech in Acts and one by a non-apostle. Given a quick read of his speech, we might wonder why it took Stephen 50… Read More »
Psalm 23 has been precious to the saints throughout the ages. It gives comfort in the midst of death, and it strengthens our delight and trust in the Lord because He is our Shepherd. Its author is David who knew the Lord as Jacob did, “the God who has been my shepherd all my life… Read More »
Acts 3–4 records how Peter and John healed a lame man. As their spokesman, Peter explained to the Jewish people (Acts 3:12–26) and their leaders (Acts 4:8–12) that the healing took place by faith in Jesus’ name, that is, that by believing in the one named Jesus who has the power to give salvation and… Read More »