This is an excerpt from the third chapter of By Water and the Word: God’s Gift of Baptism for You by Brian Thomas (1517 Publishing, 2026), pgs 52-60.
Even when the bitter places sink down deep into our bones, the Restorer never relinquishes his grip on you.
To Live Well is therefore not a general advice book, but a message suffused with the gospel.

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The celebration of Trinity Sunday–the only church festival specifically dedicated to a doctrine–reminds us of the necessity of confessing that the one God exists in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The list of things our kids need to know when they leave the house is much simpler than we might believe.
How might your preaching of the work of the Spirit expand your own view of the Spirit’s work, and help your hearers gain an appreciation for the Holy Spirit’s activity in their lives beyond a standalone celebration, one day a year?
I trust that because of the gospel, God will continue to mend what I, in my sin, continue to break.
Darkness is not your only friend. Jesus loves you, and he will be with you.
On May 2nd, Cantate Sunday, in the year 1507, Luther celebrated his first Mass.
In the Church, the cry is, “He loves,” and it is that message which transforms our worldviews from taking to giving, from radical individualism to trans-demographic inclusivism, from selfishness to selflessness, from “tolerate my rights” to “loving rightly together.”
False holiness is always a possession and achievement of the individual in isolation from the good of others. And so it isn’t holiness at all.
Sometimes it’s important to go far away to learn of holy places back home.
When we own up to our sin, our Father is not scandalized, and his response is not to reconsider his calling us.
There is perhaps no better observation about the nature of anxiety and depression than its fundamental desire for avoidance.
I finally watched the film “Encanto” with my kids. I had heard many people say the subtext of this movie was deeper than most. So, we snuggled up on the couch and watched it to see what everyone was talking about.