This is an excerpt from the sixth chapter of Fear Not: How the Gospel Disrupts Our Deepest Anxieties by Luke Kjolhaug (1517 Publishing, 2026).
We draw near because Christ our Mediator has gone where we never could, and he has brought us with him.
The Israelite God was different from all the other gods, thus, the worship of Yahweh differed from that of all other gods.

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Solomon asks for what is necessary to carry out this task, an understanding/wise and discerning mind.
We think that if we are good enough, brave enough, or at least if we try hard enough, we will be someone who can be both fully known and fully loved.
The promise of Advent is the promise of the lamb slain, who is born and given for us so that we don’t have to fear sin, death, and hell.
If the LORD is faithful to His Covenant—and He must be—then He will remember His people and take action.
Christ busies Himself with accomplishing your salvation; race, age, sex, ability or even intelligence notwithstanding.
Should we really be surprised that it would happen this way, that the servant would suffer for our salvation and die for our forgiveness?
While we do not have an answer, we do have a promise. A promise given to us by a God whose one and only Son was himself slaughtered by those terrified of losing their power.
By every conceivable category, grace shouldn't exist. It shouldn't have been bestowed. It's the card in God's trick we never saw coming.
Unlike Luke, who provides most of the parts for the children’s program (the shepherds, the angel hosts, the innkeeper, and the animals), Matthew’s version is rated “M” for mature.
The reality of the Incarnation and the accomplishments of the Incarnate God-man, Jesus the Son, are even more astonishing because His story brings to a climax the long-storied history of Israel, with all her divinely-inspired and prophetic Scriptures.
“God with Us”...is a common theme throughout Scripture: No one else has a God like ours, who is truly with His people.
Most days, we're not okay. We're not good enough, strong enough, or "Christian" enough.