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Couldn't Mary and Joseph have used more practical gifts? Why did the magi bring such unusual presents to the Christ Child? And how do these Gentiles fit into this very Jewish part of Matthew's Gospel? Let's ask some Old Testament prophets and poets for the answer.
The church is the only place God promises to lift us out of ourselves not in order to become more like God but so that we may finally be freed from our obsession with becoming little gods.
Urchin at War is now available from 1517 Publishing
Despite what the Pharisees believed and advertised, Jesus was not intent upon deconstructing the fundamental tenets of the Old Testament law. Actually, he proceeds to do just the opposite.
We can celebrate what others consider mundane and ordinary because it's miraculous. After all, it's God-given.
The following is an adaptation from "Law and Gospel in Action" written by Mark Mattes (1517 Publishing, 2019).
The Church is called to be counter-cultural, to stand out in order that the world might see and hear the truth and be brought into the Kingdom.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus establishes a whole new standard for what it means to live as one of His people.
The Law gets a bad rap. There is certainly a negative component to the Law. The work of the Law is very different than the work of the Gospel.
Jesus came to lay down his life for us. He didn’t come to slip 6’ leashes on the necks of his canine followers. He came to set us free.
The church’s worship should boldly and explicitly do two things: confess the incarnation and practice for the resurrection.
The reason is much simpler than that: to learn to pray, you must first die. The language of prayer is taught in the school of death.