Luther neither removed the Apocrypha from the Bible nor discouraged its use. Rather, he received and preserved the ancient distinction inherited from the fathers: the Apocrypha is valuable, edifying, and worthy of reading, but it is not Holy Scripture and therefore cannot serve as the foundation of Christian doctrine.
The confessors at Augsburg remind us that every generation of Christians is called to bear witness to the gospel amid the challenges and pressures of its own age. As they confessed Christ before emperors and kingdoms, so the Church continues to confess Him before the world today.
When Jesus washes you with baptismal water, you can rest assured that the Lion of Judah is on the move.

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John the Revelator sees us in his vision just as much as he sees fantastical creatures and myriads of angels, all of us giving praise to the Lamb who alone is worthy.
Salutary funeral preaching seeks to set the life of the baptized believer who has died within the life of Christ incarnate, crucified, risen, and reigning.
While so much remains the same week after week, the past years have taught me how much changes. And I kind of like it.
Free-range Christ is fearful Christ because he is present, speaking, and I just crucified him.
To be barred from the Temple was like being ostracized from society as a whole. It was a powerful card to hold, and the Sadducees were not shy about using it.
On every page, in every theme, in every major character and every major plot twist, we are invited to see God’s unfolding work to make all things new and whole in Jesus.
You need an apocalyptic ‘decoder ring’ to figure out what is going on in Revelation.
The gospel of Jesus’ coming out of death and the tomb alive so that we might be restored to our identity as God’s children establishes the most enduring reality there is.
The Messiah is exiled from God on the cross as Israel was. Forsaken as Israel was forsaken. Cast away from Yahweh as Israel was. Why?
Today, Maundy Thursday, we receive the feast of Christ’s true body and blood for us, for the forgiveness of our sins. All of them.
The Savior wasn’t always forthright with his intentions behind using and relaying certain parabolic narratives.
Obviously, the LORD has no intention of slapping a bandage on creation. He will completely restore—it will be made new.