Luther felt the reform of the church could not simply remain a matter of aesthetics and practice. Something much deeper needed to be rooted out.
While God can, and often does, appear to people face to face, he also often employs the use of several types of messengers.
The “further up and further in” we go, the table keeps getting bigger, the guest list keeps getting longer, and the grace keeps on flowing.

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But this is not a story of Jesus being taken many places. This is a story of Jesus remaining in one place and deepening in His love of the Spirit and the Father.
The main point Paul has been getting at in Romans is what God has done in the One man Jesus the Messiah—the rightful heir of God’s earthly kingdom—is far, far more than simply putting the human race back where it was before the intrusion of sin.
God interrupts Peter, but not only to quiet him. He also directs Peter to listen to someone else.
The coming of Jesus the Son was the fulfillment of all the Old Testament promises and prophesies, types and covenants. His resurrection and, as Peter asserts here, His transfiguration proved it.
The Scriptures are not a collection of platonic ideals laid out for us to strive after. Rather, they are God’s truth given to His beloved church.
Virtue, like all good things, can easily be weaponized. And not only can, but constantly is. Indeed, I would argue that, for churchgoing, rule-following, tradition-honoring, morality-applauding people, virtue often becomes the cancer that we deem a badge of honor.
The Church gathers around the Word and Sacrament in order to receive Christ and each other.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus establishes a whole new standard for what it means to live as one of His people.
It is time to move on from the basics, says the Apostle. It is time to sink your teeth into some theological meat and understand He is working in those baptized into Christ.
Neither the disciples nor Paul expected a resurrected Messiah, so something has to account for their dramatic transition from faithless to fearless in the days/years following Jesus’ crucifixion.
The followers of Jesus have a function to perform. When they do not perform it—that is, when they are not being themselves—the world suffers.
Paul says Christian faith means confessing Jesus is Lord, beginning at the Cross, and owning the historical fact that God raised Him from the dead.