When we consider our own end, it will not bring us into a final wrestling match with the messenger of God, but into the embrace of the Messiah of God.
What do such callings look like? They are ordinary and everyday.
This is the third in a series meant to let the Christian tradition speak for itself, the way it has carried Christians through long winters, confusion, and joy for centuries.

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The command to love those nearby is as challenging as it is simple. Jesus took the initiative to come near to us in loving sacrifice.
In God's way of doing salvation, we see Jesus crucified and risen from death. We see in Jesus God's great mercy and the depths of our selfish sinfulness.
You who would be a law unto yourself, Christ is the gospel unto you, proclaiming you forgiven.
The Gospel is a precious and comforting word. It comforts and refreshes the sad heart. It wrestles it out of the jaws of death and hell and transports it to the certain hope of eternal life, through faith in Christ.
Jesus longs to prove to us that death has lost its separating power over the Christian. He longs that we experience the faithfulness of God in the unifying power of the gospel here on earth as well as in heaven.
We step into the voting booth with one foot on the outside. We are Americans, to be sure, but we are much more. We are citizens of the kingdom of God, over which the King of kings reigns supreme. Our time here is temporary. We are resident aliens in a land destined for a fiery destruction. Our allegiance is to Christ.
In other words, preachers need to help Christians navigate election season faithfully. This text can help.
Understanding that I am completely free in Christ allows me to read the injunction to “love my neighbor as myself” as a promise instead of a threat.
The only reason we're aware of our old self is in baptism, God created a new self for us.
Jesus is making it crystal clear that the master, the king, God Himself decides who is and who is not welcome in His Kingdom.
Sin is driven by disordered love, and it is love in this sense that leads to all the pain and suffering in the world.
Contrary to common American Christian thinking, you would emphasize the individual is not the center of the biblical narrative. Christianity is not primarily about me and my relationship with Jesus.