Forgiveness from Jesus is always surprising to us.
The Christ who rescues does not wait for you to be clean. He comes to clean you. He does not need your strength. He brings his own.
When you remember your baptism, you're not recalling a ritual. You're standing under a current of divine action that has not ceased to flow since the moment those baptismal waters hit your skin.

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In this text, Isaiah is quite explicit and reflects the suffering and disgrace this Servant will suffer as He faithfully does the will of God.
The devil is to be taken seriously, but we should also not give him more credit or more power than he has after being defanged by Christ’s resurrection.
The people to whom Ezekiel is prophesying are in exile—separated from the Holy Land. To return to the land of Israel is to be resurrected to new life, to be restored.
There has been a blood atonement for sin. Jesus is our propitiation. Jesus has expiated sin. Lent climaxes with this expectation.
Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. But if you pause the story...then it is not just about Jesus raising Lazarus.
Without the influence of a 19th-century minister named George MacDonald, we may never have had classics such as The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Rings, or even Alice in Wonderland. It was George MacDonald whom C.S. Lewis claimed as his master, saying, “I have never written a book in which I did not quote from him.” So who is this MacDonald?
The people should find their lives in your sermon, and no one’s life is unaffected by the coronavirus right now. It is the very fact that I can make such a blanket statement, free of all caveats, which makes it so necessary for us to preach on it.
The preceding pericope uses the metaphor of a “mighty man,” a “warrior” for the LORD and this is not too much of a stretch for us. However, our text begins with the metaphor of a woman in child birth.
Paul seems to think singing is an excellent way of practicing and truly nurturing the Christian faith. His thought is that the life, death, resurrection and reign of Christ are the songs in the heart of those who are enlightened.
When the story begins in creation and ends in restoration, all the moments in between are filled with the working of God.
Pastors represent many things to many people, but their true calling is to serve as God's instrument for proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ for you for the forgiveness of sin.
Certainly, the people of Israel are being stubborn, unfaithful and untrusting but one may wonder if this issue is a deeper one. Are they afraid?