The greatest obstacle to friendship in middle age isn't that nobody wants friends. It's that everyone is waiting for someone else to go first. But here's the good news: Christ has already gone first for you. And because He has, you are free to go first for someone else.
Ecclesiastes tells us that there is a time for everything under heaven. But God has also placed eternity in our hearts, and that makes us strange creatures: able to rejoice in this life yet always aching for a life that only Christ can give.
What does it take to draw near to God? It takes a perfect priest, a finished work, and a broken body to open the way. In short, it takes everything, which is exactly what Christ has given for you.

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This forty-day season of preparation for Easter is an opportunity for the people of God to rededicate themselves to hearing and responding to Jesus’ call to repent.
While God may and does test one’s faith and life, yet He does not tempt with sin.
The amount of Messianic/Christological connections in this account is stunning. This is an excellent Old Testament text with which to begin Lent!
Since the law is our mother-tongue, we naturally assume it’s the only language that exists; this ceaseless, damning voice reminding us that we are not all that we should be.
What do Abraham's near-sacrifice of Isaac, the place where David built an altar to stop a plague, and the temple of Solomon all have in common? All three were on the same mountain. On this mountaintop, you can see the whole story of salvation.
"A Lutheran Toolkit" is available for purchase today from 1517 Publishing
God’s plans and purposes for this world aren’t dependent upon us. They’re dependent upon him. This means our faith is liberated.
Trusting in Christ’s promise of new life and deliverance breaks through sorrow and worry; such trust pours joy into the way we think and the way we experience life.
It is hard to see clearly these days. While we have never been able to see as much as we would like, today we are more aware of our inability to perceive things as they really are.
Because we have this hope and calling, we must speak boldly and plainly; no veil, no shiny veneer, just the truth about God nailed to a tree.
Elijah crosses over the Jordan to be taken into Heaven. Later, Elisha will cross the Jordan again into the Promised Land.
This is an excerpt from “A Lutheran Toolkit” written by Ken Sundet Jones (1517 Publishing, 2021), pgs. 23-25.