This is an excerpt from the third chapter of By Water and the Word: God’s Gift of Baptism for You by Brian Thomas (1517 Publishing, 2026), pgs 52-60.
Even when the bitter places sink down deep into our bones, the Restorer never relinquishes his grip on you.
To Live Well is therefore not a general advice book, but a message suffused with the gospel.

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The reason nothing can come before Jesus is because nothing endures beyond the grave except for Jesus.
As the Spirit does His work, He produces new ways of living for individuals, households (like Philemon’s) and communities, that is, the Church.
Preaching which eschews the harping harangues of legalistic schoolmarms in favor of the Savior’s undeserved favor reflects the holy hilarity of the Gospel.
There is no true “self” apart from God. Anything so surmised is caught up in the meaninglessness that is death.
Good, we tend to think, is the absence of evil. But this reversal of the formula can only have disastrous consequences.
We did not say “Goodbye” to our son on the day of his burial. We said, “Luke, we’ll see you soon.”
The Ichthus is a confession in picture form, a visual sermon of the gospel of Christ crucified.
Don't lose hope. Don't avoid church on Sunday morning.
The legal record of debt for our sin was canceled because Jesus satisfied the legal demands for us by his life, death, and resurrection.
All of this is interesting and useful in preparing a sermon, however, there are no explicit words of Gospel in this text. How does one preach without shoe-horning the Gospel into the message, perhaps in an inappropriate or confusing manner?
Love for the brethren should be the hallmark of the Christian Church. It is basic to our witness to an unbelieving world .
In the text, Jesus enters a Pharisee’s house for dinner. Between the invitation and the meal, however, Jesus transforms this man’s home into a place of God’s care.