"Every one must stand and give account before God for himself; and no one can excuse himself by the action or decision of another, whether less or more.”
God Meets is the rare cancer book (and as above, I use that term advisedly) that addresses both the judgment God places on human creatures in the Garden (death) and the hard road anyone walks toward that end (100% of us).
The testimony of the apostles is not an escapist message in which Christians are redeemed by leaving bodily life behind.

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And there is Jesus to save the day. With a little prodding from His mother, and some help from obedient servants, He swoops in and solves the problem before anyone even knew it existed. That is what we are looking for from God, right? To swoop in. To save the day. These are good reasons to like this text, but they all miss the point.
Even after Jesus made it clear in His actions and commands that God’s grace is for all sinners, the apostles forgot the promises they received from their Savior.
I grew up playing baseball – mostly “street” baseball, with a bunch of friends. It was one of my passions in life.
Epiphany teaches us that when God’s peace advances, spiritual warfare against the powers of darkness does not decline. It increases.
The location of this text, its context, is quite interesting. Preceding this text is the very strong language of Isaiah 42 which is a judgement speech of Yahweh which proclaims a brutal rebuke of Israel which includes the destruction of the country of Judah, the city of Jerusalem and the Temple. But now, beginning in 43:1, we have what Reed Lessing calls “the oracles of assurance.”
The location of this text, its context, is quite interesting. Preceding this text is the very strong language of Isaiah 42 which is a judgement speech of Yahweh which proclaims a brutal rebuke of Israel which includes the destruction of the country of Judah, the city of Jerusalem and the Temple. But now, beginning in 43:1, we have what Reed Lessing calls “the oracles of assurance.”
Having Romans 6 as the Epistle for the Baptism of our Lord, and paired with Luke’s account of Jesus’ baptism and Isaiah’s prophetically rich baptismal language in Isaiah 43, allows preaches to proclaim Romans 6 in a more appropriate liturgical context. It could only be better, were someone in your congregation to be baptized on this day. If that’s your situation, the sermon will almost write itself.
Many say Balaam was a prophet, but this was not so. Balaam was no prophet. At least, not a prophet of Yahweh.
On Epiphany, we celebrate the day when men, made wise for salvation through the Word, met their righteousness.
The first Sunday after Epiphany is traditionally a time to think about the baptism of Jesus. It is common on this Sunday for preachers to make connections between Jesus’ baptism and our own. That seems like a natural move, for most sermons are directed primarily to the baptized.
But the Creator of life and breath does not wait for Moses to identify with worthiness.
We fail over and over again to tame the sin in our hearts, to guard the doors of our lips and to act like the children of God.