God chooses to clothe himself in promises and hides himself in his word.
Jesus dove into the waters of baptism, plunging into our deepest need to rescue us.
Alligood is at pains to stress that glorification is not the result of our own efforts any more than sanctification or justification.

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The Old Testament lesson for this Sunday, October 7, 2018, is from the first book of the Torah, Genesis. The text is Genesis 2:18-25 and centers around creation, especially the creation of woman.
At this point in Mark’s gospel, Jesus is “on the way” to Jerusalem with his disciples. He’s been teaching them about what it means to follow him. The recurring theme is discipleship as no small matter. It involves a whole new way of thinking about such concepts as greatness (9:33-36), judgment (9:42-50), and, now, marriage.
The doctrinal locus for this Sunday is marriage, which points to the greater marriage of Christ and the church or the marriage of Christ and the believer.
I am not a good Lutheran. I have only been around reformation theology for a few years.
Would you go to the church on the corner knowing that the pastor is an ex-con?
Jesus opened our ears and mouth when He baptizes us. Jesus put His fingers into our ears, speaks to us, and washes our sins away.
True preaching arises when the Holy Spirit steeps the proclaimer in its own cycle of judgment and mercy.
Early in the church’s life, some Christians were dragged before the city authorities in Thessalonica and accused of “turning the world upside down,” (Acts 17:6). They were guilty as charged. They were turning the world upside down. Or, rather, they were putting the world right side up.
Did Jesus ever marry? Yes, He married you!
Christians have long enjoyed an absurd love affair with white-washing biblical saints.
Prechers translate as a calling. Called by God, they are given a message, and for most of their hearers it is to one degree or another a message in a language from afar, with strange concepts, sometimes with a more familiar ring, sometimes with a strange sound.
Don’t say you’re beyond hope, for there is not one beyond God. Don’t say you’ve done too much evil, for there is no wrong bigger than God’s heart of forgiveness.