John Bombaro

This passage, above all others, speaks most fully about Jesus as the elder brother, the firstborn, of a large family; the family of God the Father, Creator of humankind.

The Church becomes anti-church when the new world order Christ inaugurated by eliminating demographic division through the commonality of Baptism is exploded by allegiance to cults of personality.

One name repeatedly emerges from the heart and mind of Paul: Jesus. Jesus is Messiah, Jesus is Savior, Jesus is the world’s rightful and reigning King.

This text explicates the Christian life in light of the reality of Christ’s lordship and the gift of the Holy Spirit amidst a world and a Church which has not experienced the fullness of redemption and recreation itself.

Themes of Biblical, prophetic fulfillment, historical factuality, and personal experiential revelation coalesce in the texts and message of Epiphany and should, therefore, take pride of place in preaching.

Every verse rings with the Gospel, declaring the giving of God the Father consisting of the Son and the Spirit and we, contrary to what we deserve for our sins, the recipients of His “lavish” love and grace.

Christ busies Himself with accomplishing your salvation; race, age, sex, ability or even intelligence notwithstanding.

Preach the full council of God even as it focuses on the Virgin Mary who was the virginal handmaid of the Lord and through whom Immanuel, “God with us,” happens.

The reality of the Incarnation and the accomplishments of the Incarnate God-man, Jesus the Son, are even more astonishing because His story brings to a climax the long-storied history of Israel, with all her divinely-inspired and prophetic Scriptures.

This is the key to understanding missions and preaching: It is His mission, His message. Christ commissions only His Kingdom of God message to be preached, period. You are not at liberty.

James takes the Jewish expectation and thoroughly baptizes it in the light of the fact of the Incarnation. Messiah has come.

Paul argues that now as the Messiah has come and has achieved what the entire Hebrew Bible (i.e., the Old Testament) has been moving toward, the Scriptures can be read as an open book.

For Christians, Advent is the time when the Church patiently prepares for the coming of the Great King, Jesus the Christ.

The epistle text from Colossians 1 declares how the great drama of redemption and human history ends.

The Gospel outpaces all would-be and eventually fleeting identity-makers and brings in the truth of a renewed-in-Christ humanity.

Whatever else may be said about the Last Day it consists of these two inseparable things: Christ’s coming and His kingdom people being gathered to Him.

The lavish nature of God’s love is indicated by the fact that He, as Father, is the author of our being adopted as sons and daughters through Holy Baptism.

The phrase “works of the law” has an antithesis when it comes to righteousness—faith. What keeping the Law could not do, the gift of faith does.

In this episode, we talk with our new friend Dana who has had issues with the church. After Debi talks with Dana, she talks with author Chad Bird from 1517.

This episode is with our new friend Jake who has left the church, then Debi talks with Donavon Riley.

In this episode, Debi talks with our new friend Matt about his troubled relationship with the church. She then talks with RJ Grunewald.

On this special bonus episode, Debi (and producer Dan) talk with Nickolas Butler. Nik is the best selling author whose recent book "Little Faith" deals with faith, church, family, and loss. Both Debi and Dan read the book and wondered…

Are people so different today? Is justification really irrelevant now? Is the preacher’s only point of contact with the life-giving Gospel a by-product of Microsoft’s word processor? I do not think so.

The Word and the Spirit go together. The Spirit, the breath of God, illumines and makes alive through the Word of God; both written and external, that is, preached and sacramented.

Paul is talking about military-level allegiance here, the strongest kind of allegiance sworn to a king. Yet, this loyalty is set in contrast to the tasks of the Roman solider because the task of Christ’s legionaries is to herald the good news: their King, Jesus, has won and it is He who is the world’s rightful king.

Nothing promotes good preaching quite like actually knowing the Word of Truth and delivering it from a disposition of passionate care, commitment through the long-haul, and life spent together with the people of God.

This ministry of the Gospel, this standing in the stead and by the command of our Lord Jesus Christ, is demanding business and is entirely unsuitable for the weak-willed or those who compromise with the zeitgeist of the day.

[Recall] the testimony of the martyrs. Hear the good news of St. Michael: Christ has conquered by His blood, and the Kingdom of God and His will shall, in fact, be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.

St. Paul extends to us the call to arms. In particular, there is one weapon which is effective against so elusive an enemy. The weapon is prayer.

The problem with heterodoxy is not only that it is unorthodox, but also how it leads to controversy. It disturbs the life and love of the Church. Only true doctrine teaches people how to love God and others. Love is the best test for our theology, for true love and true doctrine go together.

As the Spirit does His work, He produces new ways of living for individuals, households (like Philemon’s) and communities, that is, the Church.

Love for the brethren should be the hallmark of the Christian Church. It is basic to our witness to an unbelieving world (John 13:35).

The Preacher need not fear to articulate consequent good works by Christians or the value of good works for the Church and our neighbors.

They, and we, need to know the Christian faith—such as it does not capitulate with Zeitgeist—always comes with a price of being maligned, persecuted, marginalized, blamed, you name it.

The battle is not so much recognizing sins as admitting them. It is also not so much confessing them as repenting them or laying them aside. But we can do it. Looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith...

To base and entrust your life on what can be seen in this world is to commit oneself to unreality. The reality of things, indeed, the way, the truth and the life of the world is in what is not readily seen: Christ as Lord.

Indeed, baptism is life because resurrection is life. Nothing short of regeneration—renewal of life—is accomplished by God through sheer grace because of Christ Jesus.

Matters of integrity and relationship are compromised when pastors preach pre-packed sermon series.

Believers are reminded—and the preacher is to remind them—baptism marks the forgiveness of sins, the end of legal demands, justification and regeneration, and the ultimate triumph over rulers and powers.

Baptized believers are in Christ and of Christ. Once they were alienated from and hostile to God, now they have been reconciled through the work of Christ. This forgiveness is not unconditional. Christ is the condition and, indeed, He fulfills all the conditions.

Preachers are called to proclaim Christ as King over-and-against the sovereignty of the consumer (or even the sovereign voter). And just like a naval ship in which there cannot be two captains, so too for the Christian there cannot be but one Sovereign Lord, and that Lord is Jesus.

The Father, then, “has qualified you” through the work of Christ to share in the family inheritance. This inheritance is the Family of God itself and the family of the triune God Himself.

According to the Law, everyone will be judged by their own deeds, on his own work. So, before the judgment of God we only have our own works to boast in and not our neighbor’s. But the Gospel shows us a wonderful exception.

Freedom from restraint, if it is to be of any use, must be matched by a sense of freedom for a particular purpose. Once set free, what is freedom for? Paul tells us.

Hymns were a means by which people were brought into direct contact with the Gospel that brought justifying faith. Set to music, they could readily memorize it, take it home with them, and rehearse its messages around the hearth and at work.

Baptism demolishes all boasting, for it is passively received and all that is received is pure gift. No one can, therefore, boast a better salvation than another.

Our stories are decidedly unserious when viewed through the lens of the seriousness of God’s affairs. Jesus put the matter succinctly: “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36). Human affairs are not serious in and of themselves. Rather, they are consequential because they garner meaning and significance within the…

There is a principle of correlation at play in sermon preparation: what you put into sermon preparation, compares with the accuracy and quality of the sermon. Of this, there is no doubt. Accuracy and quality are the preacher’s responsibility. How affective and effective the sermon may be, of course, belongs to the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Sermon preparation is not an option or an afterthought. Sermon preparation is a way of life, a necessary discipline, and a serious mediation for the man of God, duly called and ordained to herald the royal proclamation of Jesus.

The Lutheran reform of Lent consisted chiefly in Luther's rejection of works of satisfaction in the sacrament of penance which were traditionally assigned to the penitent during the Lenten season to obtain God's forgiveness. The reform of the sacrament of penance shifted the onus from the "doing" of the penitent (works of satisfaction) to the absolution of God (Word of…

Lent can be an intimidating time for evangelical preachers. It may seem as if it belongs to the Roman Catholic Church and straying into such territory would be unnatural and, so, unwelcome. But it need not be so, as Lent is a gift to the Church from the Church. It belongs to all Christians who desire to be conformed to…

The Christian sermon is Gospel preaching. We only preach the Gospel. Only the Gospel is the sermon, notwithstanding necessary admonishments of law and requisite exhortations toward sanctification.

That, you see, was the litmus test for a Christian sermon: Did Christ have to die upon the cross for me to be able to say this and to say it as His very own message?

Christ and the Evangelists, along with saints Peter and Paul, show a deep attachment to the Book of Psalms...it was because the Psalms were about the Messiah, the Christ of God.

The preached word ensured the work of the Holy Spirit, so long as it was the written word of the Gospel. Gospel preaching was the one domain in which we could be assured of the convicting, saving, and sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.

On this episode, we talk with a dude that has seen plenty, in the academic world, in military service, and in the church. Rev. Dr. Bombaro has spent time studying and teaching on this aspect of the passion of Jesus…

Many scholars believe that what Jesus says in verses 18-20 are the key to Matthew's Gospel. Actually, it may be the key to the entire Bible, for in these three verses we see the full scope of the history of redemption brought to bear in one history-altering, cosmic event: Baptizing in God's name.

The Good Shepherd desires that many other sheep should come to identify themselves with Him, namely the Gentiles.