Walther’s living legacy is his enduring teaching on how to distinguish the law and the gospel in the Church’s proclamation.

In the sacrament, we receive an earnest of that future promise here and now in the body and blood of Jesus given and shed for us.

As disciples of Jesus, our righteousness cannot be performed before others, because our righteousness was already performed by Jesus.

The waiting of Advent isn’t just for Christmas; it’s for God’s reversal of all sin and evil and his renewal of all things.

Preachers and church workers must also hear the gospel preached to them.

While baptism is a “once and for all” event that should not be repeated in the Christian’s life, the effects of baptism continue throughout the life of the believer.

Take away the communal aspect, take away the communal gathering around Christ’s body and blood, and the Christian will begin to suffer a malnutrition of faith.

Since Jesus has done everything we need for salvation, we can focus our works and efforts on serving our neighbor.

In his last novel, Islands in the Stream, Hemingway shows us what we get when we look to nature for ultimate truth: death.

While faith forms the relationship with God and love the relationship with the neighbor, hope forms the Christian’s relationship with the future.

We may hear the voice of Jesus through recordings and digital media, but the Jesus who walks through locked doors has no problem coming to us through technology.

This is how the God of Abraham has become our God, too. This is how God has fulfilled His promise to Abraham and His promise to us: by breaking open His own body and shedding His own blood.