God comes to us

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” John 1:14 American religion is filled with voices trying to convince us that it is our decision that determines our eternal destiny. Often called “decision theology,” it makes accepting Jesus sound like a choice that you must make. Fail to do ...
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Street Credibility

And they (the crowd) were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commends even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” (Mark 1:27) Ministry (the act of serving) is at the heart of Jesus’ work and even central to ...
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Starting Out Well

And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. (Mark 1:17-18) The word “immediately” in the verse above is a word we will see often in Mark’s gospel. Things happen fast – one right after the other. ...
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The Obedient Path

He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And all of them were amazed.  (Luke 1:63) Zechariah (and his wife Elizabeth) is one of the characters on our Jesse Tree, so you may encounter him a couple of times this Advent. They are the unlikely parents ...
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God Can Use Anyone!

[Cyrus of Persia said], “Any of those among you who are of his people—may their God be with them!—are now permitted to go up to Jerusalem in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord…” Ezra 1:3 A basic tenet of the Lutheran understanding of Christianity as that God can use ...
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Faith and the Big Picture

Sunday is the second week of Advent as we anticipate and prepare for the coming of Jesus.  We also continue to hear words from the Old Testament prophets who bring a call to change and words of hope to God’s people who haven’t gotten things right, but who continue to ...
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Trusting a God Who Can Be Trusted

Elijah then came near to all the people, and said, “How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” 1 Kings 18:21 Life is full of choices – some of them easy and of little consequence like, “What should ...
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Are You Hearing God Call?

Then God said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5) There is some debate about how we encounter God and who it is that God comes to. Does God come to a few based on ...
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A Persistent God

Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.” Genesis 32:28 Have you ever had a friend or family member with whom you had a messy relationship? You know the kind. Things are going well ...
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Blessed to Need Each Other

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” (Genesis 2:18) Ask most people what God did when God saw that Adam was alone and they will talk about Eve. But first God started with animals. God ...
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Sabbath – The Sacred Rhythm of a Healthy Life

And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in ...
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Believing Changes What We See

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1) Faith is the most amazing thing. Believe it or not (pun intended), everyone has some kind of faith. We all believe in something. And what we believe impacts what we see and what ...
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