“By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3:19 The transfiguration of our Lord is such a glorious site that Peter has no interest...

“But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.” Acts 9:1-2    One of the earliest Christian...

And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.”  And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay...

  For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God…For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.  1 Corinthians 1:18, 25 As I was preparing to go...

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.  Acts 2:42 Acts 2:42 includes the Greek word προσκαρτεροῦντες that is translated “devoted.”  Repeatedly in the Acts of the Apostles, this word is included to describe the life and the focus of the fledging Christian...

  The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.  Isaiah 9:2   The German Lutheran pastor Hermann Dietzfelbinger wrote, “I have to preach and teach Bible classes, I am committed to proclaim the good news...

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Matthew...

Light for the Nations “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”  Luke 2:29-32 The season of Epiphany brings...

What’s in a name? “Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name...

Ponder Anew! But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.  Luke 2:19  After the shepherds departed, the evangelist Luke notes that “Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.”  The referent of “these things” seems to be all the things associated with this particular...