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...

And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it.  It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.     Isaiah 35:8   For many people the...

“For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.  For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.  For the...

Lift up your heads, O gates!  And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.  Who is this King of glory?  The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle!  Lift up your heads, O gates!  And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of...

  “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.” 1 Timothy 4:4 There is a scene in the baseball movie For Love of the Game, where the star pitcher Bill Chapel says, “I’ve lost 134 times.”  His love interest says, “You count...

“Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Luke 7:47-48 When Jesus ate at the home of one of the Pharisees, a sinful woman came to anoint...

  As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through...

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for...

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1 One of the best assignments that I was given at the seminary was the task of relating different articles of the Augsburg Confession to Article IV on Justification. Everything always...