Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!  Amen.  In last week’s Gospel lesson, we heard Peter’s bold confession of faith that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:17, ESV).[1]  In response to this statement, Jesus declared: “…You are Peter, and on this […]

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!  Amen.  “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” (Matt. 16:13, ESV).[1]  That’s the question Jesus asks his disciples in today’s Gospel reading. Who do people say the Son of Man is?  Who do people believe Jesus to […]

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!  Amen.  When Jesus journeyed with his disciples to Tyre and Sidon, he was attempting to retreat from the excitement in Galilee and Judea.  Opposition from the Jewish religious authorities threatened his death before the proper time.  Jesus’ miracles inspired an […]

Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!  Amen.  Today’s Gospel lesson is an iconic moment from Jesus’ earthly ministry: the night he walked on water.  Generations of film makers have tried to capture the wonder of this event through CGI and other special effects.  But we […]

Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!  Amen.  The feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle story that occurs in all four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John).  Each gospel writer conveys varying levels of detail (for example, John alone mentions that a little […]

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen. “…The Spirit helps us in our weakness.  For we do not know what to pray for as we ought…” (Rom. 8:26, ESV).[1]   “Lord, teach us to pray…” (Luke 11:1). According to the Apostle Paul, we don’t […]

Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!  Amen.  Today’s Gospel lesson is the first in a series of several parables we will hear over the next three weeks.  Matthew 13 contains more of Jesus’ parables than any other chapter of Scripture.  But what is a parable?  […]

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.  The Word of God that engages us today comes from the prophet Zechariah: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is […]

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Today in our Gospel lesson, Jesus once again says things that are confusing and difficult to understand: “The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who […]

Introduction – Growing hostility against Christianity in America Mockery  Suspicion  Isolated persecution  Organized persecution Types of Persecution Mockery Beatings Arrest and Seizure of Property Death (11 of 12 apostles were martyred, 1 died in exile) Jesus says that persecution will come to his Church (10:16-22) from… Government (vv. 17-18) Family (v. 21; […]