This second Sunday of Epiphany, of being reminded of God’s manifestation, his disclosure of himself even to the Gentiles, we are also reminded of the fact that since the time of the Fall of Adam and Eve all humans, beginning with those who existed before God created for himself a …
Having just celebrated the birth of Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, of Jesus who is God and Light who came to bring his light to a world that was then—and is now—and ever has been—in deep darkness, this morning we turn our focus to the mysterious Magi who sought Jesus …
It’s almost impossible to listen our morning’s passage without also hearing in our heads the music George Frideric Handel put it to in his magnificent Messiah—[Sing] “For unto us a child is born….” Such is the power of adding music to Scripture—music is able to make Scripture memorable! As to …
This second Sunday in Advent we are reminded of how God gloriously fulfilled his promise, given for the first time in the Garden of Eden when our first parents disobeyed, that one day the offspring of Eve would come and crush the head of the serpent, the first source of …
It’s been a stupefying few months, hasn’t it? And I’m not even thinking politically. To even to try and recall the many tragedies that have occurred since August of this year, I had to rely on Google rather than my memory. For since August of this year alone, we as …
This morning will be the final sermon in a months-long series that has considered Matthew’s recording of key teachings and events in Jesus Christ’s life. And one of those key teachings has focused upon the Kingdom of heaven or the Kingdom of God. For Christ, along with the Father and …
Recently I met a woman whom I’ll call Alice who shared with me what a difficult year this has been for her. As I listened she shared about trial—after trial—after trial that had taken place over the course of the year. But then she paused, turned to me, and began …
In the final of Jesus’ parables we’ll be considering for a time from Matthew’s Gospel,[1] Jesus is yet again addressing what the final arrival of God’s kingdom, the kingdom of heaven, will be like. In addition to this key topic, there are two themes this parable has in common with …
It’s been noted that when people know that their time on earth is drawing to a close, they will, understandably, focus on telling those they love the things they consider to be most important; the things they don’t want to die having left unsaid. Though in the case of Jesus …
Though not the heart of our passage last week, after providing instance upon instance of Jesus’ authority being challenged by various Jewish leaders, all of whom ended up being amazed and silenced at his teaching, at the end of chapter 22 of Matthew’s Gospel, we’re told “and from that day …
