Ash Wednesday calls us to a forty-day journey of repentance and renewal. The forty days of Lent are set aside as a time to take a look at our walk with God. Our attention is especially directed to the holy sufferings and death of our Lord Jesus Christ. From ancient times the season of Lent has been kept as a time of special devotion, self-denial, instruction, and humble repentance born of a faithful heart that dwells confidently on His Word and draws life and hope from it. In our service today as a reminder of our mortality and our sin, ashes are imposed on the foreheads of believers. Note the sweet Gospel phrases that dominate: Return to the Lord, for he is gracious. Having obtained his pardon, we seek a renewal of our faith and life that we might live as baptized children of God.
The Transfiguration of our Lord
The season of showing his glory to those he has called is coming to a close. We stand at the threshold of the season of his ultimate humiliation. But before we go down to the valley of the shadow of death, he gives us a glimpse of the glory which he hid so carefully even while he was revealing it. Lent is coming; hang on to the glory that soon will be covered in shame and washed with blood!
Our Savior Is Revealed by His Miracles
In today’s Gospel lesson, we see God reveal our Savior to us through the miracles he did. But those miracles were not the reason Jesus came. Rather, the miracles Jesus performed pointed out that he was the Anointed One, the Savior Promised by God for thousands of years. He was the One who came to accomplish the forgiveness of sins and to bring eternal life. Our revealed Savior comes to heal the hopeless. He came down to rescue and save you and me in our need!
Listen to the Revealed Savior!
“This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” proclaimed God the Father at our Savior’s baptism. This week we see Jesus and his newly minted disciples head to church on the Sabbath day where Jesus proclaims the good news and the people are amazed. We too have come to church today to hear our Savior speak through God’s Word. “Listen to Him!” For our Savior speaks words to us comfort us with the news of forgiveness, the strengthen us with the promises of his presence, and embolden us to share our Savior with those around us. Listen to the Revealed Savior!
A Mystery Revealed - Share the Revealed Savior
As God reveals to us our Savior through Epiphany, we also see him call people to share the revealed Savior. From the reluctant prophet Jonah to his disciples to you and me, Christ’s followers are called to share the revealed Savior with those around them. Our message hasn't changed: the Savior has come! Repent and believe!
A Mystery Revealed - Follow the Revealed Savior
It is in the Word that we hear the call of God that has in it the secret power of God to give what he commands. He commands: Believe! and the Word creates faith. He says, Follow me! and the Word creates the desire and the ability to follow him. That he should consider it glorious to call sinners, is that not an amazing thing? That he should attach such power to his Word that we answer the call, is that not a wonder that lasts an eternity for each of us?
A Mystery Revealed - Our Savior is Revealed!
There were so many mysteries in life as a child. As you grew up, many of those mysteries were revealed and understood, but not all. There are still those things that remain a bit of a mystery… love, friendship, how a sock gets lost in the laundry. Throughout the season of Epiphany, we see another great mystery revealed as God reveals to us his plan to save the world. In Jesus, we see our Savior revealed in his words and in his works. Today, as we look in on our Savior’s baptism, we marvel at God’s love for us and reflect what Jesus’ baptism means for our baptism. Rejoice! Our Savior is Revealed!
God Has Revealed Himself - The First Sunday after Christmas
There are two great miracles in Christmas: the one that God has become man for us and for our salvation, and that he in grace reveals the first miracle even to me and blesses me with all its benefit.
"A Sola Christmas" - Sunday School Christmas Service
Today, the children of our Sunday School assist us with our worship as they point out to us the promises of God to send a Savior and how those promises were faithfully kept in the coming of Jesus. The theme of the service today is A “Sola” Christmas and the different sections of our service focus on the five solas of the Reformation: Scripture Alone, Faith Alone, Grace Alone, Christ Alone, and To God Alone Be the Glory. The traditional Christmas recitations are paired with these solas of the Reformation and highlight the connections between these foundational Reformation concepts and the specifics of the Christmas account. May God bless your worship today!
A Service of Lessons and Carols for Advent
In the season of Advent, it is our responsibility and joy to prepare ourselves to hear again the message of the angels, to go to Bethlehem and see the Son of God lying in a manger. Let us hear and heed in Holy Scripture the story of God’s loving purpose from the time of our rebellion against him until the glorious redemption brought to us by his holy child, Jesus, and let us look forward to the yearly remembrance of his birth with hymns and songs of praise.
Are You Ready for CHRISTmas? Prepare by Repenting (Advent 2)
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When you prepare for your Christmas company, it typically includes a thorough house cleaning. You want your home looking your best when your honored guests come. And yet, dirt and clutter probably would not offend those guests too much. How much more then should we prepare for Christ by cleaning the dirt and clutter out of our hearts! Because the sin we hold in our hearts does offend the Holy One who is coming. How can we say we are ready to embrace our coming Savior in love and joy if we don’t first put down the sins that caused his death… the sins which could cut us off from his love forever? We need to prepare our hearts for Christ’s coming through sincere repentance.
Are You Ready for CHRISTmas? - Christ Will Come Unexpectedly (Advent 1)
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ARE YOU READY FOR CHRIST?
Are you ready for Christmas? Probably not. This time of year, there is so much to do: decorating the home, buying gifts, getting ready for family. However, if you are not ready for Christmas, you shouldn’t fret too much. Frankly, whether you have the perfect gift for everyone is unimportant for the celebration of Christmas. Whether your halls are properly decked is irrelevant to Christmas. In fact, if you think that those things are important, you prove how little you understand Christmas.
Christmas is important for only one reason. Just as Christ came once, bringing salvation, so he will come again, bringing the end of the world as we know it. He came the first time as a weak, helpless baby. He comes again as King and Judge and Lord of all. And so a better question than “Are you ready for Christmas?” is “Are you ready for Christ?” Christmas is important only because a proper understanding of Christmas is what will prepare us for Christ’s return.
In these weeks leading up to Christmas at Our Savior, we are going to spend some time talking about the true meaning of Christmas by wrestling with that question. Are you ready for Christ?
Our theme this week: Christ Will Come Unexpectedly
Preparing for Christmas is relatively easy for this reason – we know when it will be. Christmas doesn’t move. It is always December 25th. That firm and well-known date allows us to prepare. We know when we need to be ready. Preparing for Christ’s second coming is more difficult since no one knows when that will be. It could be 1000 years from now. It could be tomorrow. It is absolutely vital that you are prepared to meet Christ on Judgment Day. Since we don’t know when that is, we must live in a constant state of readiness.