The Word: Recent Episodes
Tom Reeder
The word is powerful. Sermons that are based on the word are powerful not because the preacher is dynamic, but because the Bible has the power to transform hearts and minds.
Luther: "If now I seek the forgiveness of sins, I do not run to the cross, for I will not find it given there. Nor must I hold to suffering of Christ in knowledge or remembrance, for I will not find it there either. But I will find in the sacrament or the gospel the word which distributes, presents, offers, and gives me the forgiveness which was won on the cross." [LW 40:214; Against the Heavenly Prophets (1525)]
Jesus’ resurrection means that all that Christ said and did, His Word and His Work, is approved and accepted by the Father. His resurrection from the dead means that death no longer has the last word.
Jesus serves by giving His life as a sacrifice that we live eternally. He continues to serve His people, that they live in Him, by faith, according to His Word.
Denying self, Christians follow Jesus. That's what they do. They seek to abide by His Word, living by faith in the Jesus who suffered, died, and rose from the dead. Living under the cross, and bearing burdens because they are Christian, they look to the bearer of sin and death, who for them conquered death, and through Him, find hope and comfort to salvation.
The Christian continues to struggle with temptation. Some more. Some less. But such temptation does not mean hopelessness. As Christ overcame, so His people overcome, in Christ. As Jesus overcame temptation, sin, and the devil, so do all who trust in Him, for Christ is Savior.
Jesus Christ the Lord was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He is our Immanuel, "God with us" (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23). Salvation is in Him alone.
The true God is the God of the Bible, the Holy Trinity, who sent His Son into the flesh to saves sinners from their sins.
The true God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, according to Holy Scripture. This all Christians believe.
All Christians are sinners, forgiven in Christ, and saints, holy before God on account of Christ's righteousness.
God's love surpasses human boundaries. God loves real sinners. Such love, in Christ, is not bound or conditioned by man's response, nor least of all, dependent on it. God's love is unconditional, as is seen Christ, who died for all sinners. That not all believe is not due to God's lack of love, but to man's rejection and disbelief.