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Luke 1:5-25

Introduction of important themes – teeing up the text Luke’s gospel begins with his acknowledgement that he is not an eyewitness but a researcher, corresponder and narrator of what he will share with us.  The author has done his homework.  Seen as a unit, Luke and Acts reveal a keen awareness of important theological themes…

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Revelation 12:1-17

Special Handling Instructions:  Revelation’s Imagery  Older preaching audiences are going to be more challenged by Revelation’s images than younger ones.  Younger audiences have been shaped by apocalyptic television and movie images which include tsunamis higher than skyscrapers, seismic yawns that swallow whole cities, and asteroids whose impact effectively uncreate creation.  Younger hearers have had an…

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Matthew 11:7-19

Have you ever said that about yourself that you are greater than King David?  Or have you ever said that you are greater than Solomon?  Jesus says that the least in the kingdom are greater than John the Baptist and John the Baptist is greater than all who came before him.  Which means you are…

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2 Corinthians 2:12-3:6

The gospel brings trials and trouble and in life.  Paul has suffered greatly for the sake of the gospel and because of this there are those who doubt his apostolic authority.  Paul in vss. 12-13 describes the burden on his heart for the church.  There is cause for thanks however.  If you choose to take…

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Hebrews 3

Observations The journey of God’s people in the Old Testament from Egypt to Canaan is a pattern and a picture of the Christian life.  In the Old Testament they were moving toward promised rest, and in the same way we are moving toward promised rest when we will see Christ and be made like him….

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Matthew 9:27-34

Comments and Observations I hate it when someone acts one way when we’re with one group of people and then is a completely different person in a different context. Perhaps that explains some of my discomfort with this passage from Matthew 9. These back-to-back healings are, in many ways, nondescript. We are given few details,…

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2 Corinthians 10

Comments and Observations: In a previous church, there was an individual with whom I did not see eye-to-eye theologically. In person, we could have rousing discussions, speaking face-to-face and able to better understand one another. Our online interactions were completely different. I had written a post for a website that garnered some attention and began…

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Hebrews 7:1-22

Comments and Observations Were it not for the book of Hebrews, Melchizedek would be little more than an interesting footnote in commentaries on the book of Genesis, a bewildering moment in the life of Abraham when this shadowy figure emerges briefly to bless Abraham, only to return to the realm of obscurity. In Hebrews Melchizedek…

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1 John 4:1-6

Comments and Observations: I once had a conversation with a colleague about the incarnation. “The incarnation,” she claimed, “is at the center of the Gospel to me. The Good News is that Jesus came into the world at all.” This conversation has stuck with me. While I may not necessarily place the incarnation at the…

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Revelation 5:1-10

Comments and Observations If one searches Google Images for the phrase “Jesus’ second coming,” the top results all have a few things in common: 1) there’s a lot of light, 2) there’s a lot of horses, and 3) Jesus is white, both in clothing and skin color. One of my personal favorites even has what…

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