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Genesis 33

When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, “Repent,” he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance. -Martin Luther Comments and Observations: Early in his monastic life, Martin Luther was consumed with the worry that his righteousness was not great enough.  He tried fasting, praying, and self-flagellation in order to convince…

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Exodus 11:1-10

Sermon Idea:  God will fight for His people. Comments and Observations: Everybody loves a hero.  Tales of individuals who will champion the cause of someone who is unjustly oppressed fascinate us. True heroes, however, are hard to find.  Most of us feel as though others are hardly interested in our struggles.  Even if we find…

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Deuteronomy 30:11-20

Common Misperceptions: It is far too common for us to have images of God that don’t match the way He is described in the Bible.  One of those misperceptions is picturing God as a sadistic overlord who watches diligently to make sure no one is violating His commandments.  We might be prone to believe that…

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2 Samuel 13:1-22

Comments and Observations: I love the TV show The Brady Bunch.  In almost every episode there is a problem that can be neatly wrapped up in 30 minutes or less.  Whether it’s a broken vase, a bruised nose, an injured ankle, or a changing voice; the problem is never insurmountable.  There is no crisis that…

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Malachi 4

Comments and Observations: In his book, The End of Memory, Miroslav Volf gives us a glimpse into the torment he endured while serving in the Yugoslavian army under the (erroneous) suspicion of being a traitor.  Because he was a Christian who was married to an American, the communist army suspected him of treason.  His time…

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Psalm 147:12-20

2nd Sunday after Christmas C

“January has always seemed to be something of a letdown,” writes James Limburg. After all, even if, as T.S. Eliot writes, “April is the cruelest month,” January is perhaps the coldest month, at least in many parts of North America. Christmas’ excitement generally allows North Americans to look past December’s sometimes-wintry weather. But now the…

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Jeremiah 31:7-14

2nd Sunday after Christmas C

You can’t accuse the Old Testament prophets of not being specific enough when it came to describing the blessings of God’s salvation! Sometimes believers today content themselves with generic or generalized descriptions of felicity in “heaven,” sometimes not advancing in their views of the New Creation much beyond the wispy, cloudy, ethereal realm that New…

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Psalm 148

1st Sunday after Christmas C

Comments, Observations, and Questions to Consider This is a stirring call to praise that’s strikingly reminiscent of Francis of Assisi’s beautiful hymn, “All Creatures of our God and King.”  It’s an invitation to “all creatures of our God and King” to lift up their “voices and with us sing, alleluia, alleluia.”  In fact, Psalm 148…

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1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26

1st Sunday after Christmas C

Two Temples. Two Boys. One boy apparently lost. One boy apparently given away. But, of course, the one boy is not at all lost but is at home in the Temple doing his real Father’s work. The other boy is making his home in the Temple and slowly discovering what may well be the focus…

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Micah 5:2-5a

Advent 4C

When the Lectionary dishes up just 3.5 verses, skipping the first verse of a chapter and stopping just halfway through the fifth verse, you just know it’s like putting blinders on us readers to keep us from seeing something on either side of the lection. I don’t know why they made this choice but lyric…

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