Today’s reading covers four of the Apostle Paul’s letters: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians. The last three of these letters were written by Paul while he was imprisoned for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. One of the characteristics of Paul’s writings is his passion for Jesus Christ and for Christ’s people, the Church. The […]

The Letters of Paul give us a great glimpse into his Pastor’s heart for the people of God. Paul certainly had his detractors in his day and even today some people don’t like him very much. When he was alive,  he was hounded and criticized by different groups within Judaism and outside Judaism. The Corinthian […]

In Romans 14 & 15, the Apostle Paul discusses what a Christian’s response should be in disputable matters (Romans 14:1). Specifically, he discusses the area of eating meat and the celebration of special days. In 1Corinthians 8 we have a similar discussion regarding the eating of meat. In both Letters, Paul uses these disputable matters […]

Of the many letters written by the Apostle Paul, none is more systematic in its presentation of Paul’s theology than the Letter to the Romans. Paul is preparing to meet the church at Rome for the first time (Romans 1:8-13). In advance of this visit, Paul writes them his vaunted Epistle to the Romans. This […]

In the great Book of Acts, we have an orderly account of how the Church and its Gospel message of a Savior spread from Jerusalem (Acts 1-7) all the way to Rome (Acts 28). Luke doesn’t give a detailed account of the first 20 years of Church history, but he does give us a good […]

In Acts 8:1-3, we have the the newly-formed Church scattered from Jerusalem by a great persecution in connection with the stoning of Stephen. He was the first martyr of Christ’s Church. In Acts 7 we have a great sermon of Stephen in which he recounts God’s faithful dealings with His people under the Abrahamic and […]

In Jesus’ last extended teaching to His disciples before His arrest and crucifixion, He emphasized the role that the Holy Spirit would have in their lives once He left the earth (John 14-17). The Holy Spirit would make Jesus and the Father intimately present to faithful disciples (John 14:15-21). The Holy Spirit will bring glory […]

The Gospel of John was the last of the four Gospels to be written (probably around AD 85). It was authored by the Apostle John, who  according to church tradition was the only one of the Eleven faithful apostles not to die a martyr’s death. He was a very young man when he began following […]

In our reading today we have the end of Luke’s Gospel and the beginning of John’s Gospel. In Luke’s account of Jesus’ resurrection appearances, he emphasizes the fact that Jesus rose bodily from the dead. It was not just a spiritual resurrection. In the Road to Emmaus appearance Jesus sat down with the two travelers […]

This portion of Scripture in Luke’s Gospel contains some of the most well-known parables of Jesus. For example, in Luke 10:25-37, we have the priceless Parable of the Good Samaritan. In this wonderfully-crafted story, Jesus powerfully teaches that our neighbor is anyone in need that we are in a position to help. The hero of […]