What a blessing it is to walk with our Lord, living our lives in His Word each day during this time of Lent.  I hope to share thoughts about the daily readings from Hebrews and Matthew.  Please share your thoughts with me via email at holyfaith@verizon.net!  (Past posts may be accessed by clicking the Home page footer “Lent:  Walking with Christ.”)

What a wondrous High Priest we have in Jesus!  With Jewish-Christians tempted in the face of Roman and secular persecution to leave Christ and return to Judaism, and with the importance of the earthly High Priest vivid in their minds, the author of Hebrews blesses them and us with an awe-inspiring vision of the greatest High Priest we have!  He serves in the divine tabernacle/temple/church that God has created:  Heaven!

You see, earthly priests of the tribe of Levi served in the earthly, man-made temple of God.  Of course it has its place to strengthen faith-lived lives.  The temple was filled with ritual ceremony based upon the old covenant.  Priests would perform ritual sacrifice over-and-over again, with the High Priest entering the Holy of Holies once a year on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement).  There had to be life for life.  The offering of blood and its sprinkling on the people symbolized the atonement (at-one-ment) that God wanted His people to have with Him.  It pointed to the Jesus to come.  But it was all simply a shadow of the Father’s house, a reflection of what Jesus came to do.

It was all based on the Old Covenant which was flawed.  The flaw wasn’t present by God’s design.  The Old Covenant worked in and of itself.  Jeremiah (some 600 years before Christ), quoted by the author in vv. 8-12, says it well, “…they did not remain faithful to my covenant…”  It was a two way, conditional (Ex. 4:8), and sinful humankind just cannot live up to it to be at one with God.  The fault didn’t rest with the covenant.  God found fault with sinful people!

God, in His all-knowingness and in His love for humankind, from the beginning planned for a new covenant.  The word translated here “covenant” can mean a two-way conditional contract or it can be translated “will” or “testament.”  God already had a new covenant or last-will-and-testament in His divine will for us.  And it would require a Mediator, Jesus, who would shed His own blood to make things right with His and our Father.  God has written the boundaries of His will in our hearts (the Law) so that with the forgiveness of our God (Gospel), offered by our great High Priest, we can live in Christ’s strength, keeping the Law (yet imperfectly) out of love for our Lord.  He establishes a New Covenant, a one-way last will and testament from Him to us, giving us the inheritance of everything He has earned on the cross.  We have His Supper where He is both Host and Food.  He sets the table and Himself gives us His body and blood, are foretaste of the Feast to come.

 Jesus entered the Holy of Holies in God’s temple once.  On a Friday we call “Good” only because of the forgiveness we now receive, Jesus willfully, in love with us gave His life once and for all on a cross.  We will mournfully remember in Tenebrae (darkness) His sacrifice in just a few short weeks.  The Yom Kippur above every Yom Kippur, when Jesus proclaimed “Father forgive them” and “it is finished” within the action of His loving sacrifice, everything for us to be free from sin, guilt, and death has been and remains completed for us!  Remember the earthquake that split the thick, metal mesh curtain covering the entryway to the Holy of Holies?  We have direct access to our God, He to us and us to Him.  And then Jesus signed, sealed and delivered His last will and testament by His glorious resurrection!  All of God’s promises for us are fulfilled in Him.

Christ is the One!  Because of our Great High Priest, as God said through Jeremiah so long before,  “I will be their God, and they will be My people…  For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”  How hard that is for us to do, right?  How often the words are shared by those flawed with sin: “I will forgive them, but I can’t forget.”  Yet our omniscient, all-knowing God, who could remember every itty-bitty detail of our most egregious sin chooses to remember those sins no more!  If God has so let go of our sins because of His Son, we can too with one another!

Pray with me:  Jesus, we thank You for being THE High Priest for us.  You sacrificed Yourself once-and-for-all so that we are forgiven and right with our God.  Continue to bless our Lenten walk.  Empower us to love and forgive each other as our God loves and forgives us.  It’s all because of You!  In Your name.  Amen.

I learned a new word.  Well, I’m not sure it’s really a word, but perhaps I can call it an allowed one as we consider what we have just celebrated this past Christmas.  The word is “Simplexity” and as I type it my auto word search is underlining in red.  It is a conflation of the words Simple and Complex and describes what we as Bible believing Christians need to be.

How important to dig deep in our Biblical theology!  As we mature in our faith we’re able to digest the meat of the Bible’s teaching.  At Christmastime we celebrate the incarnation.  God Himself incarnate, made flesh for us by being born of Mary in the village of Bethlehem.  I have to confess:  when I took my doctrine qualifier for admission to the seminary, I got that one wrong.  I knew the teaching, yet didn’t have the word in my vocabulary.  With red face, though, I celebrate that God came to walk in our shoes, to do the perfection that we cannot, to die the punishment for our sins, and to rise again so that we have new life in Him.  God incarnate!

This is how St. Augustine shares the complexity of the incarnation:

            Maker of the sun, He is made under the sun.
            In the Father he remains,
                        From his mother he goes forth.
            Creator of heaven and earth,
                        He was born on earth under heaven.
            Unspeakably wise, He is wisely speechless.
            Filling the world, He lies in a manger.
            Ruler of the stars,
                        He nurses at his mother’s bosom.
            He is both great in the nature of God,
                        and small in the form of a servant.

Yet this Christmas, as we have praised our God for His incarnation in Jesus, He sends us into a New Year as His hands and feet and voice.  Our incarnational ministry together is simple, to share Jesus, simply Jesus.

Karl Barth was a German theologian who dominated the theology of the 20th century. One night he lectured at a seminary in the U.S., and after the lecture he met with students in the coffee shop for some informal conversation. Someone asked him if there was any way he could summarize his complex theological findings. A student asked, “What in your judgment is the essence of the Christian faith?” Barth paused for a moment. No doubt the others waited for some profound insights from this theological giant. They got their pens and paper out and were poised. Then Barth answered, “Yes, I can summarize in a few words my understanding of the Christian faith. Let me put it this way: “Jesus Loves Me, This I Know, for the Bible Tells Me So.”

That’s the message this Christmas and always!  Jesus loves me, my family, my church, and every lost, hell bound person He places in my path in 2023!  May we enter 2023, a new year that will be filled with God’s forgiveness, love and peace, on fire for Jesus — simply Jesus!  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  Pastor Craig

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As the Church of Christ, we find ourselves positioned between two great victories.  Behind us is the victory of our Lord who died upon the cross and was raised again.  That moment of human history spelled the end of the power of sin and death.  Now we await the second victory, the final liberation of the world from sin, evil and death at the re-appearing of our Savior when He comes again at the end of the age.  We are in a period of waiting and expectation, with the promise that the One for whom we wait will not disappoint us.

However, Jesus warns us that the interim period would not be easy.  As the day of salvation approaches, he warns, there will be greater conflicts and outpouring of evil among people and natural disasters in the earth.  These are the signs that should alert us to the fact that we live in a world that is in need of redemption.  Jesus says, “When these things begin to take place, look up and raise your heads, because redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28).

Look up!  Raise your heads!  That runs counter to the advice of the world and our own natural instincts.  When things start flying all around us, as one Biblical scholar put it, the inclination is to duck, retreat, and keep your head down.  Instead Jesus calls us to stand up, raise our heads, and be out in front.  Why?  Because as things get worse, and the need for a Savior becomes more obvious, it becomes all the clearer to those who believe that God will act to save His people.  Simultaneously we stand to make bold witness that the Christ for whom we await brings redemption, salvation from all that threatens us.  To lift up our heads is an act of faith and witness to the promises of God that await us and which have been assured to us in the first victory of our Lord at the cross and the empty tomb.  In a year of tragic hurricanes; devastating earthquakes and wildfires; terroristic acts with more than 600 mass (over 4 deaths not including the perpetrator) shooting events in America alone; a country that’s politicized in all things now is the time for us to strike a posture of courage and hope.  It’s not a time for us to take a low profile.  With the worship themes during this season of Advent we hear God’s call to renew our expectation and hope in the return of our Lord, and to stand up boldly to call the world to look to Him for salvation!  May we boldly share the forgiveness and strength that only Jesus can bring!

Maranatha!  “Come Lord Jesus!”

How can I repay the Lord for all His goodness to me?  I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.  I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all His people.  Psalm 116:12-14

Can you believe it?  Ever since Halloween, media has been pushing pushing the world’s idea of Christmas!  I have a dear friend that often reminds me of how many days left before Christmas.  Yet in the church there’s still Thanksgiving and Advent ahead to prepare us to celebrate our Savior’s birth.

With November how important it is for us to remember Thanksgiving.  It becomes the heart-set to the Advent and Christmas seasons to follow.  This morning I read Psalm 116 in my devotion.  The question raised by the psalmist gives us Thanksgiving pause:  “How can I repay the Lord for all His goodness to me?”

During gift purchasing for the celebration of Christmas, many of us will jokingly complain about how hard it is to buy a gift for the person who has everything.  The joking pun (especially by the fiscally minded like me) is to then say, “I will just give them the gift of myself.”  With God, it’s not just a joking matter, but a serious challenge.  God does have everything!  Everything, including ourselves, is the work of His creative hands.  This puts us into a position of obligation.  We owe our lives and everything we have to God.  So, how do we respond to the psalmist’s question?  How do we express ourselves to the God who has given each of us life and eternal life in His Son, Jesus Christ?

Fortunately, we’re not left to guess.  The Bible tells us what God is looking for from us.  He is looking for nothing more than a sincere “thank you!”  God expects us to receive His generous gifts with a thankful heart.  That’s what Thanksgiving is all about.  How could we not be moved to gratitude when we think of the lengths to which God has gone to create us and then to redeem us in the death and resurrection of Jesus?  Our heavenly Father loves us so much He gives the gift of His Son!

God in His Word also repeatedly stresses that He expects our thanks be given to Him in worship!  I’m sorry to pop the bubble of all those who brush God off with the comment, “I can worship God anywhere, at home or on the golf course.”  Well, no, the psalmist says, “I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.  I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all His people.”  When we gather to worship, whether during the time of Thanksgiving or during Advent  or on Christmas or any Sunday, it is with the purpose of thanking and praising God, giving to Him the only thing which He really asks in return for His generous blessings:  grateful worship offered to Him in faith and love.  And then a life filled with thankful worship through loving acts for others

May our worship on Thanksgiving Eve (7:00 p.m. with a pie fellowship) throughout Advent and at Christmas (Eve:  5 & 8 p.m. and Day:  11:00 a.m.) swell with the hearts and voices of God’s thankful people who take time to thank God for all His goodness to us!  I give God thanks for each of you!  Love in Christ, Pastor Craig

On this day of remembrance a message of hope:

Every day a little girl walked to and from school. Though the weather that morning was questionable and clouds were forming, she made her daily trek to the elementary school. As the afternoon progressed, the winds whipped up along with thunder and lightning. The mother of the little girl felt concerned that her daughter would be frightened as she walked home from school, and she herself feared that the electrical storm might harm her child.

Following the roar of thunder, lightning, like a flaming sword, would cut through the sky. Full of concern, the mother quickly got into her car and drove along the route to her child’s school. As she did so, she saw her little girl walking along, but at each flash of lightning, the child would stop, look up and smile. Another and another were to follow quickly, and with each, the little girl would look at the streak of light and smile.

When the mother’s car drove up beside the child, she lowered the window and called to her.  “What are you doing? Why do you keep stopping?”  The child answered, “I am trying to look pretty; God keeps taking my picture.”

May God bless you today as you face the storms that come your way with a smile!  Jesus walks with you!

And, remember, Holy Faith is an Amazon Smile charity!  Just click the banner below, go to your account, and designate Holy Faith.  Amazon will share their smile and include us!

What an awesome time celebrating “In All Things” August 9^th through the 13^th  in Houston.  Yes, we saw Jesus at work all around us.  Through Mass Events at Minute Maid Stadium (the only youth gathering to be held at a baseball park) including a band, skits, worship and just plain Christ-centered fun. Jesus was right there.  We attended cool (pun intended because they were in the George Brown Convention Center and it was literally cool and huge) learning sessions that shared Jesus in many youth connected ways.  Our church body, the LCMS, did a great job in facilitating this event where Jesus was “In All Things!”

One of the gathering sessions that really intrigued me was called “In All Things Marvel.”  Yes, it does mean to “marvel” at our awesome, risen servant-Lord Jesus!  But when they shared with me that it had to do with another universe than the one I know, I wasn’t sure I would stay awake!  This session was led by Pastor Lee Hopf, a Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) geek who proceeded to present how the story of Jesus, the greatest ever, is woven throughout the 23 Superhero movies that make up this cinematic universe.  While I didn’t know many of these superheroes , I thoroughly enjoyed his rapid fire talk (he had a lot to cover and was truly excited about it) and plan to watch the original Avengers and some of the others during my staycation this August.

On my return, I couldn’t help but recall my childhood superheroes.  The characters with stories larger than life were not from Marvel but DC comics.  If you are a Baby Boomer or even a Buster or a few generations down, you know these superheroes:  Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, and Aquaman to name a few.  But my favorite was Superman!!

The day after I returned I was looking in a file and came upon an article from AARP Magazine (yah, I’m an old guy with a young heart).  It was called “Five Things You Never Knew About Superman.”  Here they are…  He had a SS#!  Are you ready?:  092-09-6616.  It actually belonged to a flesh-and-blood New Yorker whose family never knew why it was picked.  I’m glad there was a 1 between those three 6’s; the anitichrist he’s not!  He not only fought fictional characters like Lex Luthor.  He fought real villains through the course of the comics.  He battled white-hooded KKKlansmen and hauled Hitler and Stalin before a war crimes tribunal.  He failed his Army physical during WWII.  Because of his x-ray vision he read an eye chart in an adjoining room.  Superman has a middle name revealed in the comics in 1997 – Joseph.  And finally, and most along the lines of Jesus in all things, Superman’s Kryptonian name:  Kal-El which is Hebrew for “Vessel of God.”  Superman’s beginning is almost straight out of Exodus as his parents launch him to safety in a spacecraft instead of a reed basket.  To read Superman comics is to find victory, good over evil, almost gift-like as x-ray eyes locate those in need.

Yes, Jesus is in all things, even the stories of these superheroes.  But above all, Jesus story includes us.  The theme Word for the Gathering:  ¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. ¹⁷And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁹For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.  (Colossians 1:15-17, 20-21)

There’s the superhero beyond compare!  THE universe that causes us to marvel is His creation.  He not only made it, He holds it together in His love and mercy.  He became the SUPER man as through Him God and human flesh became one so that He could fight the greatest enemy ever, the devil (the one who truly bears the mark of 666).  Through His blood on the cross, we are reconciled with God our heavenly Father, and with the gift of faith Jesus’ super promises become fulfilled and active in our lives.  Thank God Jesus’ peace is ours and we have a super job to do:  sharing the Story of Jesus who is “In All Things!”  We are able to do all things in Him, who strengthens us!  (Phil. 4:13) 

So keep your eyes open.  Not x-ray eyes but even stronger eyes of faith to see Jesus “In All Things,” especially your ongoing story!  Let Him use you in “super” ways to connect others to Him!  Pastor Craig