By Andrew Belt – “Pastor? Will I recognize my loved ones in Heaven?” A good question and a […]
resurrection
By James Hopkins – Here’s one of the things I heard while the Cathedral of Notre Dame was […]
By Paul Koch – What a great day this is to be together in our Lord’s house. A […]
By Paul Koch – Easter is one of the greatest celebrations of the church year. Alongside of Christmas […]
By Paul Koch –
Today is the celebration of the pinnacle event in all human history. Today we rejoice in the great working of God who interceded at a specific moment in time to overturn the power of darkness and sin and death. This is the dawn of a new day and the promise of something better. In the beginning of human history, mankind rejected the Word of God and set out on their own journey in opposition to their Creator. They ate the fruit of the forbidden tree so that they might become like God knowing good and evil, and know it they did. And so, is seems, do we all. And with that knowledge came punishment and brokenness and selfishness and pride and anger and a whole host desires that pervert and destroy relationships. But today we confess a gift that comes through a different tree, the tree of the cross. There your Lord died, and he died for all that deserves death and punishment in this world. He dies so that there might be life, so that there might be hope for you.
By Jeff Pulse –
The Old Testament text for Transfiguration Sunday, February 11, 2018, is from the second book of Kings. The text is II Kings 2:1-12 and is the account of Elijah being taken up into heaven in a whirlwind right before the eyes of Elisha, his chosen successor. There are several interesting things to consider in this text, especially as one considers why it was chosen to compliment the Mark account of the Transfiguration of Jesus. We especially want to look at two things: 1) The aspect of death and resurrection demonstrated in this text and 2) the movement through water into eternal life/heaven that is so prevalent in the pages of Scripture, both Old and New Testaments.
By Tim Winterstein –
Here’s one for a long and ongoing conversation. Ordet is a 1955 Danish film (and 1956 Golden Globe Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film) about a family living in a small town in Jutland, where the division between the organized state church and a conversionist sect becomes the catalyst for everyone’s crisis of faith. This is a hard film to watch for people (like me) who have been inoculated to older (purer?) cinema by technological advances, high production values, fast pacing, and color.
