Category: Christian Faith & Life
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John the Baptist Prepares the Way
(Read Mark 1:1-8) Note: This blog post is split up into sections for ease of reading. Mark 1:1 Each word of this title is important in order to understand what Mark wishes to transmit to his readers. It is clear that this title is first of all a profound statement of Mark’s own faith. Mark…
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Thanksgiving for Spiritual Blessings
(Read 1 Corinthians 1:3-9) The greeting (verse 3) is a familiar one. Pastors often use Paul’s words to greet their congregations as they begin their sermons. Like Paul, they desire for their congregations the two blessings that God can give: the grace of God that saves them through Jesus Christ, who redeemed them, and the…
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Faith Turns to the Lord in Prayer
(Read Isaiah 64:1-9) Note: This blog post is split up into sections for ease of reading. Isaiah 64:1-2 Faith turns to the Lord in prayer. Even when God appears barricaded in heaven, ignoring the suffering of his people, faith prays. Consider the example of King Hezekiah. When King Hezekiah peered out from behind Jerusalem’s walls…
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The Triumphal Entry
Why start the season of Advent with a reading about Palm Sunday? It’s easy for us to lose sight of Jesus’ mission around this time of year—to only see him as a baby in a manger. This reading from Mark sets our eyes on what our Savior came here to do—to rescue us from our…
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Advent
[From Our Worth to Him: Devotions for Christian Worship by Mark Paustian. All rights reserved.] “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). I, a poor John the Baptist, made my way through a tangle of wheelchairs in a run-down nursing home. I was there to mark an…
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Introducing: Reading Through Advent With NPH
Advent begins on December 3. There is so much going on this time of year. I don’t think I really need to give any examples—you know what you have going on right now. All the busyness—the hustle and bustle of the season—can be draining and downright exhausting. Time spent in God’s Word can refresh us…
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A Life of Service
Today is World Kindness Day. This holiday was created with the intent of building a kinder and more compassionate world through the intentional deeds of kindness and love we show to others. That’s a worthy goal. It’s all too easy to view such a day with pessimism. In our self-focused society—driven by the need to…
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No Longer Any Sea
Today is World Freedom Day. This special day is an observance of the tearing down of the Berlin Wall—the vast and terrible wall of barbed wire, concrete, and watch towers separating East from West Germany, dividing friends and family members from 1961–1989. I can’t even imagine the feeling of being separated from loved ones for…