Texts: John 16:23-33 & James 1:22-27 Jesus says, “You will have tribulation…” The world is full of tribulation. Tribulation is seen as the inward infliction of distress, affliction, or oppression. Many Christians believe we are living in unchartered times and experiencing oppression like no other moment in history. In Finland, Rev. Dr. Juhana Pohjola, Bishop Elect of the Lutheran Church in Finland was charged by the government for incitement against a group of people. Similarly, Päivi Räsänen, a member of Parliament (also a Lutheran) is facing charges of hate speech for comments made on a television show regarding her belief in traditional marriage. What did these two Lutherans do wrong? They confessed – they confessed what God’s unchanging Word says regarding marriage. Should we be bracing for similar fates as the world surrounding us evolves? The nature of the pending Equality Act in the United States, the repeal of laws protecting the unborn, the...
It’s Good Friday, and we aren’t able to attend our local congregation. Our family misses our brothers and sisters in Christ immensely. We miss the faces, handshakes, hugs, smiles, voices, most of all, the hearing of God’s Word and reception of Christ’s flesh and blood for the forgiveness of our sins. It’s frustrating. It would be easy to simply become mad with the situation, to grow disheartened, to allow this frustration to take root and spill forth. But I cannot do this. I have a responsibility as head of my house to lead my family and to train up my children in the way they are to go. (Proverbs 22:6a) There is a yearning in every member of my family to be with our fellow saints. This time will come again, and I pray it will come soon. For now, my responsibility is to lead my children to the cross of Christ. Being Good Friday, we will hold family devotions, we will sing hymns, we will pray for you our neighbor, and we will participate in Good Friday ...
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