The redemption that is ours in Jesus Christ is not some sort of luxury cruise through the calm waters of the Sea of Pain-Be-Gone. God's plan has never been to insulate His people from the rain that falls, but to prepare us for the storms that come our way.
The father said, "My son and I had only one Bible verse that we both knew. We talked about this verse a lot. 'For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whosever believes in Him may not perish but have everlasting life.' Will you read that at my son's funeral?"
For the victim to use power for personal advantage is hardly surprising. Some such action is necessary to redress past wrongs. But it should come as no surprise if victims of one kind produce victims of another kind. What makes the Gospel good news is that it points to a different alternative.
Millions have been freed from addiction by twelve step programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous. We can all be freed from the burdens of our past by forgiveness—the forgiveness we receive from God and the forgiveness we give and receive from each other.
There was only one sermon that day. There was only one crowd. But there were a myriad of responses, because the poor felt encouraged, but the wealthy felt judged. The hungry went away hopeful, but the well-fed went away worried about the future.
Luke reminds us to live our lives trusting that he keeps his promises, that Jesus is with us in the chaos of our daily lives, in the ordinariness and in the tragedy that daily life affords. Advent calls out to us with hope.
There is no time clock to tell us when the last day is coming. Being prepared is the goal--knowing that when the time comes, our faith in Jesus will save us. When the time is up, when the game is over, the right team will be those who trust Jesus Christ as Savior.
Sin interrupts God's plans for the world and so God interrupts sin by becoming a human being who lives among us filled with grace and truth and dies for us.
The Jewish people were forced to scatter to the four winds. They would be without a homeland for nineteen hundred years – until 1947, to be exact – when the United Nations partitioned a small sliver of land to create the nation of Israel. Yet, they survived.
The good news of this gospel is not good news to Nicodemus. He has invested a life-time in ritual holiness. Yet he has seen the power of Jesus. It obviously comes from God. And he can’t dismiss Jesus as a crank. Christ is telling him that his world has changed and that he must change with it. He must be born again.