Today marks the end of the Festival Half of the Church Year as we celebrate Holy Trinity Sunday. Throughout the festival season we’ve traced our salvation history as it was revealed through Jesus Christ in His incarnation, ministry, suffering, death, resurrection, ascension, and finally the sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. But this day stands apart from every other Sunday. …For more, click on the title above.
Tag: Vicar Hartman
Ascension is not departure
The Feast of the Asension is a celebration of Jesus’ ascension into the heavens, and His return to the Father in glory. We give thanks that Christ is exalted and reigns in full divine power as He sits at the right hand of God. As we await Jesus’ glorified, bodily, and visible return from the heavens, we pray that Jesus’ continued presence in Word and Sacrament continually dwells in our hearts and minds….For more, click on the title above.
Man’s complaint
A lament is a passionate expression of sorrow. It’s crying out in grief. It’s a complaint. That’s why there’s good reason the author of the book of Lamentations is called the weeping prophet. Jeremiah wrote the book to express the profound sadness, anguish, and despair that was before him. But to better understand the events that He and the Israelites in the Southern Kingdom went through we need to go back in Israel’s history about four hundred years. What was Jerusalem like at that time? …For more, click on the title above.
Another Resurrection Day
The apostle Paul writes,
“If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain…and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.”
But your sins are forgiven, and your faith isn’t empty. Your faith isn’t meaningless because Christ is risen, He is risen indeed, Alleluia. Your faith rests upon this proclamation of the Resurrection of the Lord. …For more, click on the title above.
Crown of thorns
To fully understand the Passion Narrative from the book of John we need to go back several chapters and pluck out a few verses. Just after Lazarus was raised from the dead we read,
“So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, ‘What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.’” For more, click on the title above.
Crucify Him!
On Sunday we celebrated the royal glory of the King of Israel as He triumphantly entered Jerusalem. There was a great crowd gathered in the Holy City for the Passover festival as they were celebrating their deliverance from slavery in Egypt. The Israelites were remembering the blood of the lamb that was on their doorposts as a sign that death would pass over them. When they heard Jesus was coming, they took palm branches to go out and meet Him. The Palm branches were waved as a symbol of deliverance, victory, and triumph….For more, click on the title above.
‘I thirst’
The human body is wonderfully created with a series of sensations that drive it to satisfy life sustaining goals. When the body thirsts, dryness wraps itself around the lips, mouth, and throat. What begins as a whisper steadily grows louder and louder. Moisture leaves the lips as the walls of the mouth begin to stick together. A dry ache in the throat sharpens and each breath feels thicker. With each inhalation the mouth transforms into a dry desert wasteland. The body becomes increasingly restless and distracted as all focus shifts to quenching that thirst with life sustaining liquids. But in the developed world water scarcity and sustained thirst are nearly nonexistent….For more, click on the title above.
Thy Will Be Done
“Mankind has always been deeply infatuated with human will. A person’s course of action and direction in life is guided by their will. The thoughts, feelings, and desires of a person manifest externally when someone works with and even against the world around them. ”
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Look and see
Today we are looking forward to what happens 50 days from now on Easter Sunday. It’s the high point of the Church year where we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Leading up to that day we fast from our Alleluias and begin a time of preparation. Wednesday, after being marked with ashes, our focus shifts to repentance as we turn to God and place our backs to sin. …For more, click on the title above.
Compassionate Employer
…But this heavenly reward is not based on the earthly system of earnings. Jesus says, “But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
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