'sacrificial' Tagged Posts
Daily Devotions
And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins” vs. 5 Mark 1:4-8 John’s ministry along the Jordan attracted large numbers of people, most of whom seemed to have had a strong awareness of their own sinfulness. There were ways within Judaism for them to deal with this issue–the law was quite precise in explaining how people could find…
Daily Devotions
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” vs. 19 Matthew 16:17-20 While actual historical evidence is lacking, there is no doubt that Peter was associated with the community of Christians in Rome and probably died there as a martyr. As centuries passed and the bishop of Rome gained greater authority, Peter was widely believed…
Daily Devotions
For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.” vss. 4-5 Romans 12:3-8 Life in Christ is communal! That’s one of the basic teachings of Christianity 101 and nothing good happens when we don’t take it seriously. And yet that is exactly what has taken place in our congregations in the last century.…
Daily Devotions
May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known upon earth, your saving power among all nations.” vss. 1-2 Psalm 67:1-3 The psalmist hoped that when other nations saw how God had graciously blessed Israel they too would come to know the Lord as a source of saving power. These words remind us of Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount, “Let your light so…
Daily Devotions
I will not accept a bull from your house, or goats from your folds. For every wild animal of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.” vss. 9-10 Psalm 50:7-15 The psalmist was convinced that the people were misusing the sacrificial system that had been set up in Israel as a way to connect with the Lord. The people had begun to think that their offerings elevated their own status, a concept that has served as a…
Daily Devotions
You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish.” vss. 18-19 1 Peter 1:17-20 It’s no accident that the liturgies of many congregations contain references to Jesus as the Lamb of God. After all, that’s the language of scripture. Sacrifice was at the heart of Jewish temple worship, and it was…
Daily Devotions: April 23, 2020
April 23, 2020 1 Peter 1:17-20 … “You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish.” vss. 18-19 A ransom is typically understood as the payment that gives a person release from captors. In this passage it’s used as a verb to describe how the blood of Christ sets sinners free…