"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:8-10
The Apostle John tells us why he wrote his Gospel: "Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name" (John 20:30-31). Life! When we believe that Jesus is the Christ, God gives us life-abundant life, forgiven life, and eternal life.
This Lent our life in Christ will be strengthened as we hear the witness of those in John's Gospel who journeyed to the cross. Along the way, we'll meet villains, such as Barabbas and Pontius Pilate, as well as sinners, such as Peter (who denied Jesus three times), Mary Magdalene (who was possessed by seven demons), and Judas Iscariot (who betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver).
Exodus 8:16-24 or Jeremiah 26:1-15, Ephesians 5:1-9, Luke 11:14-28
Jeremiah was charged with speaking evil when he spoke the Word of the Lord (Jer. 26:1-15). So also, Jesus is accused of doing evil when in fact He is doing good. He casts out a demon from a mute man so that he is able to speak (Luke 11:14-28). But some said Jesus did this by the power of Beelzebub, Satan. Like Pharaoh of old, their hearts were hard (Ex. 8:16-24). They did not recognize the finger of God, the power of the Holy Spirit at work in and through Jesus. Jesus is the Stronger Man who overcomes the strong man. He takes the devil's armor of sin and death and destroys it from the inside out by the holy cross. He exorcizes and frees us by water and the Word. We were once darkness, but now we are light in Christ the Lord (Eph. 5:1-9). As children of light, our tongues are loosed to give thanks to Him who saved us.
We welcome all to join us in worship this Sunday. We also invite you to listen to our weekly radio broadcast Sunday from 10-10:30 AM on radio station WIKI 95.3FM or stream on your favorite device at WIKI's website, clicking On Air, then Listen Online. The pastors of our circuit take turns to produce Light from the Cross. Also, you may want to consider other worship resources such as Worship Anew - a 30 minute video worship service which you can stream on-demand, KFUO AM, our LCMS radio station, which can be streamed live or on-demand, and Issues, ETC, which offers a vast array of Christian topics and discussions. We are blessed to have Lutheran podcasts such as these.
May the LORD bless you and keep you, may He make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you, May His countenance shine upon you, and give you peace.
Numbers 6:24-26
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