Ecclesiastes says, "9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 10 For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up" (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10). There is great joy in having...
Welfare programs are not an original U.S. thing. The Roman Empire had welfare programs, as did many countries in Europe starting in the 17th century. Welfare programs are ways in which the governing authority replaces fallen man because he doesn't keep the 5th commandment which says, "You shall...
Does a Christian love doing the things the Law demands, like loving God and loving their neighbor? Yes. The Christian loves doing the things written on our hearts and revealed in the 10 commandments. Why though do the baptized love to keep the commandments? Well, it's because they are baptized...
St. Paul preached to the churches in Galatia saying, "For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' But if you...
The Devil doesn't want you in Church on Sunday morning. He wants you to be anywhere else besides the place in which you have absolute forgiveness of all your sins. He wants you to be in a place where your flesh is pleased, where your ego is boosted, and where your self piety is encouraged. He...
In his book, A Little Book on Joy, President Harrison makes a lovely and comforting assertion in a story about how sinners should live with one another saying, "I didn't come to kill you. I came to forgive you. He wasn't on a mission of retribution. He was on a mission of...
The 4th commandment says, "Honor your Father and your Mother. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not despise or anger our parents, and other authorities, but honor them, serve and obey them, love and cherish them." This is the first and greatest commandment in the...
Dr. Martin Luther, of blessed and holy memory, writes concerning the joy of the Church saying, “Grace and peace-these two words embrace the whole of Christianity. Grace forgives sin, and peace stills the conscience. The two devils who plague us are sin and the conscience, the power of the...
In the Smalcald Articles, Dr. Martin Luther of blessed and holy memory, asserts the work of the external Word of God saying, "Accordingly, we should and must constantly maintain that God will not deal with us except through His external Word and sacrament. Whatever is attributed to the Spirit...
This Sunday is the Fourth Sunday After Trinity. The readings are Old Testament: Genesis 50:15-20 which says, "15 When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.&rdquo...