Christmas Fear

“Do not be afraid.” Three times in Luke’s birth narrative an angel appears to people, and these are their first words. It’s understandable; I’d be freaked out if an angel appeared to me and started talking, especially if “the glory of the Lord shone round about them,” as it did with the Bethlehem shepherds....

The Last Lamb

In the gospel of John, Jesus is portrayed as the Lamb of God, a sacrifice offered up by God to deliver his people from slavery to sin. According to Hebrews, this was the last sacrifice needed, for this Lamb’s death purified and sanctified once and for all. “But when Christ had offered for all time a single...

Do We Really Trust Grace?

Grace is a funny thing.  We all want it, we all believe in it, but we have a hard time trusting it. You would think that the message that God has just chosen to forgive us would be good news, but a lot of people that I have talked to over the years have a hard time trusting it.  You can’t just go around...

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