Most of us never tire of flipping to a new calendar and the new opportunity to begin fresh. There is something about it that feels good. It signals an opportunity to wipe the slate clean, to start anew, and maybe, just maybe, this next year will end better than the one we just put behind us.

The baptism of Jesus is one of those events in the Bible that will help you come to grips with who Jesus is, who you are without him, and who you are by grace through faith in Him alone. Baptisms, as a rule, are for people who are dirty and need to get clean. Yet religious washings tend to be about more than outward personal hygiene.

And so, it happened among us. Everyone knew, not all that long ago, that marriage was between one man and one woman. Obama said so, and even mentioned God. Hillary Clinton made a speech on the senator floor, invoking time and tradition.

New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are a time when our culture looks back and then looks forward. It’s a time when we try to come to grips with the failures and successes of the year that is passing away so as to be ready to face the challenges and opportunities of the year to come.

New Year’s Eve is a time when Americans gather to ceremonially put the past behind them and cast their hopes forward for a blessed New Year.

Who could refuse this offer: “Peace that lasts, forgiveness that holds, and life abundant now and forever because God is with us.” Well, many do. Why? Because as sinful, rebellious people by nature, we tend to settle for counterfeits instead of the real thing.

A blessed Christmas day this weekend as you all hear again that “In the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ, the Lord” (Luke 2:1112).

The amazing proclamation of the Bible is that the person and work of Jesus in history stands as the concrete expression of the will of God the Father for all people. Out of His love for us, He sent His Son into this sinful world to save it.

It’s Advent! And those who engage the culture from a two-kingdom perspective are fully aware that human efforts, whether political, economic, philosophic, or even religious, are incapable of bringing the fulfillment in life that humans crave and even strive for. Former Senator turned University of Florida President Ben Sasse wrote a persuasive opinion article several years ago in the Wall Street Journal that described the issue in even more stark terms. It was entitled, “Politics Can’t Solve Our Political Problems.”

That is a prayer of repentance to God for His gracious forgiveness. It sounds like something that John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus, might call us to say. Repentance, the God-induced sorrow for our sins in response to His Law, also causes us to fall at the feet of Jesus seeking the forgiveness for our sins that only He can grant.

“I won't indoctrinate my children but will let them decide for themselves.” Non-believers boast that their children are free and critical thinkers, taught to be kind and non-judgmental. Remarkably, though, these free-thinking children end up just like their supposedly free-thinking parents.

Those who attend churches that follow a commonly used series of Sunday readings probably heard 1st Corinthians 1:3-9 in worship yesterday.

Abortion is tragic, a deadly and heartbreaking deceit. No bond is more sacred, more profound, than that of a mother and child. Life’s journey begins in the womb, given by God as a safe space, a place for shelter, warmth and nurture.

The last few years have witnessed incredible Novembers, haven’t they? Even when it was Thanksgiving, it seemed like we were always under siege, whether it was the virus, our jobs, the economy, or chaos in our cities.

Blessed Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving if you still allow the practice of giving thanks in your home. Each year in November there seems to be more and more Americans advocating for the eradication of the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Morale soared that day. It was a day of failure, but it was a day when those who were rotting in one of the worst prisons in Vietnam suddenly realized that they had not been forgotten.

Since the twentieth century, Lutherans have spoken about a “two-kingdoms” doctrine to work out the relationship between church and state

“We’re not exactly sure what was troubling the Thessalonian Christians. But one thing is clear. They were confused about the Second Coming of Chris.”

Since the twentieth century, Lutherans have spoken about a “two-kingdoms” doctrine to work out the relationship between church and state

“It’s November in America and this is the month people focus on politics and elections, even when they are still a year away. “