Ephesians 4:4-6  There is one body and one spirit - just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call - one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Luther talks of casting sugar into water to make delicious drinks.  Many dollars are spent today on our sugary sodas, juices, coffees, and teas. If you take away the sugar and call them diet, they're just not the same. When it comes to Baptism, the minute you take away the Word of God, you make it nothing. If we don't have the Word of God with that water in the baptismal font, then all we have is a silly and meaningless ritual.

God's Word makes the water of Baptism sweet. When the Israelites tried the desert water at Marah, it was bitter. But God's Word made it sweet when He told Moses to toss in a piece of wood (Exodus 15:25). During the time of Elisha, the men of Jericho came to him because their water was bad and causing sickness and death. At God's word, Elisha took a bowl of salt and threw it in the water. The water was healed (2 Kings 2:22).

How sweet the water of Baptism becomes when the Word of God is added! Sweeter than honey and sugar (Psalm 119:103)! This "Word-water" of Baptism becomes living water that has the power to drive away our bitter sin and death and open the doors of sweet paradise. Even more than that, God Himself comes to us in the "Word-water" and makes His home with us through the work of the Holy Spirit. Be assured that there is nothing silly or meaningless whenever God's Word is present.
--
 

Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Romans 2:28-29  For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is on inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.

In the Broadway musical Annie, Daddy Warbucks came to love the orphan Annie as if she were his own daughter. He planned to give her the gift of a new locket to replace her old and broken one, then reveal his desire to adopt her. When she opened the gift, however, Annie quickly explained that her broken locket was more than it appeared to be. It was a gift from her parents, given to her with a promise attached to it: that they would come back for her one day. Apart from the promise, Annie's locket would have been an ordinary necklace. But because it was attached to a promise, it was of great value to her and simply irreplaceable.

Our God has given us His Word attached to things that may look ordinary - water, bread, wine - but through them, He delivers to us the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. Unlike Annie's parents, who left her at an orphanage and could not deliver on their promise to return, our God never leaves us and always keeps His promises.

Through the Word and the waters of Baptism, God delivers on His promise to wash us clean from sin by connecting us to Jesus' death and resurrection. Through the Word in, with, and under bread and wine, God delivers on His promise to forgive our sin by connecting us to the body and blood of Jesus. There is no better gift we could receive than eternal life and salvation from our loving Father!
--
 

Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Romans 10:17  So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Blueprints. Lists. Tools. Materials. Workbench. Patience. Determination. Care. Discipline. Joy. All of these put together by a master craftsman produce a work that is meant to be both artistic and functional for daily living. The master craftsman "sees" what he will create and then creates what will be seen in the world.

God, our master craftsman, working through His Means of Grace, brings to us the materials and tools by which our very lives are saved for His best works. With written and spoken Scripture, with water, and with bread and wine, we are worked on faithfully by the Holy Spirit to bring the love and grace of Jesus into and out of each of our lives. We are made into new, beautiful creations through which the very life of Jesus functionally works in the world. We are crafted in ways only God can do to be the works of God in our homes and communities.

We are invited to be miniature craftspeople. We are to use the very Word made flesh who lives in us to share God's love and grace in the artistic, functional ways that God has created for us in our lives. For the joy set before Jesus, He saved us. For the joy set before us, we live Him out. Let's get to work!
--
 

Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

2 Corinthians 1:20  For all the promises of God find their Yes in Him. That is why it is through Him that we utter our Amen to God for His glory.

Take a moment and make a list of ten circumstances that signal an ending. What did your list include? Maybe you thought of checking the last box on a to-do list or a curtain falling after the closing act of a performance, or perhaps you flashed back to the sound of the final bell on the last day of school. Take a moment and notice something about your list. Very often, the end of an event mirrors the beginning. Fireworks shows are one of my favorite examples. A loud, colorful bang signals the beginning. The tempo and intensity build until the grand finale culminates in a glorious burst of sound and color. When done right, the ending leaves you shaken and awestruck.

Reading the Lord's Prayer also brings us full circle while providing a thrilling conclusion. The prayer begins with our eyes turned heavenward toward our Father. The focus then turns earthward as we acknowledge our desire to live in a world where God's name is revered and His perfect will is done. Realizing that our sin separates us from this reality, we humble ourselves before God, asking Him to provide first for our earthly needs, then for our spiritual needs as well. Our eyes once again turn heavenward as our requests turn to praise, declaring with renewed vigor the might and majesty of our heavenly Father. The amen caps it all off with a proclamation in the certainty of God's attention and intervention. It's truly a moment that leaves you shaken and awestruck.
--
 

Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

1 John 5:19  We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

When God created the world, it was very good. And it was for us. He made plants for us to eat, animals to accompany us, and the sun and moon to mark time and give us light. He instituted marriage so we could delight in our spouse and in the children who spring from our love. And in the beginning, we had Him. He walked in the garden with Adam and Eve, and He talked to them face-to-face. It was all very good.

But Satan, who had already rebelled against God, could not abide God's good creation. KNowing God's command to Adam and Eve, he entered the garden and tempted them to eat what was forbidden. They did, and they brought on themselves the curse: division from each other, separation from God, death. And death still stalks us, wreaking havoc through natural disasters, human pride, violence, disease, and the like. We are mostly safe - until we are not. We suffer, and Satan rejoices.

God, however, suffered with us in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. He died under our curse and rose again victorious. In Him, we also have the victory over death and Satan. We therefore pray to God that He would protect us from all the evils that Satan so gladly sees us suffer. And we know that, whatever evils we experience in this life, we will overcome them in Christ and once again see God face-to-face on the Last Day.
--
 

Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

1 Corinthians 10:13  No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

God wants an actual relationship with us, not a false relationship, not half a relationship, and not a pretend version of relationship. Because God values relationships with us so highly, He presents His actual self to us in His Word, rather than a version of Him that may be more comfortable and more palatable to handle. Temptation, God's anger, how they interact, and our sinner/saint reality can be confusing and can lead us to despair. Satan likes to kick us while we're down and put lies in our ears about who we are and who God is. Satan whispers, "God doesn't want you. God doesn't want to hear your sin. You should despair, fall into shame."

The Word in our lives saves us from despair, shame and vice. The Word tells us who God is and all that He has done for us. We cling to God's Word not to avoid temptation, but to walk through temptation with Christ before us and beside us, the sword of the Spirit valiantly swinging, the helmet of salvation firm on our heads, our feet shod with God's peace even when we have a hard time finding exact answers to our questions.

Temptation is common. It will come to us. But our triune God is anything but common, and we trust that His promises are better, brighter, and stronger than anything Satan can toss our way. To Him be glory forever. He saves us!
--
 

Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Psalm 32:5-6  I acknowledge my sins to You, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord," and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to You at a time when You may be found.

Our God is an eternal fountain (Psalm 68:26). He delivers pure, life-giving water (Zechariah 13:1; John 4:13-14). Through His Son and in His Spirit, His grace flows freely (John 19:34); Hebrews 10:22; 1 John 1:7). Should that spring cease, so do we (Psalm 36:9). But the river of life that flows from Him will never run dry (Revelation 22:1).

Saturated in our own sewage, we come to Him for cleansing. He goes to work through water, Word, bread, and wine. He removes the guilt of our own sin and the shame of being stained by everyone else's. Once we are again cleansed, He unstops our lips and fills our mouths with prayer and praise (Psalm 51:15).

If His fountain flows so freely to us, why do we stop it up so easily (Proverbs 25:26)? We let others' sin simmer like sewage in our souls. It's a toxic, deadly mess. Like cracked containers, we fail to deliver the forgiveness God pours out so freely to us (Jeremiah 2:13; Matthew 18:21-35).

But the forgiveness is His. He is the fountain, the water, and the master plumber. As His forgiveness flows freely to us, He works that it might flow freely through us.
--
 

Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,