What Is Epiphany?

Have you enjoyed the previous "Church Year" videos from Concordia Publishing House? Perhaps you'll find a use for new addition to the line-up in the upcoming season of Epiphany: What Is Epiphany?

God bless you as you teach His children His Word in the new year!

Have a Debt-Free Christmas!

I've seen these thoughts many times over the years, most recently on the Christmas card from a friend:

Christ came to pay a debt He did not owe,
because we owed a debt we could not pay.

Jesus paid the price we owe for our sins (Romans 6:23), by coming to earth as a human child born of Mary, living a sinless life (He accumulated no debt of His own), suffering and dying on the cross as the once-for-all sacrifice for sin, and rising again as a guarantee of new life for all who believe in Him as their Savior through the proclamation of God's Word.

I hope you will have the privilege of sharing that good news with some of God's children this Sunday and each week, so that they, like you, can have a debt-free Christmas!

God bless you as you teach His children His Word!

What Do You Teach about Angels?

A customer inquired about the art used to illustrate Gabriel's appearance to Zechariah (not sure why the question, since that art is not used this year due to the shifting position of the beginning of Advent). The question was why Gabriel appeared with a sword. (The sword is also visible in our art for Gabriel's visit to Mary.) Here's how I responded:

Our culture takes its image of angels from cute porcelain figurines and Valentine’s Day cards. A biblical study of angels reveals an entirely different picture.

Angels (cherubim) barred Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden with flaming swords (Genesis 3:24). Angels guided Lot and his family from the sinful city of Sodom (Gen. 19). Angels protected Israel throughout the Exodus (Ex. 23:23, 32:34, 33:2 and others). An angel, invisible to God’s prophet Balaam but visible to his donkey, prevented Balaam from prophesying against God’s people, blocking his way with a sword (Numbers 22:23). In 1 Chronicles 21, God nearly allows an angel to destroy Jerusalem with a sword. In 2 Kings 19:35 and again in Isaiah 37: 36, God’s angel “strikes down” huge armies who oppose God’s people. Revelation 12 describes a great war in heaven with Michael and loyal angels fighting against “the dragon” (Satan) and his rebellious angels. Angels are warriors, guardians, protectors, fighters.

It is no wonder that an angel’s first words when appearing in the New Testament were often “Do not be afraid!” It is that statement and all the fearsome angel attributes behind it that led the artist to depict Gabriel with the sword.

In fact, we do not know exactly what Gabriel looked like. Angels sometimes appeared in human likeness (Abraham describes God and two other heavenly beings as men in Genesis 18), but not always. Ezekiel and Isaiah both describe very different heavenly beings. But the picture of the angel and Zechariah is a helpful representation, faithful to Scripture, and approved through our internal art doctrinal review process.

Other important correctives about angels? We do not become angels when we die. Angels were part of God's creation (though not mentioned specifically in Genesis 1). Not all angels have wings, though some apparently have more than one pair of them. The linguistic root of our word angel means "message" or "news"; they are God's messengers, as well as warriors and worshippers.

We do children no favors if we do not teach God's Word accurately. And we and they can take great comfort from the vast army of angels deployed to protect us.

God bless you as your teach His children His Word!

Thanks!

Thank you, Lord, for your saints Carl and Dorothy Felten.

They "adopted" two young brothers from down the street as their personal Sunday School mission project. They provided transportation, encouragement, supervision, and not a few Dairy Queen ice cream cones to ensure that these boys had the opportunity to learn about God's Word each week. A chance to hear the Gospel.

Yes, I was one of those boys. Dorothy served as my Sunday School teacher every year it seemed to me (though that's probably just a fanciful memory) through grade school. She apparently moved up each year with my class, perhaps because I was more hindrance than help in class.

I have no doubt that, without their effort, I would not be who I am today, God's child and willing servant.

Who are you reaching out to? Who might you invite, encourage, even transport to make Sunday School possible?

God bless you as you bring His children to hear His Word!