As we begin Advent 2014 with devotions to Carol Me, Christmas, we start with anticipation! O Come O Come Emmanuel is traditionally sung either at the very beginning of Advent or in the final days just prior to Christmas. Its haunting melody accurately communicates a world in pain, in distress, and dying for need of […]
As we begin to Carol Me, Christmas as our Advent 2014 series and tell the story of Christmas through the Church’s most beloved traditional carols, it would be good to set the stage for why many of these carols have had such an enduring quality. For some, the tune is memorable, is fun to sing, or […]
Acts 4:1 The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. 2 They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 3 They seized Peter and John, and […]
Happy Thanksgiving 2014 from Seminary Gal!
This particular series of devotions will end December 7th as I return to the pulpit and post sermons again now that my new grandson is happily situated at home with his parents. We’re praising God for His grace and mercy… and also thank you for understanding this important life event for me personally. But it’s been […]
What do we do with what we know? For Peter’s hearers in Acts 3, there was but one solution. Peter says, Acts 3:19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20 and that he may send the Christ, who […]
But Jesus doesn’t look like the Messiah the Jews have been expecting! In Acts 3, Peter’s sermon continues with an explanation for his Jewish hearers. First, he quickly summarizes the Gospel message and then he explains why Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah, just not the way they were expecting. The Jews of Jesus’ day were expecting […]
Acts 3:12 When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant […]
Acts 3:9 When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. 11 While the beggar held on to Peter and John, […]
Important update: Last year’s devotional series, Carol Me, Christmas! remains a popular offering. You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives (at the right). They began November 30, 2014. The daily devotionals for the 2015 season are titled Incarnation and involve digging deep in this important point of Christian theology. The email […]
