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Following Jesus doesn’t mean we reach a point where we have everything figured out. In Philippians 3, Paul reminds us that the Christian life is one of continually learning, growing, and knowing Christ more deeply—not so that we can become His, but because Christ has already made us His own.

“God loves you.” It is not like we have never heard that before. We may even have taken that fact for granted, thinking, “Well, of course He does! That’s His thing! 1 John 4:8 says that God is love.” Nevertheless, as our lives and circumstances unfold, through the uncertainties of sin and doubt and failure, many have come up short and been forced to wonder, “How can God love me now?” Love, after all, is always in direct proportion to our worthiness of it, to how lovable we are, right? The highest love of God, agape, can commonly be defined as the love of intelligence and corresponding purpose. This definition may seem at first to drain the whole idea of the depth of emotion or the value of love. But we discover the power of God’s love even more as we are convinced of the greatness of our need—our own sin and unworthiness. That’s when the cross of Calvary and the sacrifice of Christ crucified shines forth as the highest, greatest, and almost unbelievable love of God for you—even you. Notice how many of today’s hymns examine the depth and, yes, “strangeness” of the fact that God loves you.

“God loves you.” It is not like we have never heard that before. We may even have taken that fact for granted, thinking, “Well, of course He does! That’s His thing! 1 John 4:8 says that God is love.” Nevertheless, as our lives and circumstances unfold, through the uncertainties of sin and doubt and failure, many have come up short and been forced to wonder, “How can God love me now?” Love, after all, is always in direct proportion to our worthiness of it, to how lovable we are, right? The highest love of God, agape, can commonly be defined as the love of intelligence and corresponding purpose. This definition may seem at first to drain the whole idea of the depth of emotion or the value of love. But we discover the power of God’s love even more as we are convinced of the greatness of our need—our own sin and unworthiness. That’s when the cross of Calvary and the sacrifice of Christ crucified shines forth as the highest, greatest, and almost unbelievable love of God for you—even you. Notice how many of today’s hymns examine the depth and, yes, “strangeness” of the fact that God loves you.

"Who's in charge?" is the topic of today's Gospel where the chief priests and elders of the people challenge Jesus. Unfortunately, people in our day also challenge authority figures about "who's in charge". What do you think? Does Jesus have authority in our life even today?

From the beginning, God implanted His life-creating power into His creation with the command “Be fruitful and multiply” to animals (Genesis 1:22) and to humans (1:28), with one important difference. You are not an accident or only a product of biology. Every human being is a personal soul. So we confess, “I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them” (Small Catechism, Creed, Explanation of the First Article). Because of our inherited sin, however, “the soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4). Nevertheless, God’s design is for life—eternal life. He declares, “I have no pleasure in the death of anyone” (18:32). Because God so loves you, He sent His Son to take away your sin by the shedding of His blood on the cross. Therefore, “we preach Christ crucified, . . . the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:23–24). Christ died to sin for you. By Holy Baptism, you died with Christ and are raised to new life in Him. The love of God is yours today by faith in the cross of Jesus Christ. The Father’s declaration of Jesus now becomes yours: “My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).

From the beginning, God implanted His life-creating power into His creation with the command “Be fruitful and multiply” to animals (Genesis 1:22) and to humans (1:28), with one important difference. You are not an accident or only a product of biology. Every human being is a personal soul. So we confess, “I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them” (Small Catechism, Creed, Explanation of the First Article). Because of our inherited sin, however, “the soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4). Nevertheless, God’s design is for life—eternal life. He declares, “I have no pleasure in the death of anyone” (18:32). Because God so loves you, He sent His Son to take away your sin by the shedding of His blood on the cross. Therefore, “we preach Christ crucified, . . . the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:23–24). Christ died to sin for you. By Holy Baptism, you died with Christ and are raised to new life in Him. The love of God is yours today by faith in the cross of Jesus Christ. The Father’s declaration of Jesus now becomes yours: “My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).

We don’t like it when things are unfair in life. But what happens when we feel that God is being unfair?

In our minds, justice seems strong while mercy appears weak. In reality, mercy is stronger than justice and greater in every way. While justice may seem appealing to us, what we seek from God is not fairness or equity but mercy. Mercy is what must be taught to our sinful hearts, and for this reason, it remains the higher or greater path. Justice we can understand and reason, but mercy requires God to become flesh in His Son, to suffer and die as the Innocent One for our sins, and to rise to bestow upon us grace and mercy we neither earned nor deserve. Such mercy is a scandal to us and can often be an offense to those who do not realize the magnitude of its gift. Today, we ask the Lord to open our eyes so that we may acknowledge and rejoice in His great gift of mercy and pardon in Christ and walk worthy of this grace every day.

In our minds, justice seems strong while mercy appears weak. In reality, mercy is stronger than justice and greater in every way. While justice may seem appealing to us, what we seek from God is not fairness or equity but mercy. Mercy is what must be taught to our sinful hearts, and for this reason, it remains the higher or greater path. Justice we can understand and reason, but mercy requires God to become flesh in His Son, to suffer and die as the Innocent One for our sins, and to rise to bestow upon us grace and mercy we neither earned nor deserve. Such mercy is a scandal to us and can often be an offense to those who do not realize the magnitude of its gift. Today, we ask the Lord to open our eyes so that we may acknowledge and rejoice in His great gift of mercy and pardon in Christ and walk worthy of this grace every day.

Forgiveness isn't always easy to extend to others. We can easily forget the daily forgiveness that God has shown to us. Forgiveness is an important part of any relationship we have with others.

It often irritates us when a kindness extended to others is not returned. When we fail to forgive others as we have been forgiven, something greater is at stake. In the parable of the unforgiving servant, Jesus ties together the forgiveness we receive from God and the forgiveness we offer to others in His name. That connection becomes prayer in the words of the Lord’s Prayer: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Part of this is the reminder of the great debt of sin of which we have been forgiven and of the petty things we cling to and refuse to forgive of our brothers. While this might seem to lay a burden upon the Christian, it is instead the call to live out what is the ground and center of our relationship with God in our daily lives with others. This treasure of forgiveness only grows in us as we apply it and give it away to others.

It often irritates us when a kindness extended to others is not returned. When we fail to forgive others as we have been forgiven, something greater is at stake. In the parable of the unforgiving servant, Jesus ties together the forgiveness we receive from God and the forgiveness we offer to others in His name. That connection becomes prayer in the words of the Lord’s Prayer: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Part of this is the reminder of the great debt of sin of which we have been forgiven and of the petty things we cling to and refuse to forgive of our brothers. While this might seem to lay a burden upon the Christian, it is instead the call to live out what is the ground and center of our relationship with God in our daily lives with others. This treasure of forgiveness only grows in us as we apply it and give it away to others.

We have a Savior who has come to find the lost and restore them through forgiveness, and we have a purpose in speaking this Gospel to the whole world. This is not an easy calling. The lost often do not want to be found, and the wicked are content in their ways. We act not as self-appointed guardians of the truth but as instruments of God, through whom He speaks His Word of love to the lost and erring and by whom they are saved.

We have a Savior who has come to find the lost and restore them through forgiveness, and we have a purpose in speaking this Gospel to the whole world. This is not an easy calling. The lost often do not want to be found, and the wicked are content in their ways. We act not as self-appointed guardians of the truth but as instruments of God, through whom He speaks His Word of love to the lost and erring and by whom they are saved.

We often have our own ideas about how Jesus should work, how our lives should go, and what God should be doing. This message explores how God’s ways are often different from our own, calling us to trust Christ even when we don’t understand—and to see our lives, others, and God through the perspective of the cross.