Word of the Week

Word of the Week: SACRIFICE

On this Memorial Day we consider the word "sacrifice."  The word sacrifice as it is used today means to give up something of value for the sake of someone or something else.  But its real meaning is deeper than that.  Sacrifice has to do with death.  Death is what made something a sacrifce.  On Memorial Day we remember those who have given their lives to secure and maintain the freedoms and liberty that we enjoy today.  As important as those sacrifices are, there is another, greater sacrifice that has secured and even greater freedom for all people of all time.  That is the sacrifice that Jesus made when He gave up His life for sinners on the cross.  Paul writes: “Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma” (Ephesians 5:2).  We deserved death because of our sin against God, but Jesus took our place and died so that we might live.  This sacrifice of Jesus is the most important thing in this life! As you celebrate Memorial Day today, consider also the sacrifice that Christ made to set you free from slavery to sin and death, and thank God for the salvation He has won for us through the sacrifice of Jesus! 

Word of the Week: ASCENSION

In our Word of the Week, Pastor Mark Tiefel defines the word Ascension.  On Thursday of this week the church celebrates Ascension Day, when after 40 day of appearing to His disciples after His resurrection, Jesus ascended back into heaven.  The events of His ascension are recorded in Acts as well as Luke and Mark.  It is also confessed in our Creeds when we say that Jesus has "ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father."  Because Jesus has ascended into heaven, we have the confidence before the Father, because He serves as our Intercessor and Mediatior.  Just as He ascended into heaven, so He will come again to judge the world and so we proclaim His word so that others may hear, believe and be prepared for that Day! 

Word of the Week: MOTHERHOOD

In our Word of the Week, Pastor Mark Tiefel takes a Biblical look at the topic of Motherhood.  Through the Old and New Testaments, God gives us a beautiful picture of what He has designed motherhood to be.  While our world continues to rebel against and even reject God's plan for motherhood, God's promise of blessing remains in the calling of mothers.  He has designed the family in a very specific way, with fathers and mothers working together to bring up a new generation who will know and Him and the salvation He has accomplished in Jesus.

Word of the Week: HALLOW

In our Word of the Week, Pastor Rob Sauers defines the word “hallow.”  The word hallow is a synonym of the word saint.  We see it in the word “Halloween” which is a shortened form of “All Hallows’ Eve” or “All Saint’s Eve.”  We are probably most familiar with the word “hallow” when we’re praying the Lord’s Prayer.  In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word means to “set apart,” “devote,” “consecrate,” “make holy.” So the word is often used of people or things in connection with the worship of God (See Exodus 29:21 and Exodus 40:9).  Everything that was used in the worship of God in the Old Testament was to be hallowed, sanctified, set apart – and this was meant, in part, to drive home the fact that God alone is holy.
When Jesus teaches His disciples to pray, he begins by saying, “Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.” (Matthew 6:9). So how do we hallow God’s name? First of all, we hallow God’s name when we preach and teach what God’s Word says in all of it’s truth and purity. Secondly, we hallow God’s name by living a godly life. And so we pray that God would grant that we would hallow His name in all we say and do. 

Word of the Week: FORGIVENESS

Pastor Rob Sauers discusses the word "forgiveness" in our word of the week today.  We often think of the emotional response of forgiveness, but the Biblical definition of forgiveness is about a restoration of a relationship through removal of sin.  This is what God has done by sending away or blotting out our sins our transgressions.  God is merciful, but also just.  He cannot simply overlook our sin, His character must remove that sin through the punishing sin by death.  It is in the person of Jesus that we receive that forgiveness as He paid our debt, and we have been restored in our relationship with God.  God's forgiveness sets Christianity apart from the religions of the world.  God has done all that was necessary to restore us to Himself through the death of Christ.  Rejoice in the forgiveness of your sins through Jesus Christ.   

Word of the Week: RESURRECTION

In the afterglow of the celebration of Jesus' victory over death we take a look at the word "resurrection" on this Easter Monday.  The resurrection of Jesus, while denied and rejected by many, has a great deal of evidence to support it.  1) The resurrection is prophecied in the Old Testament and many places.  Job (19:23-27) refers not only to the resurrection of Jesus, but also our resurrection on the last day.  2) Jesus Himself foretold His own resurrection (Luke 18:31-33) as well as our resurrection from death (John 14:19).  3) The tomb of Jesus was empty.  If Jesus had not risen from the dead, the authorities simply would have had to produce the body of Jesus to remove all doubt.  4) The followers of Jesus boldly proclaimed the resurrection of Jesus, and many gave their lives for that truth.  Who would give their life for a lie?  5) There are examples of other resurrections in the Old Testament (2 Kings 4:18-37), the Ministry of Jesus (Luke 7:11-16; Mark 5:35-42; and John 11), and in the ministry of the apostles (Acts 9:37-42; 20:9-12).  God has given us plenty of evidence to see that the resurrection is true for Jesus, and for us. What hope and comfort is ours in the resurrection of Jesus who died for our sins and was raised for our justification!

Word of the Week: MAUNDY

As we enter another Holy Week and reflect on all that our Savior endured for our salvation, Pastor Rob Sauers defines the word "Maundy" from "Maundy Thursday".  You may be familiar with this word because it is the name given to the Thursday before Easter, the day when Jesus celebrated the Passover meal with His disciples and instituted the Lord's Supper.  The word "Maundy" comes from the Latin word Mandatum which means commandment. This is taken from the words that Jesus spoke to His disciples on that night, recorded in John 13:34:  "A new commandment I give you, that you love one another." On this night Jesus was giving His followers an example of love, a love that serves rather and desired to be served, an unconditional love, a love which Jesus had for sinners that led Him to the cross.  On this night Jesus also gave His disciples another gift of His love when He instituted the Lord's Supper.  Through this sacrament we have the assurance of the forgiveness of our sins as Jesus says:  "For this is the blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." Finally it was on the night of Maundy Thursday that Jesus went with His disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane where He was betrayed, arrested and put on trial.  He willingly went though all this and was crucifed where He suffered the agony of our hell and was forsaken by God for the sins of the world.  Oh, the depth of Jesus' love for sinners! 

Word of the Week: VICARIOUS ATONEMENT

This morning Pastor Mark Tiefel looks at the Lenten concept of "Vicarious Atonement."  The word "atonement" means to appease or to remove something.  When it comes to sin, God has removed our sin thought the sacrifice of His Son.  The word "vicarious" means substitute, and this points to Jesus who had taken our place and made the sacrifice needed for our sins.  The Old Testament believers celebrated the Day of Atonement once every year.  One goat was killed and sacrificed, the other had the sins of the people placed upon it and it was led out into the wilderness where it was left to die.  These pictures point us to the sacrifice made by Jesus on Good Friday.  Jesus told his disciples that He had come to set sinners "at one" with God, through His death on the cross.  Jesus has become our substitute and made that sacrifice for our sin, removing it forever.  

Word of the Week: SHEOL

This week, Pastor Nathanael Mayhew digs into the unfamiliar word "sheol" and its meaning.  This word is a Hebrew word that isn't found in all English translations.  It is used often in the Psalms, and has the basic meaning of "death" or "grave", although it is also translated "hell" a few times.  It is a reminder that death is the just judgment we deserve because of sin and God told Adam in the Garden of Eden and as Paul reiterates when he says:  "The wages of sin is death."  Death is a certainty in life for all people, both believers and unbelievers, because of our sin.  Sheol is used to describe sorrow (Genesis 42:38), mourning (Genesis 37:35), shortening of years (Isaiah 38:10), and loss of knowledge and wisdom (Ecclesiastes 9:10), even for the one who believes in Christ.  Without the message of Christ's work for us in His substitutianary death and resurrection, death is an extreme terror.  But the Old Testament also proclaims the message of the Gospel to believers through victory over Sheol.  “But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol (the grave), For He shall receive me. Selah” (Psalm 49:15).  It also foretells the Savior's resurrection from the dead:  “For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption” (Psalm 16:10).
Surely, God has not left us to die, but He has redeemed us from the power of Sheol through the death of His Son Jesus, and by His resurrection from the dead, He has assured us that we too will be brought from death to life! What an important reminder, as we look to Easter during this Lenten season.  Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
 

Word of the Week: PASSION

This week, Pastor Nathanael Mayhew digs into the word "passion" and its relationship to the season of Lent.  When we think of "passion" the English speaking mind usually thinks of love or a strong enthusiasm for something. But the word “passion” which is derived from the Greek word “pascho” actually means “to suffer.” For centuries the word “passion” has been used to describe the suffering which Jesus willingly endured for sinners to redeem them from sin and death and to reconcile them to God. When we think of the Passion of Jesus, we are reminded of all that Jesus suffered in the hours that led up to and culminated in His crucifixion. He was slapped, spit on, and beaten by the Jewish leaders and guards during the middle-of-the-night Jewish trials. He was scourged, mocked and abused by Pilate Roman soldiers. After being condemned, Jesus was forced to carry His cross to Calvary where his hands and feet were nailed to the cross and he was crucified.
The physical suffering of Jesus was indeed great. But if that is all that we think of when we consider the passion of Jesus, then we have failed to see the real suffering which Jesus endured for us. The suffering of Jesus was greater than just the physical pain He endured. Peter writes: “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). Through His passion, Jesus bore the punishment for the sins of everyone in the world. He endured the just anger of God against our sins.
Jesus suffered all this because of your sin and mine. If I had no sin, I could be released of my part in the suffering and death of Jesus. But I am not without sin, and my sin made the passion of Jesus necessary. 
Thanks be to our Savior Jesus for His passion - the suffering He willingly endured in the place of sinners, that He might bring us to God!