I’m no religious fanatic but I admit I secretly wish Woolworths and Coles would just remove the piped crosses on hot cross buns and sell the ones with the crosses only on the week of Good Friday. A priest, Father Kennedy seems to be in agreement with this according to The Hobart Mercury, no doubt after observing with some dismay that the first hot cross buns were on sale as early as January.
“What has happened is a loss of the specific understanding that they were ever connected to Good Friday, and hence they’ve drifted into the general reality of pre-Easter supermarket shopping.”
Sadly the well-loved hot cross bun has travelled a familiar path like the significance of the star of David, angels or the nativity at Christmas into secular culture. The world has lost any genuine or conscious connection with this tasty bread’s historical Christian origins.
“These ‘cross buns’ were definitely a part of the customs by which Christian beliefs entered into the homes and domestic cultures of Christians through the Middle Ages, so that Christianity was not just something that happened in church, but was part of a living Christian culture, associated with the round of the Christian year and the sacred seasons”, said Father Kennedy.
If you’re a non-believer or non-practicing Christian, perhaps reading this makes you feel it all only relates to religious superstitions practiced and passed down from the ancients? The truth is that Easter is really Christianity’s most important religious holiday.
The regretful loss to active Christians today is the lack of the world’s specific acknowledgement that these hot cross buns neatly wrapped in their plastic packaging on supermarket shelves have anything to do with a major event 2000 years ago that forms the basis of their faith.
That event is none other than the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, whom according to the Scriptures was ‘fully man and fully deity’ , the Messiah and the Son of the God worshipped by Moses and Abraham as written in the Holy Bible.
For bible-believing Christians, Christ paid the price of mankind’s sins from his death on the cross but overcame death when He resurrected on the third day in his glorious eternal being. The decorated easter eggs enjoyed in an Easter celebration were meant to symbolise new life and resurrection, when the body of Christ was miraculously missing from the tomb where he was buried.
Though the Bible made no mention of rabbits or bunnies delivering eggs to kids, it looks to me that the myth of the Easter bunny has superseded any religious affiliation to Christ on this important occasion to celebrate the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Rather, it is the easter bunny, the colourful chocolate easter eggs, make that obscene amounts of candy and chocolate that mark the Easter season. Christ is in no way represented by the commercial powers that be. Who, you ask. Well, Lindt, Cadbury, Nestlè and the like!
“From a Christian perspective, Easter eggs are said to represent Jesus’ emergence from the tomb and resurrection. Decorating eggs for Easter is a tradition that dates back to at least the 13th century, according to some sources. One explanation for this custom is that eggs were formerly a forbidden food during the Lent season, so people would paint and decorate them to mark the end of the period of penance and fasting, then eat them on Easter as a celebration.” (history.com)
At every Easter, our family has created our own series of traditions to teach our children the significance and basis of our faith in Christ. One of these traditions involve my daughter helping me to bake our own homemade hot cross buns. I sometimes oblige and pipe white milk chocolate crosses on the tops of ours, to her delight.
Here’s one of the best bread recipes I’ve ever learnt to make which I’m proud to share with you as you mark this important faith celebration with every Christian on the planet. We enjoy easter chocolate eggs too, and each year we hide the eggs and the kids excitedly embark on their annual easter egg hunt. The kids know the easter bunny is only a bunny used to sell eggs, and in our family he’s nothing more than that. Like my insightful six-year old girl would tell you, “Easter is about Jesus dying for us on the cross. The shops made the easter bunny up to make us buy lots and lots of chocolate’.
Hot Cross Buns Ingredients:
150 g butter, melted
1 cup milk
4 large eggs, slightly beaten
¾ cup granulated sugar
4 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp all spice
Zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon
5 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
¾ cup raisins
¾ chocolate chips
For Brushing and icing:
½ cup Apricot or orange marmalade (for brushing)
2 C icing sugar
2 TB milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Heat milk slightly in a microwave or saucepan till it boils then turn off the heat. Let cool slightly, then pour milk into bowl on a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Add sugar, melted butter, cinnamon, orange and lemon zest, and each beaten egg one by one as you beat the ingredients on low speed. Add the flour, salt and yeast, continuing to mix on low until a sticky dough forms. Keep the mixing going until you get the dough rather smooth. Add raisins and cherries, mixing to incorporate.
Remove the smoothened dough and place onto a floured surface. Knead briefly to mix in the dry toppings of your choice—in this recipe, the raisins and the chocolate chips. Shape the dough into a ball then in a large bowl oiled with some butter. Cover the bowl with cling wrap and place in a warm spot to rise for about 2 hours or it has more or less doubled in size.
Line 2 baking sheets with baking paper. Turn the dough out onto a very slightly floured work surface. Knead and shape the dough into a log shape. Cut the log in half, then according to the equal number of pieces you wish. Shape each ball to roughly the same size. Space out each ball of dough on the baking sheet at a few inches apart in neat rows. Cover baking tray tightly with cling wrap and place in a warm spot to rise for about 2 hours, until buns are doubled in size and touching one another.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Uncover the cling wrap. Brush with a bit of egg wash (1 egg with some water) then place baking tray into the oven to bake until golden brown, about 18-25 minutes.
When buns are baked and cooling on a wire rack, it’s time to brush on some of the marmalade or jam over the tops of the buns. It’s fine if they are still warm.
When buns are completely cool, ice them with the icing sugar. Whisk or stir together icing sugar, vanilla, and about 2 tablespoons of milk or more if needed. The icing should be thick but spreadable. Adjust the thickness according to what you prefer. It should be spreadable.
Transfer icing into piping bag. Pipe crosses on buns. These hot cross buns will keep for one day at room temperature in an air tight container, or if frozen, for up to 3 months. Happy Easter!


The book of Job in the Old Testament is one of the most mysterious books of Wisdom Literature. The Devil is able to make a bargain with God which means that Job is God’s servant. Job can be said to be most devoted and loyal to God because God has blessed him with prosperity. The Devil asks God to let him take the possessions of his family and be struck with affliction. Job will then turn against God. Then God permits Job to be tested by the Devil for a test on Job. Job’s possessions as well as his family members are taken and the body is wounded. But Job stays committed to God and in the final God gives Job all the things he has lost.
The Devil in his conversations with God declares: you treat Job as a pet and ensure nothing ever happens to his property or family, and bless everything he does. The conversation, which is a metaphor, reveals the nature of the Devil which is hatred and envy. The Devil seeks to undermine the egocentricity of God. This will be a anti-archetype that is negative. Christianity as well as Judaism are religions inherent with the Binary divide between God with the Devil. The covetousness, envy, hatred love, murder and covetousness are possessions from a anti-christian archetype. Atheistic existentialism dismantles the concept of evil and exhorts a moral relative view. It’s a mystery as to why God let us reign a anti-christian archetype in Job’s life. Visit:- https://findaneasyjob.com/
If Job has lost his children as well as his material possessions, Job says”I am naked and come from the womb of my mother and in nakedness I’ll return to the womb of the earth.’ The earth’s womb serves as a metaphor. This is where Job places the earth in a female archetype, the earth being a mother, a womb.
When Job is afflicted with ulcers and sores the man laments: “I’m blanking out the night that I was born. Make it a black hole in the space.’ There’s no doubt that black holes exist in space. But when used in a metaphorical sense, they point out to a dismal abyss, a hole of despair where light gets trapped.
Again Job complains about’may those who are good at cursing swear at the day, and unleash the beast Leviathan on it’. The meaning of this story is simultaneously apocalyptic and poetic. As a poetical trope it is a sadness, a pathos of being depicted. As an apocalyptic symbol, we are told of the Leviathan as a creature emerging from the ocean in the Bible of Revelation. Cloned animals-humans can be transgenic. Leviathan could also signify the coming of warring nations across the sea.
One of the companions of Job asks Job: “Will a truly innocent person end up as scrap heap”? Dirt and squalor are evident in this metaphor. This is also an accusation which is meant to prove Job’s innocence. Job’s friend responds: ‘God the Sovereign trusts no one and how could him trust people who seem as fragile and vulnerable as moths”? Moths are as fragile is an existential metaphor. Looking at the metaphor in a spiritual perspective it is difficult to get a awareness as to the reason God lets the Devil to be a threat to Job’s integrity. From an existential nihilist’s point of point of view, the metaphor represents a unmeaning life. Man can be compared to Camus”momentum The myth of Sisyphus.
Job replies to his friends saying: “My misery can be measured; you could put my entire heavy burden on scales, and it’ll weigh more than the sand in the sea. “The poison-arrows of God are inside me’. Scales represent the weight of angst. Job is engrossing in an obsession with negativity that is narcissistic. Angst being heavier than the sea is hyperbolic. God’s choice to not respond to Job’s plight is conveyed in the metaphor of poison the arrows. For Sartre, the existential atheist this is incongruous; a nihilist, existentialist should be able endure his or her pain.
Job states that God is able to take me down like a bug. Do I possess the strength of steel? Are you sure I’m formed of iron? The existential problem of Job being a helpless victim is poignant in this portrayal. Job is grudgingly yielding to God’s wishes. This makes me ask the question : What was God, Christ like when dealing with Job? Why did God of the Old Testament choose to be a different God in comparison to the God who is New Testament Christ? Job is succumbing to the plight of a weight he is unable to carry. For Sartre, the God you resent is you. The pressure of being in turmoil is a human affliction that we all have to experience on earth.
Job has a rant against his fellows and claims that even though God abandoned Job, his companions have not remained loyal to him and they are like ‘gulch in an empty desert’. The irony of the situation is that all of Job’s companions are friends who enjoy fair weather. Job repeats that he is covered with maggots and scabs and the skin becomes covered in pimples and scales.’ It is so overwhelming that one is unable to comprehend the storms of anguish that Job endures. The reptilian nature of Satan being sent to hellfire can be seen in this metaphor. The body of Job turns into an unfriendly or errant machine. Job claims that he is ‘a puff out of air.’ Job is a mockery of himself and points to the insignificance and futility of human life. We have to be in agreement with Sartre”man’s liberation is his condemnation’. He tells that his life is like a ship at full sail; like an eagle falling into its prey’. A sinking ship and an eagle reaching out its prey depict horrific circumstances in Job’s life. Job says: “God has made him into a pottery. He marvels at how well God has worked with clay. Now God reduces him a”mud pie.’ Job compares the wonders of being made and then to be transformed back to mud. Job doubts the meaning of purpose, the reason for creation, and the destiny in the creation of God. A philosophical understanding is, you have to weather your own storm. A life lived by an existentialist is absurd. What is Job the kind of person who questions God’s absurdity? He says that his ‘ears are a swamp of affliction’. It is a way to translate sorrow and pain into a symbolic metaphor which is synesthetic. Job explains the reason God kicks him like a tin can and why you should beat a dead animal. The tentacles that cause torment without reason, find a intense plea in Job’s explanation of his fate.


Thank you for taking the time to stop by my website and share in the many wonderful things that have been happening since the release of “And, He Made a Woman.” I’m still in awe of your many encouraging messages I’ve received from those of you that have read this book. I sincerely appreciate your support!
I can’t tell you how encouraging it is to go to my email and find so many messages from you sharing your thoughts, prayers and praise reports after reading my book. I am excited by the number of you joining the ranks of the great company of women through the “Just tell Five” campaign who after reading this book are now going forth and telling five other women about the empowering, affirming and motivating word it contains. Some of you have even contacted me through my Guest Book telling me that not only did you tell five, you bought five and gave them as gifts to women you knew would be blessed by reading this book.
Think, about it: Because you tell five and each of the five that you tell, tells five and those 25 each tell five more, you would have introduced 100 women to an empowering, affirming and motivating word that will give them sound Biblical truths that will teach them to walk in liberty, how to put the bullies out of their life, to loose any vices that might be holding them captive, to get rid of the uglies and know it’s a “G” thing and not a me thing.
I get goose bumps when I think about how mighty a great company of women God is raising up in these tumultuous times, armed and equipped with the Word going forth and bearing witness to His good, acceptable and perfect will for their lives. I hope you will return to my site again and again as I share with you some of my thoughts in this “Think About It” section.
I thank God for each and every one of you and pray that you will continue to go forth heads high, backs straight, standing for something and not falling for anything, knowing that you are somebody because God don’t make no junk!


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I have had the insanely amazing honor to second shoot for some pretty amazing photographers over the past several weeks at some truly beautiful weddings. Not only have I learned a incredible amount about photography and weddings but also about life, Jesus, and faith. Editing these images from the past several week has been a dream and even though I can’t share these images quite yet, I am DYING to!
For today’s post though, I want to get a little personal and talk about doubt…I hope you’ll go there with me for a minute. I’m pretty sure doubt is one of those feelings that every single person can relate to. We all experience doubt in ourselves, in our abilities, our intentions, our loved ones, and our God. But as I was taking this image of the sailboat sitting calmly roped to the dock, it made me think of James 1:6 in which he says, “But he must ask in faith without doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind”.
You see, James is trying to tell us that when we doubt who God is and His mighty power and love for us, we are like the surf, driven and tossed by the wind. Jesus is our “anchor”. He is our “dock”. The story of Jesus sleeping on the boat with his disciples is the perfect example of how we have such little faith in who God really is. In that crazy storm, the men were being tossed about in the boat, riven and tossed by the wind but when they woke Jesus, “he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.” (Matthew 8:26).
And so, friends, no matter where you are in your walk with Jesus – even if you’re not in a relationship with Him, know that He loves you, He has your back, and he will calm the storm, His purpose is real for you – all you have to do is accept His love and grace, and believe.


As of May 2017, Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church is a congregation participating in the Swaddling Clothes program. We are accepting donations of infant and toddler items; please call us if you have an item you would like to donate!
Current/Upcoming DatesMarch 25The Annunciation of Our LordMarch 2510am - Divine Service [Palmarum]March 297pm - Divine Service [Maundy Thursday]March 307pm - Chief Service [Good Friday]
Sundays, Divine Service, at 10am
Wednesdays in Advent at 7pm
Wednesdays in Lent at 7pm
Sundays at 9am
Adult Bible Study
Wednesdays at 6:30pm A Study of Lutheran Theology (not during Advent or Lent)
First President of the LCMS and it's Grandfather CFW Walther
Here is a list of Pastor Wagner's sermons. Most of them have been preached at Christ Our Savior; however, some of the earlier ones were preached at other locations.
You might notice that some of of the sermons do not have an audio player. These sermons were not recorded. However, all of the sermons do have a link to the manuscript on Pastor Wagner's website.
Attacks from without are probably easier to defend against. They’re certainly easier to identify, and the sheep are generally more likely to keep in line with the shepherd’s defense. An event or person who might otherwise have a detrimental effect on a congregation, who is speaking against or making unorthodox demands on the congregation, must be rebutted, and the shepherd is the lead agent in that rebuttal, and the sheep usually follow their shepherd in this defense.
Attacks from within, however, are different. Here is how the wolves in sheep’s clothing act. Some new program or Bible Study series or songs are suggested to the pastor. He reviews them, even seeking input from colleagues, and rejects them because they are not clear enough or heterodox or even heretical. Of course, that’s going to cause waves through the congregation, so maybe he acquiesces instead. Now, his flock scatters from the truth, having gone down the road of false or unclear teaching.
That is the method of the hireling. He cares more for his well-being, and that of his family, than the salvation of his flock. I suppose, in part, you can’t blame him for his concern, but Jesus did say, “[D]o not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell,” and, “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:28, 32-33) This modern hireling might think he’s caring for the sheep, but he does them a great disservice. He has allowed the wolf entry in to the sheep pen; the sheep will then deny the true Christ.
The frightening thing about the attacks from within is that they are equal in number, if not more numerous, than the attacks from without. A Christian may cry, “I am persecuted,” as they feel the attacks from without, but the truth of the matter is that even in their very being—their fallen nature—they are always attacking the same faith that they espouse and which they claim is under persecution from the attacks from without.
Dear people—deer sheep of the Shepherd’s pasture, at any moment, any one of you could act out as the wolf in sheep’s clothing. The devil, the world, and your sinful nature are always at work to destroy you and the fellowship in which you have a part. And you are a means by which these seek your overthrow. The wolf is always at work, and the hireling would rather flee, seeing the wolf coming, than confront it; this fleeing is from the true Christ and His doctrine.
A good shepherd, however, kills the wolf. A good shepherds stands upon the truth, teaching the sheep the truth, and proclaims the Law of God to kill the sin within you and the Gospel to give you the forgiveness of sins.
Even at the expense of his own life, a good shepherd will defend the sheep against the attacks of wolves. And that is exactly what THE Good Shepherd did.
The wolf has attacked God’s church from the very beginning. In the beginning, as Adam and the woman gathered around the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil—their church, as Luther put it—the wolf was there, though his presence was more crafty than that as a wolf. The serpent spoke to the woman and tricked her. Her husband, much like a hireling, remained silent, let her eat, then took some himself and ate; Adam should have crushed the serpent, instead of allowing it to lie to Eve.
But the New Adam came along at just the right time. Jesus was conceived and born, the perfect man, everything Adam was supposed to be, and more, for He is also very God. After three decades of roaming the regions of Galilee and Judea, teaching and healing and raising the dead, Jesus makes His way to Jerusalem, the city of the Temple and the sacrifices. There, He would be crucified, the Good Shepherd giving His life for the sheep, but He didn’t simply just die. His death destroyed death; His sacrifice, while it bruised His heal, crushed the head of the serpent (cf. Genesis 3:15), and the wolf was killed. The devil, the world, and your sinful flesh are still always at work to confound you, to destroy you, and to break the bonds of fellowship with the other sheep in this place, but Jesus has over come that by His death and resurrection.
Oh, yes, Jesus rose again from the grave on the third day. He overcame the sharpness of death for the sheep, even as He had removed the fangs from the wolf of death. And He has overcome the sting of the grave. The sheep still plot against him, the hirelings still flee, but the Good Shepherd is ever true. By His blood, He has defeated the wolf—whether that is the attacks from without, within, the devil, the world, and even your own sinful flesh—and given you the victory. That is to say, He has forgiven you for all of your sins.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Now while [the women] were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying, “Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.’” And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him and make you secure.” So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day. (Matthew 28:11-15)
Falling asleep on the job is bad enough for a guard. To say, then, that while you slept, someone came and stole that which you were guarding was borderline treasonous. It was a dangerous thing to admit it to the governor, but the price was right, and the assurance of appeasement and security sweet enough.
So the report was made, “The disciples stole the body.” And like the chief priests were able to convince the crowds to shout for Jesus’ crucifixion, they were also able to convince many that His disciples stole His body.
It sounds like something out of today’s headlines, doesn’t it? “The accounts of Jesus of Nazareth rising from the dead are fake news. What really happened was that his disciples stole his body.” And like misled little sheep, the people soak it up.
Is it any wonder, then, that the evening of the Resurrection, 10 of Jesus disciples are in the upper room with the doors lock, cowering in fear? That morning, things were beginning to look up. They heard about the empty tomb, two of them saw the empty tomb, and surely Mary Magdalene or one of the other women had told them by now that Jesus had risen and that they saw Him. By sunset, they were regarded as grave robbers. Who wouldn’t be afraid?
So, Jesus appears in the midst of them, and gives them peace. He shows them His hands and side. He gives them peace again, and they are glad. He breathes on them and gives them the authority to forgive sins in His stead, sending them out as sheep among wolves.
Who knows where Thomas is in all of this? He’s likely just as afraid, if not more, than the others and hiding by himself somewhere. In a moment of bravery, the others find him and tell him that they have seen Jesus, just as the women had. Thomas wants more. He also wants to touch Jesus and feel His wounds—prove to himself (and the others) that this Jesus is who He really says He is.
A week later, He gets the chance. He’s with the others this time, again behind locked doors, probably fearing for their lives again. And Jesus appears to them again and gives them peace. Then He reaches for Thomas and plunges his hand into His side. “Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
“My Lord and my God!”
So, this whole fake news business is nothing new. Those in power have been using the media to control people for as long as there was news to be told. And the people, expecting the news to be trustworthy, rarely know what not to regard as true.
So it is that to this day, the report of grave-robbing disciples abides. Other fake news also makes the rounds. Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God. The miracles of Jesus didn’t happen because the miraculous cannot happen. Jesus was a crazy man who claimed to be God. Jesus wasn’t even a real person. These, among other things, are what you have to contend with beyond these walls. In fact, you’ll be accused of things much like the disciples were, not the least of which is being backwards, old-fashioned, out-of-touch, and even dangerous.
But remember the truth: Christ is risen!
It is the risen Christ who appeared to the women. It is the risen Christ who appeared to the disciples. It is the risen Christ into whom Thomas’ hand was thrust. It is the risen Christ who appeared to the disciples on the Emmaus road, to seven disciples again on the Sea of Tiberias, to over 500 disciples, and to Paul on the Damascus road. These all have witnessed the resurrection, and they all testify to it. They are all witnesses for you.
And what more do they tell you? That which Jesus told them before He was taken into heaven. “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20) Hear His promise again: “I am with you always.”
You see, Thomas and the disciples are the perfect representations of you. It’s a wonder the doors here aren’t locked for fear of the masses of unbelievers out there. Who wouldn’t be afraid when threats are made against your sanity and even your very life? But, these are things which you were warned against, and things that you, at one time, vowed to endure, by the grace of God, rather than to fall away from the faith.
But it goes beyond that. What is your life like beyond these walls? Are you closed in at your own homes? When you do go out and encounter people, do you speak about your faith, your God, your Savior and theirs, or are you afraid to for fear of being condemned? For the disciples, the walls were genuine, brick and mortar obstacles. Those walls have become more psychological for you.
Take heart, dear hearers, for your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ does not abandon you to your fears. He comes to you here behind these closed doors just as certainly as He appeared to Thomas. He breathes on you, gives you the Spirit, forgives your sins, and grants you peace. You have a peace that surpasses all human understanding that is able to quash all human fear. Your God is man like you, descended to earth for you, gave His life for your ransom, rose from the dead to give you victory over death, and ascended into heaven with the promise to return to bring you to Himself in eternity.
Like Thomas, He takes your hand to thrust it toward His own flesh and blood. And, you take that body and eat it as He bids you to do. You take that blood and drink it as He bids you to do. And as you believe, you receive the Savior’s body and blood for your forgiveness, life, and salvation.
Your sins are forgiven, your faith is strengthened, and you are reminded of the God and Lord who has the whole world in His hands. He even has the power over life and death, having freed you from slavery to death and hell. Your God and Christ is in control. It’s a wonder, then, that Christians, who should be the most emboldened and joyful people in the world, are some of the most unhappiest and afraid, at least as far as it appears in western civilization.
Therefore take for your example, those disciples and Thomas. Following their meeting with the resurrected Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon them at Pentecost, they went into that world with a message that could bring life to those who heard it, and would bring death to them who told it, spare John. And they did it anyway, knowing the peril, because in the end the peril didn’t matter, as even St. Paul, a later addition to that crew, wrote,
For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. (Philippians 1:19-23)
Peter and Paul, John and Thomas, Andrew, Jude, and James all spoke with a confidence that is yours—Jesus Christ—a confidence which sustained them in the face of any and every danger.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39)
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. (1 John 5:4-10)
“[T]hese are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”
Nothing can separate you from the love of Jesus Christ, your Savior, who gave Himself for you, sacrifice, body and blood, resurrection, ascension, and all. By faith in Him, you overcome the world, because this world is only temporary. And He is here, now, for you, flesh and blood like yours, with His Spirit and breath, in His Word and Sacraments, to strengthen your faith, to persuade you that He is in control and with you always and nothing nor no one can separate you from Him, to give you life even in the face of death, even as He has in these means forgiven you for all of your sins.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
This is the curse that you bear, pronounced on you in the Garden of Eden before Adam and the woman were expelled. And though the woman would be given the name Eve—Mother of the Living—still the snares of death surrounded them. They were sinners, and the wages of sin is death. Centuries later, the earth received that which it had once given for the man to be created. Graciously, you might say, you don’t have to wait centuries for the same to happen to you, but because you are sinners like your father Adam before you, the earth will one day receive you, too. You are dust and to dust you shall return.
No, there’s no way out by your own works or merit. You are met with the snares of death at every turn. This is your lot in this fallen life because the wages of sin is death, and they are always payable upon demand!
“From whom can we seek help?” “Who shall help us in the strife lest the foe confound us?” “From You alone, O Lord, who by our sins are justly angered.” “Thou only, Lord, Thou only! We mourn that we have greatly erred, that our sin Thy wrath have stirred.” Jesus is your only Help in this strife against sin. How?
In order to be your Help, He became your Substitute, and in order to become your Substitute, He first became one with you. He was conceived of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Ghost. He was formed in a womb like you were! He was born, grew in stature and wisdom, and even acquired a trade. All the while, He remained who He always has been, the omnipotent, omnipresent, eternal God and Creator of the universe. Jesus, being in very nature God, was a man in every respect as you were. He had flesh and bones, ate, drank, learned and grew, and worked just like you do! However, though He was man after the substance of His father Adam—your father Adam—He was sinless, as is the very nature of His Father in heaven.
Now, come as man, Jesus becomes your Substitute. He was baptized, sanctifying water as a washing of regeneration. He ministered to people of all sorts and conditions, healing them, raising them from the dead, giving them the wisdom of the ages if they had the ears to hear. He made His way to Jerusalem where He would stand before the Sanhedrin and Pilate, silently and innocently receiving the accusations of sinfulness, and the guilt that goes along with it. Then, dripping with the guilt and shame of your sins and sinfulness, He was led to a hill outside the city, where He was nailed to a cross like a common Roman criminal. Ecce homo! Behold the man! See the Victim. And He died.
In the midst of earthly life, you are in death. It is there, hanging from the cross, that you see the condemnation for your sins. Look closely, dear hearers, for it is only found there. That means, Jesus being your substitute, that the condemnation for your sins lies not with you!
Joseph and Nicodemus bury the body of Jesus. He rested in the tomb and so sanctified the graves of all believers as sepulchers which will keep these mortal remains until the days of immortality. Because, here’s where your help comes from, dear hearers: the grave did not hold the Son of God. It could not. He burst forth from those bindings, leaving death and sin and destruction behind. He rose—the Victim is the Victor.
I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. (John 11:25-26)
Never die? But, “In the midst of life we are in death.” Yes, death surrounds you on all side, reminding you of your mortality. Though sanctified and washed in the waters of Holy Baptism, confessing faith in Jesus Christ as your only Savior, your bodies will see death. However, for the sake of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, your Savior, death is a conquered enemy, no longer to be feared, but to be met as the portal to life immortal. (cf. Philippians 1:21)
The death of Jesus Christ your Lord is the shedding of His blood as your atonement. The resurrection of Jesus Christ your Lord is your victory over death and the grave. For the sake of Christ, you are forgiven. For the sake of Christ, you will live forever, even though you may die.
Therefore, hallelujah, Christ is risen! [Let the congregation respond.] Shouts of Christ is risen have been ringing out the world over. It started centuries ago at the grave of Jesus, as the angels said to the woman, and it has been continuing for those centuries since, Sunday after Sunday, as Jesus Christ and Him crucified and risen is proclaimed. Even among families who have lost love ones—whether an elderly parent, a stillborn child, or anything in between—the greeting is made, “Christ is risen!” In those places that have suffered terrorist bombings, such as in Tanta and Alexandria, Egypt, where the blood of martyrs stained the face of Christ just one week ago, the greeting is made, “Christ is risen!”
The death of loved ones and the loss of the martyrs is mourned, but you rejoice in the life that they have been given in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. You will be mourned, too, on the day that God deems to call you from this earthly life, but there will also be much rejoicing that day, bittersweet that it may be, because of the eternal life that you have been given for the sake of Jesus Christ.
A man who was at one of the Coptic churches bombed on Palm Sunday was interviewed. This man lost his wife and daughter to the heinous act. When asked how he felt, he responded,
I am not sad, but happy that they have received the crown of glory the Lord has promised them. They are safer now than if they were with me. I have my limits but Christ has no limitations. I rejoice that the Lord has made this possible for them to spend it with Him ALWAYS. Is there anything sweeter or better than being with Your Lord and God? The prophet David said, “I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.”
Praise God for the death of His saints—rejoice at the death of the martyrs. They have that for which you still endeavor. “By them are chanted songs that ne’er to mortal ears were granted.” They have received the crown of life which Jesus Himself promised: “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” (Revelation 2:10b) This you look forward to, especially as you cry out, “Hallelujah, Christ is risen!” [Let the congregation respond.]
Christ has no limits, as the father confessed on Egyptian TV! He is the author of Life, and death is no limit for it—not for Doris Bissitt, not for Sebastian, not for the Egyptian martyrs, and not for any of His saints who have gone before you with the sign of faith and now rest in their hallowed chambers. And His grace and life are limitless for you, He has promised to you the same crown of life which they now wear. It’s a reversal of that 14th century hymn: in the midst of death, you are in life, the life given you for the sake of Jesus Christ, for whose sake also, you are forgiven for all of your sins.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“I know that my Redeemer lives.” It’s not so strange in this day and age, however. The church lives in the post-ascension age. Christ has died, Christ is risen, and Christ is ascended to the right hand of the throne of God. Christ will come again. So, sitting there now, having come through Holy Week, to this most holy night, it might not be on the tip of your tongue to proclaim the resurrection, but it has happened.
It is your hope, and this night is all about that hope. This is the first opportunity to celebrate that Christ is risen; hallelujah! It is an acknowledgment of what the church looks forward to—of what you look forward to. For when Christ comes again, the dead will rise in a resurrection like His.
Therefore, on this most holy of nights, the church historically has celebrated Holy Baptism. Catechumens who received instruction before being baptized, like the Ethiopian Eunuch (cf. Acts 8:26-40), were baptized this night. Imagine that, if you would, a service at which dozens, if not hundreds, of people were baptized and added to the church.
What is done today is a remembrance of baptism—of your baptism. Throughout Lent, the font was in the back of the church so that the first thing you saw upon entering was water to remind you that you are baptized. A note accompanied the font, reminding you of your dustiness—your fallen earthiness to which you will someday return—but also of the fact that you are bought with a price. Last night was a stark reminder of the price for your salvation. Finally, you were reminded that you are baptized—that Christ’s death and resurrection are yours personally, given to you with the faith to believe it in that most blessed flood.
So, tonight, you recited the rite of Holy Baptism. No one was baptized tonight, but you were all reminded of the vows made in your stead (or perhaps you said them yourselves later in life) as you were brought to that font or one like it, drowned with all sin and evil desire, and a New Man emerged to live before God in righteousness and purity forever. You were asked the same questions that were asked the first time you visited the font. Do you renounce the devil and all his works and all his ways? Do you believe in God the Father Almighty? In Jesus Christ? In the Holy Ghost? You were told, once again, that the flood corresponds to baptism, that by water, the world was purged of sin, and that the righteous were saved by grace in the church of the ark.
You were reminded of your vows, mostly likely spoken for you. Have you lived up to them? Not in the slightest. You have said that you renounce the devil and his works and his ways, yet you still sin against your brother and against God. You know the Ten Commandments—in these you have been catechized and, hopefully, reminded of again and again. To a letter, not one of you has kept a single one of them. What was said of the Jews who had believe in Jesus can be said of you, “You are of your father the devil...he is a liar and the father of it.” (cf. John 8:31, 44) Yes, dear hearers, you have spoken these things, but you have not kept to them—you have lied.
And you said them tonight, again, affirming your rejection of the devil, his works, and his ways. You were probably here last year, saying the same thing. Yet, as it has been in the days since last year’s Vigil, so it will be again in the days following this year’s Vigil. You speak with your mouth, but your actions betray you.
On top of that, tonight, you have heard further affirmation of baptismal vows as two young men confirmed the vows made for them at their baptisms, having been prepared for reception of the Lord’s Supper. These are the same vows you have made. They acknowledge the gifts that God gave them in baptism—forgiveness, life, and salvation. The confessed the Scriptures to be the inspired Word of God. The confessed the Small Catechism to be faithful and true with regard to Scripture. They vowed to hear the Word of God and receive the Lord’s Supper faithfully. They confessed an intention to remain faithful to the Triune God until death. They confessed—and this is the big one, right?—rather to suffer death than fall away from the faith that they have been taught and confessed.
How many who have been confirmed have kept to these vows? Not many. The joke—sad joke that it is—is that confirmation is often viewed as graduation, and that after being confirmed, you can be done with church until it is time to have your own children baptized and confirmed. Did they even hear the words that they said? But that’s not the only thing. How many can confess to hearing the Word of God and receiving the Sacrament faithfully, week-in-and-week-out, since they have been confirmed? Other than illness or the call of one’s vocation, have any of you done anything or been anywhere when you could otherwise have been here or a place just like this? So, as you heard the young men speak tonight, be reminded that you have said the same things in years past, and again, you have spoken with your mouths, but your actions betray you.
In fact, your actions proclaim the sinfulness of your flesh. They demonstrate the sin and trouble of this world. They confess the temptations of the devil.
However, there is that Lord’s Supper. For what purpose did Jesus institute this Holy Sacrament of His very body and true blood? In his Lutheran Catechesis, Rev. Peter Bender wrote, “The Lord’s Supper gives us Christ’s body and blood as medicine against our sinful flesh, the sin and trouble of this world, and the temptations of the devil. This sacrament is given so that we might learn to believe that Christ, out of great love, died for our sin, and also learn from Him to love God and our neighbor.”
Given your broken vows, you may want to ask, “Am I worthy to receive the Sacrament?” Well, who receives the Sacrament worthily? As I have tried to drive home with those young men, he who has faith in these words: “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Do you believe those words? If yes, then you are worthy.
Revel in the present tense of that—you ARE worthy. It works in so many other ways, too. You ARE baptized. You ARE forgiven. You ARE faithful. Revel, also, in the passive voice, for these things are done to you, externally, outside from yourself, apart from any worth or merit in yourself. Therefore, you are MADE worthy by the grace and mercy of God, who has given you faith to believe those words, “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”
Therefore, you see the table prepared. Jesus Christ, who has died, is risen and ascended, and is present among you with His grace to work in you His righteousness and forgiveness. Come to the feast, the feast is ready. Come, you who labor and are heavy laden, because here is your rest. Jesus rested in His tomb for a time, whom you know to be alive again, now bids you come and rest in Him who finished it all for you. Yes, your Redeemer lives, and He gives you that life in the Sacrament of His body and blood. Come, you redeemed of the Lord, this feast is for you, because you are forgiven for all of your sins.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
And it was one of those creatures that was found to be the craftiest of all that God had made—the serpent. Satan used this serpent to trick Adam and the woman, and by his cunning, they doubted what God had really said, even though the man had heard it directly from the lips of God. They saw each other differently. No longer was their nakedness something for which they need not be ashamed, but it now revealed one to be evil to the other. God’s curse confirmed this, and life was never the same again for the two of them and their progeny; death had entered the picture. It is begun!
They also saw God as evil. After all, they did hide themselves from Him, as if that were even possible, because they were naked and afraid. Their physical appearance didn’t bother them, but they feared what God would do when He would look upon them and see their wickedness.
There’s a saying uttered by those who deny any sort of moral authority: “Only God can judge me.” If they really believed that, they should be sorely afraid, like Adam and the woman. While you have little authority to judge your fellow man by any standard that is your own, God has the ultimate and final judgment on all mankind, and it isn’t pretty or even bearable.
For instance, as His own people were being led out of Egypt to their own land, they rejected the moral authority of God. They cried out against Him, blaming Him for all of their troubles, grumbling that He had brought them out of Egypt and into the wilderness to die, and even rejected the bread from heaven—the manna sent from God—as worthless. In God’s infinite judgment, He sent fiery serpents into the camp; many people were bitten and died. That crafty creature was used against the people as an agent of God’s wrath; it wasn’t pretty, nor could the people bear it.
They cried to Moses to plead with God to bring an end to the serpents. The serpents had laid bare the sins of the people, and they confessed their sins against God and Moses. God heard their cries for mercy and instructed Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” (Numbers 21:8) Moses did as he was instructed. When someone from the People of Israel was bitten, he would look upon the bronze serpent and live. The agent of death was placed on a pole, and when the strike of death came upon a person, he could look at this representation and live.
Jesus pointed this out when He met with Nicodemus at night. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up...” (John 3:14) This evening, you have heard of the Son of Man’s being lifted up. You have heard of His trial, His conviction, His sentence. You have heard of His being beaten and scourged, being crowned with thorns, being pierced with nails, and finally being driven through with a spear.
This is the wrath of God for the sins of the world! For there on the cross is the fullest measure of God’s wrath being exacted against the fullest measure of the sin of man. Into His own flesh did Jesus assume every sin and all sinfulness. Behold the Lamb of God! Look at Him, if you dare, for there is no greater sinner than the Man hanging on the cross. It’s a gruesome sight, more than a mere snakebite.
There is no greater proclamation of the Law than Jesus Christ crucified. Behold the Lamb of God! Look at Him, seeing Him hanging on the tree of the cross. You should be there. There’s no sense in denying it. You are the sinner, and He is the innocent Man, yet He dies, and you live.
Yes, you are snake-bitten with sin. You are inclined to evil like your father, Adam. Naturally, in this fallen state, you see everyone else as evil and your God—your Creator and Father in heaven—as wicked. You should fear Him, as only He can judge you. But there is an antidote to this snake-bite: the Son of Man being lifted up.
And so, the greatest proclamation of the Law becomes for you the Gospel. Do not think that you crucified Jesus; though your sins are the cause for Him being on the cross, He still chose to die for you. He chose to take upon Himself your sin and the punishment you deserve so that you would not have to. There, on the cross, He carries the full weight of your sin, and that of your neighbor. He suffers the full wrath of God in your stead, so that you may look upon Him and live. You live for His sake because the full wrath of God was exercised against His Son, and there is none left for you.
That is, of course, unless you deign remain in your trespasses and sins. For, if you deny the moral authority of the Father, then you also deny the grace and mercy that is the Son and His all-atoning sacrifice. The Law declares you a sinner; the Gospel declares you forgiven for the sake of Christ.
Behold Him, look on Him and live. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness So Jesus, the Son of Man is lifted up, so that all who look on Him will live. He is the antiserum of death, He has taken the sting of death into Himself He has absorbed the killing power of sin—the Law. Behold the Lamb. (Anonymous)
“Behold the Man,” Pilate said. “Behold the Lamb,” said John. They are one and the same. The Man who is the Lamb who is your sin, your propitiation, your death, your life, your atonement. He breathed His last, giving His life as your ransom, and the sting of the snake-bite of death is removed from you. And He died.


The text of the remarkable Legend of the Creation which forms the first section of this volume is preserved in a well-written papyrus in the British Museum, where it bears the number 10, This papyrus was acquired by the late Mr. Rhind in orwhen he was excavating some tombs on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes. He did not himself find it in a tomb, but he received it from the British Consul at Luxor, Mustafa Agha, during an interchange of gifts when Mr.
Achtente, sehr vermehrte Auflage. The first edition of this volume has been commended and criticized by the public. Horst, Zauberbibliothek Mainz, In our enlightened age, the unprejudiced will observe in the publication of such a work, only what the author claims, namely, a contribution in reference to the aforesaid literature and culture of no trifling merit; but in regard to the believer also, the issue of a cheap edition will be more serviceable than the formerly expensive productions on sorcery, which were only circulated in abstract forms and sold at extortionate rates.
What other practical value the above named edition may possess is not the question! The publisher protests against this practice, but has instead augmented it with different readings on the topic, likewise supported by old manuscripts of the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses so that the whole group is now brought together for the sake of completeness, which were previously only available by lucky coincidence to the die-hard enthusiast.
EE completely obscures the meaning of this paragraph: The publisher guarantees that not one syllable has been added. EE omits this paragraph.
The complete and reliable history of the human and divine — the divine revelations, and the influence of godly or pious men are found in the scriptural monuments of the old Hebrews in the Holy Scriptures. The Bible is justly styled the Holy Scripture, because it contains the knowledge of the saints, while at the same time, it unites and harmonizes word and deed, doctrine and action.
In the former instance, it was the individual and his presence; in the latter, it was not the individual upon which magic depended, but upon mankind in general, and upon the great future.
There, the light of man was made to shine by skilful actions, produced by the lowest arts; here, shone a pure, unclouded, quiet life, vitalized by the warm breath of the Almighty, a light shining into the future, and upon this light depended all life and action.
If we examine the history of the old covenant we shall find that this remarkable people stood solitary and alone like a pillar of fire amid heathen darkness.
Although we find, among other nations, worthy men, who seek after the divine light, surrounded by darkness and uncertainty, here are men of God, bearing the impress of true faith, who give undoubted evidence of higher powers, by visible acts and signs which everywhere separate life from death, and truth from error, and while the ancient remnants of other nations show only theory without application, here we find a connected chain of acts and events — in fact, a divine and lifelike drama.
Of all these things the various books of the Holy Scriptures speak with confidence, so that the history of no other people, interwoven with fables, can be compared with them.
We will give an account of the dreams, a great many of which are recorded in the Bible. The dreams recorded in the Bible are many and remarkable. The voice with which God spoke to the prophets and the men consecrated to Him, were generally heard in dreams.
The visions of the ancients, according to the testimony of Moses, were nearly always dreams. Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I, the Lord, will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. And Solomon said, Thou hast showed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, etc.
For behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright: And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? Behold, I have dreamed a dream more: And his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? The power of Joseph to interpret dreams is further shown by the interpretation of the dreams of the butler and baker while in prison, Gen.
In the New Testament many dreams are mentioned through which God designed to speak to his followers. In this manner Joseph, the husband of Mary, was told by an angel Matt. In like manner, the three wise men of the East were warned in a dream, that they should not return to Herod, but depart to their own country another way.Discover the best resource for Liberty University homework help: Liberty University study guides, notes, practice tests, and more.
INTRODUCTION. Blood volume is a critical factor in maintaining hemodynamic equilibrium and tissue oxygenation. Intravascular volume is regulated very closely by means of several complex mechanisms, for which the onset of action varies widely.
Bibl Quiz 5 Question 1 3 out of 3 pointsThe "Book of the Law" was rediscovered during the reign ofAnswerSelected Answer: Question 2 3 out of 3 pointsThe book of Habakkuk predicts the Babylonian benjaminpohle.comSelected Answer: Question 3 3 out of 3 pointsAccording to Hindson Nebuchadnezzar was your typical autocratic egomaniac .
The Egyptian Texts, edited with Translations by E. A. Wallis Budge London, [Editorial note: Throughout the text "####" represents images which cannot be transcribed.]. Liberty University BIBL quiz 2 answers solutions SUPERB Liberty University TA!!
Background to the assignment: At the beginning of the Medieval Age, there was a synthesis of three different cultures within Western culture. There was the classical culture, Christian culture, and pagan culture.


Birthed out of the desire to equip and educate all believers, Passion Global Institute exists to help students grow in the areas of theology, Scripture and ministry.
Labs at Passion Global Institute make this a reality for everyone who desires to grow in the accuracy, truth, and authority of the Word of God. Facilitated by world-leading experts, lab students receive seminary education in a condensed, abbreviated, and manageable form.
The work load for a lab is significantly less than a seminary class. The lab structure has been designed so anyone can be a part, whether you have not been in school for a while, you have a full time job, or kids to take care of. There are two key elements of outside work regarding the lab: reading the supporting text and completing the participant project. While it suggested that Lab Track participants read the supporting text and complete the participant project, it is required for the Certificate Track participants.
Labs are an in person experience and not currently offered to stream online. Digital All Access of the sessions will be available for purchase after the lab.
Refunds are available up to two weeks prior to the lab.
As PGI is still in the growth phase, scholarships are not available at this time. We hope to be able to offer scholarship soon.
Yes, Certificate Track participants can request to be in the same cohort as a friend or family member. Our team will send an email out a few weeks prior to the lab asking for any request.
For more information about the Passion Global Institute, send us a message here and someone from our Team will get back with you soon!


Do not remember the former things or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, Do you not perceive it?
Are you a pastor who is ready to lead a process of innovation and change in and alongside your congregation? Do you want to lead for change with a community of pastors like you who are already responding to the new thing (Isaiah 43:18-19a) that God is doing? Apply today to be part of our fully-funded pilot cohort launching in February 2023.
This 10-month project includes:
- An in-person opening retreat for all participants (pastors and lay church partners) for the 12 churches selected at Princeton Theological Seminary on February 8-10, 2023
- Eight months of training and local church activities from March 2023 to October 2023
- A closing commissioning ceremony in November 2023
Application Deadline: October 31, 2022
The Isaiah Partnership (IP) is a project funded by the 2021 Lilly Endowment Inc. Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative and administered by the Princeton Theological Seminary Office of Continuing Education, in partnership with The Changemaker Initiative of Los Altos, California.


The Dean of Students at Tishk International University held an event for Christian students and staff on Wednesday, December 21, 2022. On this day. The event commenced with a welcoming speech delivered by the event host Branda Baha, our senior student.
A welcoming speech was also delivered by the Head of the Board of Trustees, Dr. Idris Hadi, he welcomed and congratulated the distinguished guests and all Christian students on this day.
To mark this particular day, Mr. Father Martin, a Representative of the Catholic Church, and Mr. Rami Nuri, the Director of Ankawa District were welcomed to address students and participants at TIU. They both wished a merry Christmas and a happy new year to all. After their speech, one of our students who follow the Christian faith delivered a presentation to explain the importance of the day, and what Christmas represents. Eventually, all participants were invited to take a group photo and enjoy traditional food.
On behalf of Tishk International University, we wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year. We look forward to a new year of excellence, peace, and harmony.


Weekly PracticesSat 5.00-8.00pm at Chaplaincy Hall
Student MassesWed 6.00pm-7.30pm Sun 9.00-10.30am
Atakayefanya maskani yake katika kilima chako, kilima chako kitakatifu?
How to join the Choir. Find us in facebook.
Sunday Readings 1/9/2013
22nd Sunday Year C
Ps 68:4-5ac, 6-7ab, 10-11 (R.11b)
In your goodness, O God, you provided for the poor.
Welcome to St. Paul's Students' Choir Online
A Catholic Choir of Students of the University of Nairobi based at St. Paul's Catholic Chapel. The choir was founded in 2001 and up to now has recorded 7 albums. Being one of the top choirs in East Africa, St. Paul's Students' choir is a producer of some of the most popular catholic songs in Kenya including Alfajiri ya Kupendeza, Mbinguni Kutakuwa Raha, Mshike Mshike, Ikatetemeka Nchi & Ushuhuda Tosha.
Which of the following music from St. Paul's Choir do you know? Get your VCD or Audio CD soonest.
VOL 7. Ushuhuda Tosha
VOL 6. Habari Tuliyoleta
VOL 5. Mshike Mshike
VOL 4. Mbinguni Kutakuwa
VOL 3. Ikatetemeka
VOL 2. Tazameni Miujiza
VOL 1. Milele Milele Msifuni
We are called to be evangelizers. As for us we evangelize through singing.


Once there was a cowboy who was looking for a church. So on Sunday he put on his best shirt, jeans, and boots and went to church.
During the service, he couldn't help but notice all the disapproving looks being shot his way. Afterwards the deacon came back to talk to him.
Instead of a hello, the deacon got straight to the point. "Sir, if you come back next week could you try to dress in your Sunday best."
"This is my best." he replied.
"Well, then could you please pray and ask God what would be appropriate."
The cowboy gave him a funny look, and just nodded.
The cowboy prayed about it. The next week he got dressed in his Sunday best again and went back to the church.
The deacon approached him.
"I thought I asked you ask God what you should wear."
"I did," he said with a smile.
"What did He say?"
"He didn't know what the dress code was because He hadn't been there before."


Welcome to the New Waterford
United Methodist Church website.
We are glad you chose to visit.
We are located at the corner of Crestview Rd.
and State Route 46 in New Waterford.
With a history of ministry and impact in the New Waterford and Crestview community exceeding 150 years, NWUMC is dedicated to Winning the Lost for Christ, Building Believers in the knowledge and practices of Scripture, Equipping disciples for effective service for Christ, and Multiplying leaders to further HIS Kingdom work, and Sending called Disciples to wherever HE might call them.


Courage, Hope and Healing is one woman's transparent journey of her battle with cancer. Your battle may be entirely different. In this book, you will be encouraged, strenghthened, and empowered to overcome your toughest circumstances.
With gentle humor, Mary takes us with her on a candid reflection of the crossroads we all face when life doesn't make sense; when things don't turn out the way we think they should or they way God "should have" done things, but didn't.
From the forward of Pastor David L. Thomas Lead Pastor of Victory Christian Center
- Item #: 19611959


by Bill Wilson
A lot is being written lately about how the man who occupies the Oval Office is trying to rewrite Christianity. Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh says that the president is twisting scripture to make Jesus out as a socialist. Limbaugh said,
“The reason why this is important is there’s an effort by the left to say that Jesus was a socialist, and they are using this to turn many evangelical people into global-warming people. We are the stewards of the planet and so forth. There’s an ongoing effort here to corrupt Christianity.”
If Limbaugh, who has rarely, if ever, made Christianity the centerpiece of his on-air conservatism, thinks there is a problem, there must be a problem.


Parish Office and Forms
The Parish Office,
St Peter's Church Centre,
Jarrow NE32 5LP
(0191) 489 1925
The parish office is open between 10am and 12.30pm from Monday - Thursday, and also from 6.30pm to 7.30pm on a Thursday evening.
(Outside of these times there is an answering machine).
Enquiries about booking the halls / rooms in the parish
for your group or event should be made via the parish office
either in person or by phone / email / letter.
Enquiries about booking a baptism,
a thanksgiving for the gift of a child,
or a wedding in the churches of the parish
should also be made through the parish office.
Initial advice and guidance is available from the Team Clergy,
who are available after our regular services (see calendar page)
or can be contacted as shown below.
The forms you need to complete to begin your application
are available at the parish office or can be downloaded from this page.
Baptism Application Form
Wedding Application Form
Thanksgiving for a Child
Qualifying Connections Form


We learned of a little 2 year-old girl, who had accidentally spilled a pot of boiling water on her little body. She was rushed to the hospital with 2nd degree burns over 25% of her body. She was in surgery when our prayer chain was alerted to pray.
We all united in prayer for this little girl’s total healing and for there to be no complications in surgery. We prayed that there would be no scars — emotional or physical. Surgery went well. Healing is on the way.
We learned the little girl’s father was a bit skeptical of the power of prayer —- but no longer! When she had first gone to the hospital, her face was so swollen that she could not even open her eyes. Her face was soon covered in scabs. In just 4 days, the swelling was completely gone in her face and there were only faint traces of scabs left there. The normal coloring had completely returned! Her dad was shocked and so were the doctors!!
Then her dad remembered our prayers. Needless to say, he now is a believer in the power of prayer and asked that we continue until his little girl is completely healed! Yes, our prayers continue. Praise God!


What is a Rocking Chair Chat?
A rocking chair is a part of many of my interiors. A rocking chair sits in my counseling office, another in my private “quiet place” room. A rocking swing hangs in my backyard and yet another rocking chair sits in my artists studio.
A rocking chair symbolizes comfort and safety. I have precious memories of rocking my newborn in the middle of the night as we huddled close to the wood stove in the kitchen. That rocking chair provided hours of sweet motherhood time for my infant child and again a generation later for my grandchild. I have had numerous rocking chair prayers as I cried out to God in the most fearful times in my life. And I have relaxed in my rocking chair as I muse about future hopes and dreams. I have noticed through the years that the rocking chair in my counseling room provides a comforting place to let the life stories flow and seek God’s direction in life. Rocking Chairs are a place for real life, gut level, and for pouring out your heart kind of chats. The great things is that God always listens to rocking chair chats.
Some years ago during an intense “black storm” of life, I lost interest in writing. Up until that time, I had logged in many hours of composing word pictures for various groups of readers. I even had a monthly art column in the local newspaper. Early on in the “storm,” someone told me “someday you will need to write about this. It will help other people”. Although I agreed at the time, the weeks that turned into months and months that turned into years melted into simply a time of survival and healing. Yet in those dark days, I had to admit that other Christians from the pages of history who wrote of their great trials and God’s faithfulness gave great comfort to my soul. I had to acknowledge that although my desire to write had flown away with the tragedies that someday God might bring me to a place where writing may again be a part of my life. And just perhaps, like I was comforted by believing writers of the past as they fought fierce spiritual battles, just maybe….my journey through the darkness while holding Christ’s hand just might help somebody else.
“He is the Father of all compassion, the God of all comfort. He consoles us as we endure the pain and hardship of life so that we may draw from His comfort and share it with others in their own struggles.” II Corinthians 1:3b-4 (The Voice Bible)
Welcome to Rocking Chair Chats.


Music in the Church
With the decline of traditional music in pubs - caused in part by the decline in drinking culture, stricter drink-driving laws and the intrusion of sports television into every pub in Ireland - the music needs to find new places to flourish.
A venerable gentleman in Galway has come up with the idea of music in the church and has been running sessions in St Nicholas of Myra in that city with much success. Here’s a link: http://www.tunesinthechurch.com/
It would be a great thing if other churches could also be used for similar events. There are hundreds of fine buildings throughout the country with great acoustics and, let’s face it, with dwindling customers.
I was at a funeral recently for a musician in a local church and there was a great session with half a dozen relatives and friends belting out jigs and reels between the prayers and the readings and it was a wonderful thing. It means that the Catholic Church has no objection in principle to allowing music in its churches and all we need is the spark.


Contact me: firstname.lastname@example.org
Romans 8:38,39 “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
I praise God that he has given me the blessing of receiving a Christian education from the very beginning! I’m so thankful I get to pass that on to Jesus’ little lambs in the third and fourth grade at St. John’s.
I was born, raised and attended school in Minnesota. After graduating from Martin Luther College with a teaching degree, I was married and have four children. I’ve had the opportunity to teach a variety of grades throughout my teaching and am eager to teach language, math and best of all, God’s Word to my students every day! I look forward to building relationships with students and families in the community.


Hey! Thanks for stopping by. I’m Lane Sebring, a pastor, author, entrepreneur and preaching coach.
I’ve written two books on preaching and have been featured on sites like SermonCentral.com, ChurchLeaders.com, Unseminary.com and Pastors.com.
Have you ever asked yourself these questions:
“How can I improve my preaching so that I feel confident every time I get up to preach?”
“Is is possible for me to capture and maintain the interest of my listeners in such a distracted world?”
“What is the best way to outline my messages for the biggest impact?”
“How can I maximize my sermon prep time on a tight schedule?”
“Is it possible for me to preach for life-change and actually see it happen in my listeners?”
If so then you’ve come to the right place! Whether you’ve been preaching for decades and you want to sharpen your skills or you are just starting out and you’re overwhelmed by the thought of preaching your next sermon, I can help you.
The first thing you should do is grab my free 21-Day Guide to Creating Killer Sermonsand get started! I look forward to helping you preach at your best!
I was 15 when I started to feel God was calling me to ministry.
Why me? No! Pick someone else. These were all the things I tried to tell God.
It took two full years for me to finally say “yes” to what God wanted for my life. It shouldn’t have take that long, but it did.
Nonetheless, I found myself 17 years old with a passion to lead and teach others about Jesus.
My pastor asked me to preach, but there was just one problem: I was TOTALLY insecure about my preaching abilities.
I didn’t think anyone would listen or care if I preached a sermon I wrote. So, I copied a sermon from one of my favorite preachers nearly word-for-word.
This is called plagiarism and it’s bad form, unethical and dishonest. I have long since stopped using other people’s material without properly crediting them.
But at that time, I did not believe in what God could do through me. I was insecure in my own gifting and abilities.
The thing I have found is that other preachers second guess their abilities too.
In college I was able to work at two different churches and learned a ton about ministry. My degree was in Communication so I learned how to connect and communicate with people.
Then I went to seminary and learned how to bore everyone with the Bible.
I’m not bashing seminary. I found my time earning my degree was invaluable in a lot of ways.
But the way we were taught to preach in seminary was so technical and stilted. It was great for a seminary class when you were being graded by your prof and your classmates. But in the real world all that technical mumbo jumbo fell flat.
I started to see there were certain preachers whose preaching truly moved me. Preachers who connected with me in a powerful way and motivated me to action. These preachers weren’t following the “rules” I was taught in seminary.
What they were doing was decidedly different. It was still biblical. It was still the gospel. But it was nothing like I had been taught.
I set out on a journey to discover what made the difference.
I wanted to know if it was possible for me to learn how to preach in a way that was compelling and life-changing. Could God use me that way?
This question fueled my passion to improve as a preacher and eventually start helping other preachers as well.
I have since served in ministry for the last 15 years. I served at a church in the Washington, DC area for 10 years and now serve at a church in Knoxville, TN.


Before you enter the tunnel, press play on the audio file below and follow along as you drive very, VERY slowly.
River Lights of Wonder
RIVER LIGHTS OF WONDER
Welcome to: “River Lights of Wonder!” Right now, we invite you to leave all your cares behind as we travel back in time…are you ready? Think for a moment…if the first Christmas happened over 2,000 years go, why is it, that Christmas (and its message) has lasted the test of time? Well….let’s find out!
IN THE BEGINNING
In the very beginning, God created the heavens and the earth…and it was good.
THE HEART ISSUE (LOVE & PEACE)
God created “man,” in His own image. They walked, talked, and laughed. They enjoyed this beautiful world together filled with peace and love…and it was so, so good.
MAN REJECTS GOD
Sadly though, man turned away from God. Where there was once “Peace on Earth,” now sadness, chaos, anger and frustration was seen and felt everywhere. This broke God’s heart. So, in order to restore the love and friendship that was lost between man and God, God came up with a plan…a plan that would surprise and amaze the world!
THE PLAN (GOD CHOSE MARY)
First, God chose a young virgin girl, named Mary, to carry His son inside her womb. Mary loved and trusted God with all her heart and when the angel visited her, she humbly responded by saying, “I am the Lord’s servant and I am willing.”
JOSEPH HAS A DREAM
Joseph, who was engaged to Mary, struggled with this news…but, an angel visited Joseph in a dream saying: “Do not be afraid Joseph, but take Mary as your wife. She will give birth to a son, conceived by the Holy Spirit. And you are to give him the name ‘Jesus.’
MARY & JOSEPH TRAVELED TO BETHLEHEM
Caesar Augustus had ordered a census which meant Mary and Joseph had to travel over 65 miles to the city of Bethlehem! As they traveled, they wondered about this “miracle,” baby and why God had entrusted him
into their care.
THE WISE MEN FOLLOWED A STAR
Now, far from the East, there were some wise men who were observing the stars. A large, new star they had never seen before appeared in the sky. They learned that such a star was a sign that a great king was to be born! So, the wisemen set out to follow that star. They brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
ANGELS APPEARED TO THE SHEPHERDS
The night finally came that Mary gave birth to Jesus. Shepherds were watching over their sheep. It was a quiet night …. but, suddenly angels appeared to them in the sky saying: “Don’t be afraid for I have wonderful news for you! God’s own son has been born! You will find him wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger.” They were filled with wonder and excitement! They ran to Bethlehem to find the baby!
The wonder of Christmas is that the son of God was born on this earth in a humble stable. Why? To bring people’s hearts back to God. “For God so loved the world that he gave us his only son.” Jesus was and is the ultimate Christmas gift for us today! Receive the gift of God’s son in your heart this Christmas. God is waiting to have a relationship and friendship with you like in the very, very beginning. This will bring peace into your heart! Yes! This is the wonder of Christmas and why Christmas, and it’s message, has stood the test of time!
Founding Pastor of Riverside Church, Reverend John Booko (Narrator) is a well known author, international speaker, and just celebrated his 100th birthday!


UPDATE: Nov 2018
Point Pleasant Community Baptist Church:
A Light of Faith, Hope, and Love
Point Pleasant Community Baptist Church seeks to be Christ’s hands, heart, voice, feet, and mind, reaching
out in God’s Spirit and energy to offer God’s love to this community. PPCBC will be a resource for meeting
this community’s spiritual needs. We will be open and welcoming to everyone, offering support,
healing resources, and referrals. We will offer various forms and times for prayer and worship,
community fellowship, and educational opportunities.
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way if they get angry they will be a mile away and barefoot. (anonymous)
You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view- until you climb into his skin and walk around in it. (Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird)
When I was in high school we had “debate” class. I remember being called in front of the class and being given an index card with my assignment. I had two minutes to make a case for some issue. It didn’t matter what my opinion was. I was given no time to prepare. I had to argue whatever I had been assigned. We were given all kind of topics. It could have been that I had to argue that ice cream is the healthiest food. Or I could have had to argue that ice cream is the worst food for health. We moved on to more difficult topics. I remember discussions on capital punishment, euthanasia, the use of violence in parenting (is spanking allowed?)
I now see this class as an important fundamental lesson and a necessary life skill. While I believe that no one can really understand something from another’s perspective, I do know that after I had a baby I was much more empathetic towards my mother. No one has exactly the same history, experiences, or memories. Closing your eyes for a whole day doesn’t mean that you know what a blind person feels! It may give you a better perspective, but it really is NOT the same. You always know that you can open your eyes!
When Jesus taught us to love our enemies, and to be careful to not judge the speck in another person’s eyes while ignoring the log in our own, I think he was pointing to this skill. Of not being so arrogant that we claim to know exactly what the other person is experiencing or thinking. Of not being so arrogant that we think only our own perspective could be right. To realize these truths prepares us to listen sincerely to another person, to respect their experiences, and to broaden our own perspective. We really do need to listen to one another to come the closest to truth.
I think some lessons on civil conversations could be really helpful right now.


We are a not-for-profit Christian Child Care Centre operated by the Association of Christian Evangelical Ministries (ACEM). The centre is fully equipped under government inspections and operated by qualified staff that provides a warm and loving atmosphere to your children. Our facility includes an indoor gymnasium and outdoor fenced playground for physical activities.
We have been serving the Agincourt community since 1983.
We offer toddler, preschool, kindergarten, and school-age programs.
The centre is monitored by secured entrance and exit.
We provide in-house hot meals, which include breakfast, lunch, and an afternoon snack.
It is our mission and vision to provide a foundation for children with the knowledge of God and His creation and of His special love and care.


Christmas wasnt widely observed until after Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and declared it the Roman empires favored religion. Western Christians officially began celebrating December 25 as the birth of Jesus in 336 AD. So there you have it!
Who decided Christmas would be December 25?
The church in Rome began formally celebrating Christmas on December 25 in 336, during the reign of the emperor Constantine. As Constantine had made Christianity the effective religion of the empire, some have speculated that choosing this date had the political motive of weakening the established pagan celebrations.
What is the true meaning of December 25?
Though December 25 is the day Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the date itself and several of the customs weve come to associate with Christmas actually evolved from pagan traditions celebrating the winter solstice. In ancient Rome there was a feast called Saturnalia that celebrated the solstice.
Why do we celebrate Christmas on 25th December for kids?
Christmas is celebrated on 25 December. It is a holiday to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, who, according to the Christian religion, is the son of God. The name is a joining of “Christ” and “mass” which means the holy mass (supper, celebration or festival) of Christ. Christmas stories for children.
What is the true message of Christmas?
The message of Christmas is that where there is hope, love, light and life, the plan and purpose of God will reach.
Is Christmas celebrated on 24 or 25?
Although December 25th (or the late afternoon/evening of December 24th) is the date when most people celebrate Christmas, there are some other dates as well! Most people in the Greek Orthodox Church celebrate Christmas on December 25th. But some still use the Julian calendar and so celebrate Christmas on 7th January!
Which gods were born of a virgin?
In ancient Egypt, Ra (the Sun) was born of a virgin mother, Net; Horus was the son of the virgin Isis. The Phrygo-Roman god, Attis, was born of a virgin, Nana, on December 25.
What is the true biblical meaning of Christmas?
to give up ones very self – to think only of others – how to bring the greatest happiness to others – that is the true meaning of Christmas. Thats what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown, says Linus van Pelt, after he recites the Annunciation to the Shepherds from the Bible referring to the birth of Christ.
What is the purpose of celebrating Christmas?
Merry Christmas: Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, who in the Christian religion, is also known as The Son Of God. Christmas is one of the most important as well as popular festivals celebrated throughout the year.
What is the truth behind Christmas?
For two millennia, people around the world have been observing it with traditions and practices that are both religious and secular in nature. Christians celebrate Christmas Day as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, a spiritual leader whose teachings form the basis of their religion.
Why should we give gifts at Christmas?
One of the main reasons we have the custom of giving and receiving presents at Christmas, is to remind us of the presents given to Jesus by the Wise Men: Frankincense, Gold and Myrrh. Frankincense: is sometimes used in worship in Churches and showed that people would worship Jesus.
Is Candlemas the end of Christmas?
It falls on February 2, which is traditionally the 40th day of and the conclusion of the Christmas–Epiphany season. While it is customary for Christians in some countries to remove their Christmas decorations on Twelfth Night (Epiphany Eve), those in other Christian countries historically remove them after Candlemas.