Jesus gave the shortest, most powerful sermon ever, and it's good news for you! Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 31 Q. Why is he called “Christ,” meaning “anointed”? A. Because he has been ordained by God the Father and has been anointed with the Holy Spirit to be our chief prophet and teacher who perfectly reveals to us the secret counsel and will of God for our deliverance; our only high priest who has set us free by the one sacrifice of his body, and who continually pleads our cause with the Father; and our eternal king who governs us by his Word and Spirit, and who guards us and keeps us in the freedom he has won for us. Summary Jesus' public ministry took off like a rocket after His baptism. His cousin, John the Baptist, was already gathering crowds who went far out into the wilderness to hear this eccentric prophet speak about the coming Messiah, so you can imagine the anticipation people had after the heavens were torn open, a booming voice indicated it was pleased with 'my son,' while a dove descended upon Jesus. Soon after His baptism and subsequent months-long time of temptation in the wilderness, Jesus re-emerged into society and the miracle show began. All sorts of people were healed, water was turned to wine, and Jesus has become a rock star with mobs of people following Him everywhere He went. The opportunity came for Jesus to return to His home synagogue in Nazareth, and you can imagine the locals packed the synagogue to hear their native son who had become famous. What would he say? It just so happened that the scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to Jesus, and He unrolled it nearly all the way to the end. He read the passage quoted by Luke: The Spirit of the Lord is on me... He's anointed me... He's sent me to proclaim good news, freedom, and the Lord's blessing. When Jesus finished reading, He sat down. You can bet the packed room was on pins and needles. Every eye, Luke writes, was fastened on Jesus. Jesus then delivers one of the shortest, most powerful sermons ever preached: Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. This was the ultimate mic drop moment. It stunned those present. From that moment on, the devil, who'd just been defeated by Jesus in the desert, sets about to turn public opinion against Jesus until they ultimately had Him nailed to a cross. Dig Deeper It often may seem like Christ is simply Jesus' last name, but that's not the case. Both the Greek word Christos and the Hebrew word Mashiyach (Messiah) both are titles which mean the same thing: Jesus, the anointed one. The concept of anointing is a distinctly ancient near eastern idea. The thought of oil being poured over our head doesn't seem all that attractive to us, but in the Old Testament, it was a big deal to be anointed. In fact, only a small contingent of men were anointed: prophets, priests, and kings. As we go through this week, we're going to see how Jesus the Christ fulfills all three of those offices, and why that's so important for you. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who through His Spirit anointed His Son Jesus to save us, His covenant people; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God that Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies on your behalf; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Hebrews 12

your life; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - 2 Timothy 4

3   And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” 4   In Romans 4:2 , Paul drives home that it was faith, not works, that declares one legally right before

Reading that reminds me of Romans 5:10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Matthew 4

God knows you remember what you see, so He sets out visible reminders for His people. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 79 Q. Why then does Christ call the bread his body and the cup his blood, or the new covenant in his blood? (Paul uses the words, a participation in Christ’s body and blood.) A. Christ has good reason for these words. He wants to teach us that as bread and wine nourish our temporal life, so too his crucified body and poured-out blood truly nourish our souls for eternal life. But more important, he wants to assure us, by this visible sign and pledge, that we, through the Holy Spirit’s work, share in his true body and blood as surely as our mouths receive these holy signs in his remembrance, and that all of his suffering and obedience are as definitely ours as if we personally had suffered and paid for our sins. Summary God's people crossing the Jordan river is one of the most important stories in the Bible, representing the culmination of God saving His covenant people and returning them back to the promised land. The previous generation of Israelites had seen God part the Red Sea so they could escape Egypt on dry land, and now their sons and daughters crossed the Jordan River at flood stage on dry ground. As amazing as those miracles were, God knows how fickle people's memories are. Within days of crossing the Red Sea, Israel was once again doubting God's power to save them, having forgotten what they had seen with their own eyes. So God orders Joshua to pick up some souvenirs on the way. Twelve men, one representing each tribe, were to carry a large stone from the middle of the Jordan and then set them up where the Israelites spent their first night back at home. God wanted them to have a physical reminder of what He'd done for them. God not only commanded them to set a monument to remember, but He commands them what and why to remember. This isn't just for you, He instructed them, but it's a tool by which you must instruct your children by reminding them of how God saves His people. After all, there's always one consistent reason that God does what He does and provides what He provides: So that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God (v24). Dig Deeper Just about every communion table in every Protestant sanctuary has the same words of Jesus carved into it: This Do In Remembrance of Me. God knows that you need a physical reminder of what He's done for your salvation. He's invited you to His Table for an ongoing, tangible reminder that Christ did something much more powerful than splitting the sea or heaping up a flooding river: that His body was broken, and His blood poured out so that you could have complete remission of all of your sins. Make sure that you heed the next invitation so that you can be reminded and the next generation can know the hand of the Lord is powerful and always fear the Lord our God. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who saves His covenant people and meets them in their weakness; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for the reminder of His grace communion represents and that you'll eagerly anticipate the next meal; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Luke 17

In Romans 4:2, Paul drives home that it was faith, not works, that declares one legally right before

ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Romans 4

God wields His double-edged sword with surgical precision. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 84 Q. How does preaching the gospel open and close the kingdom of heaven? A. According to the command of Christ: The kingdom of heaven is opened by proclaiming and publicly declaring to all believers, each and every one, that, as often as they accept the gospel promise in true faith, God, because of what Christ has done, truly forgives all their sins. The kingdom of heaven is closed, however, by proclaiming and publicly declaring to unbelievers and hypocrites that, as long as they do not repent, the anger of God and eternal condemnation rest on them. God’s judgment, both in this life and in the life to come, is based on this gospel testimony. Summary Words don't get the credit they deserve in our hyper-pragmatic society. Most people prefer hands on instruction rather than a long manual full of words or a movie or video rather than an expansive novel. But our ability to form and utilize words is one of the key features that set us as human beings apart from the rest of God's created order, and it's precisely because we're created in His image that we have this unique ability. God's first recorded action was Him speaking words of creation into the nothingness. The Israelites met God as they cowered under His words of commandment that boomed down from the mountain, and their descendents would go on to harass, persecute, and generally ignore the word God sent via His prophets calling His wayward children back. John introduces our Savior as the Logos, which is often translated as word, but which refers to much more than just basic vocabulary (Logos also forms the basis for logic, and serves as the foundation for knowledge - biology, geology, theology, etc.). God's Word is so much more than ancient stories, prophecies and testimonies printed on dusty old pages. His Word is alive and active, able to penetrate the heart of man like nothing else. Furthermore, Isaiah adds that God's Word never fails; it always achieves the purpose for which He sent it. Dig Deeper But it sorta seems like God's Word has failed. Churches - even (maybe even especially) churches that have faithfully proclaimed God's Word - are emptier now than they've been in decades. Has our society finally achieved Adam's goal of separating ourselves so far from God that we're out of reach of the powerful sword His Word represents? Absolutely not. God's Word always achieves God's purposes. Praise God that through the proclamation of His Word you have come to clearly understand His grace. But it also clearly communicates God's anger and eternal condemnation for those who do not repent of sin. Unbelievers have heard and understood this Word, but they have failed to respond to it. Praise God that His Word goes out from your church, and know that whether your pews are full of those who've gladly accepted the gospel message, or empty because so many heard it and rejected it, that God is achieving His purposes through the preached Word. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father faithfully sends us His Word, just as He sends us rain from heaven; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that God, by means of His double edged sword, will continue to penetrate the sin that always seeks to envelope your heart; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - 1 Corinthians 2

Paul puts it this way in Romans 4:5 - To the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly

Pray continually, especially for the people you'd like to pray for the least! Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 104 Q. What is God’s will for you in the fifth commandment? A. That I honor, love, and be loyal to my father and mother and all those in authority over me; that I obey and submit to them, as is proper, when they correct and punish me; and also that I be patient with their failings— for through them God chooses to rule us. Summary There's a ton of theology going on in this short passage! Let's begin with the opening imperative, where Paul distinguishes between four different ways of praying: petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving. This doesn't mean that every time you pray you need to check off all four of these boxes, rather the point here is to be praying often - continually, even, as Paul mentions in 1 Thes. 5:17. Pray in every situation that you find yourself in. It's quite natural to pray for yourself and those close to you, and you should! It's not that you need to pray in order to convince God to do something about the situations you bring to Him, rather the more often you Acknowledge who God is and Align your life with His will, the more likely you will Ask for the things God wants for you. But Paul here commands you to pray for the very people we often pray for the least: "kings and all those in authority." In our situation this obviously includes the President and the Governor and other politicians, but it also includes your parents, employer, church council, teachers, landlord, and a host of other people who God has vested His authority in to help structure your life; the very people that He commands you to honor in the fifth commandment. Dig Deeper Perhaps one of the reasons it's so hard to pray for people who have authority over us is the underlying assumption that since they are at a higher station in life, they must have it made. What do they need prayers for? They've already made it! Plus, they often just seem like pompous jerks so often! But as we noticed the other day, very few people exercise absolute authority in life. A person might exercise authority in one sphere, but is dependent and subservient in other areas. It's quite likely that even though you are under the authority of far more people than you like, you also have been given authority in other realms. You probably know how hard it is to make decisions that affect others! How comforting would it be to know those people were praying for you, even as you make decisions they might not initially like? So extend that same courtesy to those in authority over you, whether you like them or not. Pray for God's blessing in every area of their life. When things go well for them, things will likely go well for you also, so that all "may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness (v2)." But pray especially that they may come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. When you pray that, you're praying a prayer that's aligned with God's will, since He wants all people to reach up to Him for their salvation. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our God and Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of truth; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for the people He exercises His authority through in your life. Pray that things will go well for them and especially that they will know salvation; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - 1 John 2