Baptism doesn't just join you to the Church, it joins you to Christ. When you were baptized, it was much more than a photo op: you were spiritually joined into Christ's death Those who've been joined to Christ's death have also been joined to His resurrection so that they may ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Colossians 4

As John writes in 1 John 4:4, when he talks about testing spirits: “Little children, you are from God

You can discover your Spiritual gifts today and immediately use them tomorrow. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 55 Q. What do you understand by “the communion of saints”? A. First, that believers one and all, as members of this community, share in Christ and in all his treasures and gifts. Second, that each member should consider it a duty to use these gifts readily and cheerfully for the service and enrichment of the other members. Summary Throughout his letters, Paul often uses the image of the body as an analogy for the Church. It's amazing just how many systems within your body need to be working well and in harmony with other internal systems in order for you to be healthy. So it is, Paul writes, with the Church. As Americans, we're a fiercely independent bunch, which in many realms of society is a good thing. We know that society as a whole does better when each individual looks out for his own interests rather than depending on more socialistic systems. But this passage commands us to shelve that individualistic attitude when it comes to the Church. In the Church, "each member belongs to all the others." This means that the particular gifts that the Holy Spirit has given you do not belong just to you. As we noted yesterday, these gifts you've been given come with strings attached. Not only are you obligated to utilize them to build up the church, but you must use them to benefit your fellow church members. The final two verses of today's passage form a comprehensive but not exhaustive catalog of gifts, as well as a repeated command to utilize what you've been given. Notice how the final few commands include an adverb to add emphasis that your gift sharing efforts must be more than mediocre. Give generously. Lead diligently. Show mercy cheerfully. Dig Deeper When we cleaned our truck repair shop out years ago before selling it, we found all sorts of things in the warehouse that we forgot we had. What made that especially painful was the realization that we had bought that same part several times over at tremendous cost when we had a dozen of them in storage. What a waste! As we've mentioned before, you can't use what you don't know you have. You've been given a gift that Christ not only expects you to use, but in a sense depends on you to use it to build His Church. Your fellow members are being shortchanged if you're not sharing your gift with them. And you can't do any of this if you don't know what your gifts are! What a waste! We have two resources available to help you identify your gifts and become the productive body part that God created you to be. One is a large catalog of different gifts, many of which you probably didn't even know were Spiritual gifts. That same page has a link to an assessment you can take online which will point out what kinds of gifts you likely have. Both resources can be found at wgtncrc.org/gifts. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who is in heaven. His name is holy. ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for the gifts He's given you, and pray that you'll know what they are, how to use them and that you'll use them cheerfully! ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Romans 7

Christ's virgin birth is more than just trivial doctrine. Your confidence depends on it! Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 35 Q. What does it mean that he “was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary”? A. That the eternal Son of God, who is and remains true and eternal God, took to himself, through the working of the Holy Spirit, from the flesh and blood of the virgin Mary, a truly human nature so that he might become David’s true descendant, like his brothers in every way except for sin. Summary We've often ended up here in the book of Hebrews this year as we've been reminding ourselves what our only comfort in life and in death is: the fact that in life and in death we belong to Jesus Christ. One of the key themes of this book, and the reason it has the name Hebrews, is that it shows how Jesus fulfilled all of the requirements the Old Testament priests (remember, Jesus is anointed (christos) as a prophet, priest, and king). As our high priest, Jesus is our perfect mediator - He stands between us and God, so that when God looks at you, He sees Christ! Often skepticism grabs ahold of us with the temptation that since Jesus was so perfect, and never fell into sin, that He really doesn't know what it is that you're struggling with on a day to day basis. Be sure to memorize v15, so that when this doubt sets in, these words will remind you that your Savior does empathize with you, since He faced the same temptations that you do. This verse is given to comfort you, not to intimidate you. Jesus knows first hand the difficulty you face every day, but yet He doesn't just leave you to try and work through things on your own. Rather, He invites you to confidently approach God's throne of grace so that you can overcome trials and temptations in His strength, and through His grace and mercy. Dig Deeper The fact that Jesus had no earthly father may not seem as important as the fact that He was resurrected from the grave, but it really is. If Jesus had descended from Adam, as every other human being has, then He would have inherited Adam's sin, just as every other human being has. If that were the case, He wouldn't be qualified to pay for the sins of others, since He also would have been born sinful, and His death and subsequent resurrection really wouldn't matter. But Jesus didn't descend from Adam. Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, is a brand new Adam. Because 'He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin Mary,' He was born holy and blameless. Although He suffered great temptations, He never succumbed to them, and instead lived the sinless, perfect life that God had originally commanded Adam to live. Jesus didn't become man just to prove that He could live sinlessly even though everyone else couldn't. He didn't come to Earth just to give an example so that you could live perfectly like Him if you would just try harder. He did it so that He could give you the one thing that you need more than anything else, and the one thing that you'll never attain on your own as a descendent of Adam. When you put your trust in Him, you go from being in Adam to being in Christ. He gives you that perfect righteousness that God demands that only He was able to accomplish, so you can confidently approach God's throne! AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who sits on the throne of grace where we can receive mercy and grace. ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God that you have a Savior that can empathize with your weakness, and ask for the strength you need to overcome it as He did. ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - James 5

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

John introduces our Savior as the Logos, which is often translated as word, but which refers to much envelope your heart; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - 1

Deuteronomy 32:45–47 (NIV) CONTEXT: Moses is giving his final words to the Israelites. relationship with their God and how Abraham was told many years before to “walk before God” (Gen. 17:1) Some English translations use “serve me in the wilderness” (Ex. 7:16; 9:1; 10:3). not be a cold, rote ritual, because it's living and active proclamation that cuts to our core (Heb 4: WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will be sanctified by the truth, for God’s Word is truth and life (John

Faithlife.com Revelation 5:9-14 (NIV) CONTEXT: John has been taken into the heavenly throne room where God is worshiped as Creator (Revelation 4). Canons of Dordt Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election Point 2 - Limited Atonement Articles 1-7 Article Many angels joined in, writes John, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand (See 1:6.) By means of the incense of their prayers the saints even now reign upon the earth.

Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 4: The Canonical Books This week In the New Testament, the four gospels— Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; the Acts of the Apostles; the , and to the Hebrews; the seven letters of the other apostles— one of James; two of Peter; three of John ; one of Jude; and the Revelation of the apostle John.

Minnesota's favorite couple expressing their version of Psalm 49 Psalm 49 For the director of music. A psalm. 1  Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all who live in this world, 2  both low and high, rich alike: 3  My mouth will speak words of wisdom; the meditation of my heart will give you understanding. 4   while they live they count themselves blessed— and people praise you when you prosper— 19  they will join Canons of Dordt Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election Point 2 - Limited Atonement Articles 1-2 Article