COV LIFE BLOG
Advent 2019 – John 1:14 – Behold the Glory of Jesus
Our Christmas celebrations are like Israel’s exodus from Egypt. This great migration took on a beautiful splendor, as Israel was laden with the treasures of the Nile, just as our Advent season glitters in red and gold. But the true glory of the exodus was not the shimmering colors of Egyptian riches, nor even the […]
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Advent 2019 – Hebrews 2:14-18 – Why Jesus Came The Way He Did
This, I think, is my favorite Advent text because I don’t know any other that expresses so clearly the connection between the beginning and the end of Jesus’s earthly life — between the incarnation and crucifixion. These two verses make clear why Jesus came; namely, to die. They would be great to use with an […]
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Advent 2019 – Philippians 2:5-11 – The Wonder of the Incarnation
It’s a joy to reserve this part of the year to remember and celebrate the birth of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. This, of course, is what Christmas is about in the truest sense. Amid all the tinsel, the gingerbread cookies, and the trees and stockings and gift shopping, true Christians pause to reorient […]
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Pastoral Prayer for December 1, 2019
Led by Jim Hollenbach Almighty God, we who, by your grace, have seen the wretchedness of our sin, repented of it, and surrendered to Jesus as Lord – humbly come before you now at His invitation; not on our own merits but on His. We come reprising the words of Isaiah, O Lord, you are […]
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Luke 1:26-38 – The Impossible Made Possible Through God
There are two tremendous areas in the Bible that are bitterly and constantly assailed. One of them is the inspiration of the Scriptures. The second storm of controversy concerns the virgin birth of Christ. It is denied vociferously and unmitigatingly and boldly by the whole critical world. We deny the virgin birth, we deny the […]
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1 Peter 4:8-10 – The Holy Spirit and the Purpose of Spiritual Gifts
Especially in 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12, the Apostle Paul tells us that there is a variety of gifts that we have in the body of Christ. If everybody were a mouth then where would the hands be? If everybody were feet then where would the ears be? We’re all part of the […]
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John 14:16-18 – The Presence of the Holy Spirit
“I have been one Paraclete,” said the Lord in effect; “but I am now going to plead your cause with the Father, that another Paraclete may take my place, to be my other self, and to abide with you for ever.” There is no adequate translation for the word Paraclete. It may be rendered Comforter, […]
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Romans 8:9-11 – The Power of the Holy Spirit
It is true, of course, that the Spirit draws attention to Christ and not to himself. We might therefore tend to think that we ought not draw attention to him either. But that is not the pattern of the biblical authors. Not only do the Old Testament prophets repeatedly foretell his powerful work (cf. Ezekiel […]
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Romans 8:1-11 – The Work of the Holy Spirit
How does all that Christ accomplished become ours? That’s a question most of have never considered. John Calvin asks: How do we receive those benefits which the Father bestowed on his only-begotten Son—not for Christ’s own private use, but that he might enrich poor and needy men? First, we must understand, that as long […]
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The Holy Spirit, Our Helper
Love sometimes proveth unfaithful. “Oh! sharper than a serpent’s tooth” is an unfaithful friend! Oh! far more bitter than the gall of bitterness, to have a friend turn from me in my distress! Oh! woe of woes, to have one who loves me in my prosperity, forsake me in the dark day of my trouble. […]
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