Speaker: The Rev. Mark Galloway

By His Resurrection, Jesus overcame death, and opened up to all Believers the Way to eternal life. In this sermon, the Rev. Galloway examines the Nicene and Apostles’ Creeds to remind us of the supreme importance of Jesus Christ’s Resurrection. Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31). This is what Ash Wednesday is all about: telling the Truth to the LORD – having the courage to tell the LORD what he knows we really are. In doing so, we put down our masks, and come to the realization that Christ really and truly loves us.

We have become a country untethered from the immutable Truth that a loving Father created us to know, love, and serve Him in this life, which alone is the assured path to our happiness in eternal life. We indeed have perpetual amnesia about this fact (including a majority of those in “the land of the free and the home of the brave” who claim to be Christians).

Obedience to God is the only way to true happiness. But in order to trust and obey God, we must first abandon our pride and admit that we are no longer going to do things “our way.” Only when we begin boast in the Lord and not in ourselves will we know the joy of salvation and help others to find their way to God.

Secular culture espouses many useless sayings which may make us feel good but are devoid of meaning because they deny the power and reality of the Triune God. The expectation of Christians is not to merely be nice or say nice things – it is to be kind, persist in prayer, and to boldly speak about our faith. What good is our faith if we don’t tell anyone about it?

The Rev. Stomberg and the Rev. Galloway discuss the meaning and historical context of the Epiphany narrative; what it means to “follow the light”; what the Light actually is; where we can find the Light; what distance we must travel to find it; and what gifts we are asked to offer the King when we find Him.

God spoke the universe into existence. God created all we can and cannot see. This same Divinity broke into time and space, born of a Pure Virgin, to save all of humanity. But we in our folly refuse to accept this glorious truth while at the same time believing we will make science fiction a reality. This contradiction must not be so for the professing Christian.

The Rev. Stomberg and the Rev. Galloway discuss the importance of the Blessed Virgin Mary to the Christian life; the idea of her perpetual virginity; types of love; masculinity and femininity; gender roles; the impact of the transgender movement on children; and much more.

We are not very good at being patient. As devout Christians, we really should be wanting Jesus to return, to judge the living and the dead, being patience while living among a world that hates us. What we shouldn’t be doing is wishing for Jesus to wait until after our lifetimes, as if our own plans are more important than God’s plan of salvation! When the LORD comes should not be our concern; it should be how we prepare for the LORD’s return!