Book: Psalms

Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” Jesus then asked his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” The Apostle Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Our answer to that same question is of eternal importance, making all the difference not only in this life, but also in where we end up in the next.

Christian marriage, for all its human imperfections, is the greatest representation of God’s love and joy for His people, lived out through Christ and His Church, and celebrated both temporally and eternally in the Holy Eucharist.

What is the significance of Jesus’ Baptism? The Rev. Galloway answers this question in light of Luke’s words: “for God was with him” (Acts 10:38). The Baptism of Jesus had tremendous importance for his earthly ministry, and it modeled our own call to righteousness that begins in Holy Baptism.

The journey of the Magi following this Star represents the highest calling to which we can devote our lives: a lifetime of being led to Christ, by Christ. In other words, we look to Christ to light our path and direct our steps to Him. It is one thing to see this Star, but we are only wise when we embark on the journey of our lives using it as our guide.

The Christian celebration of Christmas extends well beyond the limits of its cultural and commercial celebration. As the world is quick to abandon the celebration of Christmas, the holidays become absent of joy – because they are starving for truth. They are held by a pagan law, spiritually starving. At Christmas, in Christ’s Incarnation, we boldly proclaim the miracle that sets us free from the law of sin and fills us with eternal joy, because joy doesn’t come from a holiday, but from Christ himself.

God’s eternal Word, the Logos, Jesus Christ, who existed in the Godhead from eternity past, who participated in the creation of the world, who is the ground and pinnacle of all truth, humbled himself and took on a body like ours, flesh and bones and all, and so manifested His glory to us on the stage of human history. And in that enormous moment, in that greatest paradox of all time, God’s infinite glory and perfect Truth met our dirty, humble, and broken existence. In that moment, God was fulfilling His promise to provide us a Savior to help us bridge the chasm between the profane and the divine.

The Nativity of our Lord marks the beautiful mystery of the Incarnation, the Word made flesh, Emmanuel, God with us. This Christmas Eve, the Rev. Mark Galloway invites us to wonder and worship at the miracle of Christ’s blessed birth – God dwelling among us.

We are all familiar with the story of the angel visiting the Virgin Mary to announce that she would give birth to our Savior, Jesus Christ. But one woman in the Christmas narrative who is often overlooked is Elizabeth, and we have much to learn from her remarkable wisdom.

We rejoice because the Lord is near to us. We do not serve some faraway God who sits up in an ivory tower, nor do we serve some “divine clockmaker” who wound up the gears of space and time and then stepped back to watch without any involvement. We are instead blessed by a Lord who knows each and every one of us intimately, who took on our very flesh to dwell among us, and who promised to come again one day and redeem all of creation.