Either with Jesus or with You

“The mouth of the Lord has spoken it. How many mouths does the Lord put to His use? How many Elijahs? How many Sundays in Advent? How many calls to repent, to turn? As many as your sins that need repentance. The Lord is slow to give up on you. He calls you to repent again and again. But if you insist on holding onto your sins—perhaps just your favorite one or two—and try to run with both Him and your sins, He will finally put an end to that game. He tells you so. He issues a warning call to repent, to turn; Your sins are either with Jesus or with you. It is only the sins you hold and keep away from Him that can damn you. Jesus has already answered for your sins. You have to take them back from Him to be damned by them.”

Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel

CPH 2004, page 22

HT: Steven Anderson

US Religious Demographics 2010

An interesting look at the religious demographics of our country...

Zechariah's Song: The Benedictus

The Benedictus

(The Song of Zechariah)

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
     for He has visited and redeemed His people
          and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David,
     as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old,

     that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us;
     to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant,
          the oath that He swore to our father Abraham,

     to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,

          might serve Him without fear,

          in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
     for you will go before the Lord to prepare His ways,
     to give knowledge of salvation to His people in the forgiveness of their sins,
     because of the tender mercy of our God,

     whereby the Sunrise shall visit us from on high
          to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
          to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Saint Luke 1:67-79 ESV

Saint Nicholas

Do you know the real man behind Santa Claus? The real bishop? The real Saint Nicholas? Today the Church celebrates the Feast of Saint Nicholas. Here he is...

• a fourth-century bishop of Myra in Lycia (in present-day Turkey)
• known for his generosity and his love of children
• saved a poor family’s daughters from slavery by tossing into their window enough gold for a rich dowry, a present that landed in some shoes or stockings
• a delegate to the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325, which battled the heretics who denied the deity of Christ
• got so fed up with Arius (who taught that Jesus was just a man) during the aforementioned Council that he walked up and slapped him
• one of the authors of the Nicene Creed, which affirms that Jesus Christ is both true God and true man
• a staunch defender of Jesus Christ and the one true faith
• died on 6 December 342

Today we give thanks to the one true God for Saint Nicholas and his faithful confession of Jesus Christ!

Almighty God, You bestowed upon Your servant Nicholas of Myra the perpetual gift of charity. Grant Your Church the grace to deal in generosity and love with children and with all who are poor and distressed and to plead the cause of those who have no helper, especially those tossed by tempests of doubt or grief. We ask this for the sake of Him who gave His life for us, Your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

O Come O Come Emmanuel

A beautiful song for this sacred Advent season by The Piano Guys...