By Faith Alone Podcast

In Acts 6 there was a great dispute because the Greek-speaking widows were being neglected. The apostles appointed servants who were filled with the Holy Spirit to do this important work so that the elders could devote themselves to the ministry of the word. Churches ordain deacons for this important work, just as Christ calls the church to engage in mercy, serving the least of these. This is a pu...

Ezekiel 34 speaks about a group of shepherds that were in charge of the congregation and who were doing a pretty bad job at shepherding. They were feeding themselves and hurting the sheep. God comes in and promises that he is going to remove those false shepherds, and he will replace them with shepherds after his own heart. God promises to restore shepherding care to his people. Elders are appoint...

Jesus was seen by his opponents as someone who was useless, to be thrown out like a piece of trash to be easily discarded. In the end they had him killed. Because of our own sin we, too, do not always value Jesus for who he is. In today’s passage Jesus demonstrates his great authority. He calls us to respond to that great authority by trusting in him as our great savior and making him the Lord of...

In Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives sits to the east, 300 feet higher than Jerusalem. For many years the glory of God had left the temple. Now with the coming of Jesus, the glory of God comes back down from the Mount of Olives and has returned once again to the temple. The question then comes, now that the glory has returned to the temple, how will we respond? Will we listen to Jesus’ command to hav...

When we see someone begging for money, it’s hard to know how best to help. It’s all too easy to judge them for their outward appearance and position in life. Yet when it comes down to it, we are all beggars, because we are in need of Christ’s mercy. We should get what we deserve, but Christ, in his great mercy, turns and calls sinners to himself. May we come to this merciful savior as he gently ca...

What does Christian obedience look like? Often we think it means keeping God’s laws of love towards neighbors, of not stealing or lying or committing adultery. It certainly includes those things, but in today’s message, Jesus calls a rich young man to radical obedience, to give up everything for the sake of following Christ. Above all Jesus was calling the man to a relationship with him. Our Lord...

Today the biblical institution of marriage is under attack. Many believe that while Paul might have forbidden unchaste relationships, Jesus was more accepting. Yet what does Jesus say? He grounds his teaching on marriage in creation itself. God’s design for marriage provides gospel hope in a world of broken relationships. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subsc...

If you have been baptized, how often do you think about your baptism and what it means? Baptism is God’s covenant promise to his own people. Back in Genesis 17, God first gave the covenant sign of circumcision to Abram’s family. The covenant promise begins with God’s initiative, but we also find a command to keep it and to do it. For us today that means we should live by the covenant promise and b...

There are many times in life when we feel weak, which can be a hard place to be. Others try to encourage us by calling for us to be strong, but the weaknesses can be so overwhelming. When the disciples are unable to heal a man’s son who was possessed by a demon, Jesus listens to the father’s story. Demonic forces often take weaknesses to exploit them. Yet even in weakness we can call out to Jesus...

In this part of the gospel of Mark, Jesus is transfigured before the eyes of his friends, Peter, James, and John. The shining face of Christ reflects several Old Testament passages; the Son of Man in the book of Daniel, the Beautific Vision of Moses in Exodus 33, and Elijah in 2 Kings. In this amazing story we see heaven breaking through and Jesus shining as God himself. Our calling is to listen t...

In today’s passage Jesus heals the blind man, but he doesn’t heal him all at once. At first, the man sees only partially, only when Jesus touches him again does he see things clearly. Why did Jesus heal him in two stages? It was meant to show us the type of faith that the disciples, and all of us, have. Peter confessed the true Messiah - that Jesus was the Christ. But the type of Messiah he was lo...

Earlier Jesus had fed 5000 people. Now he feeds 4000. Why would he do this again? I believe this is pointing us to the disciples’ lack of belief. Jesus not only provides for those normally outside of the faith, he warns those who are close to him but who don’t believe in him, and he provides hope and eternal life. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers o...