David Bahn - Reflections

Perhaps you can identify with one of the biblical terms Paul uses here: weak, discouraged, or fainthearted . If so, hear these words from God for you: Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.  (1 The...

Diane and I sit in the pew now on Sunday mornings, and I want to go on record expressing my appreciation for my brother pastors and all brother and sister church leaders. Theirs is a vitally-important task. As Paul says here, we are "to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work." I thank God for Mar...

Some people seek to comfort themselves with the idea that "God needed another angel," so he took their loved one. Others think they can talk with their departed loved one and that he or she is looking down from above upon them. There is no biblical basis for these sentiments. Rather than thinking of Jesus' Second Coming as an add-on to our faith, what about making it part of our hope? In other wor...

Paul says here that we are children of the light and not of the darkness. We who follow the true light who has come into the world (cf. John 1:9), are called to stay in the light. We are called to live as though people can see what we are doing and give glory to our Father in heaven. We who are of the light must live as though we are in the light. Awake. Honorable. Decent. Faithful. I'm all too aw...

It's been so long since Jesus promised his return, so long since Paul wrote to the Thessalonians. It's easy for me to put it in the back of my mind. It's easy for me not to think of it. Until I'm struggling with earthly woes and challenges; then I'm praying that prayer! When I don't want to face the suffering, when I'm feeling inadequate to the challenges before me, I'm ready to pray, Come, Lord J...

“Christ died for us so that, whether we are dead or alive when he returns, we can live with him forever,” Paul says. This is his gift. This is our joy. He is totally dedicated to getting us there. Sometimes he must raise the level of challenge. Sometimes he must pour on us the balm of Gilead. Always he is working for our eternal good, and he wants us to live in light of that eternal grace, and enc...

THE END has not yet come...or at least it hasn't come if you are in fact reading this now. Paul has just laid out the calling to love sincerely, speak truthfully, and serve faithfully. Now he says, say awake the whole while. Don't go to sleep at the wheel. The End will come. We wait for it not in a sad attitude of fatalism, but wide awake with anticipation and hope. We wait for it anticipating a g...

One day Jesus will return, with all his angels. The "cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God" signals his return in victory over all the forces of evil. Immorality will see it's sad, sad end. Slavery of every kind will be abolished. Forgotten and ill-treated will be restored. Those who suffer will be comforted. Those who have held true to the faith...

We may face fears as well. Who gets in? How will I survive the Last Day if I'm still alive? How will I die? How will I make it through this valley of the shadow of death that I'm walking because of the loss of my spouse? How will I ever be forgiven for succumbing to temptation? These are all real fears. But Jesus has promised to be with us through them all. He died for our sins. He was raised for...

Truth be told: death hurts. Truth be told: death does not have the final say. Truth be told, we'll likely need to relearn this again and again until we are with Jesus and all the saints. Truth be told: Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted (Matthew 5:4). Truth be told, Jesus will never break that promise.

Paul urges us to comfort one another with these words. Sometimes we may wonder whether or not we will make it into the presence of God almighty. We may carry great loads of guilt over past sins. We may struggle against formidable temptations as we seek to live faithfully under Christ in his kingdom. We may wonder whether we're worthy of joining all the saints. Recently a friend forwarded a link to...

We don’t live with the same sense of the imminent return of Jesus. It’s been so long now, many of us can’t imagine it being that close. This afternoon at 3:24? Next Friday at 1:00 AM? Whenever it will be I want to be ready. I take comfort that I don’t need to imagine it all. I just need to believe in Jesus. And I do.

Jesus calls us to abstain from sexual immorality, love one another near and far, and to live quiet, respectful, and productive lives. Such lives would stand out against the ways of the world in Paul's day. They would make us stand out today as well. Jesus has saved us so that we can stand out, and by such a life gain a hearing by others. What might we tell them? That God is love. That he has saved...

Our lives as followers of Jesus is to be different, but not merely otherworldly. We are to be good citizens. We are to add value to our neighborhoods. We are to bless our friends. We are to attach our hearts to the hope of the life of the world to come. But this is not to be at the expense of living life fully engaged in this world. It doesn't have to be heroic. But we are called to be faithful in...

If we are doing what God calls us to do we will live differently from the world. Our love will look different. We will refrain from sexual sins. And for that we may be ridiculed. Others may take advantage of us. In those moments we may be reminded of Jesus' life, suffering, and death. And when we encounter people who are not living in that way, we can point them to Jesus, his love, sacrifice, resu...

You are not called to do or don't so that you're good enough to be saved. You're not. Neither am I. But God is gracious enough to save us. And he has. Jesus has come, forgiven our sins, and promised us eternal life. When we sin we repent. But we live this kind of life so that..."people who are not believers will respect the way you live." We do that so that we might gain the opportunity to share t...

This message, based on the Prodigal Son parable on Sunday, September 18, 2022 at Fishers of Men Lutheran Church, Port Isabel, TX May God bless the sharing of his word!

Paul speaks of his friends in the faith as well as partners in ministry. They are precious to him and he hopes he is precious to them. They build each other up in the faith and bring great joy. The same is true for me. Friends in the faith are the silver and gold of human relationships. They are a delightful blessing for with we can thank God: in the middle of the night, and in this very mome...

As Paul writes here I can see two things he wishes for the people of Thessalonica. He prays that their love for one another and for all people would grow and overflow , and that their hearts would be strong, blameless, and holy . Those are worthy gap fillers. They are filled by embracing God's love and grace, holding to his truth, and daily repenting of our sins and renewing our faith in Jesus.

Suffering is inevitable. Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble." But he also said, "Rejoice, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). This is our hope in the face of the inevitable troubles we must all face. Thank God for those who do not give the false-hope of a troubleless life, and for those who are willing to stand with us in the face of those inevitable troubles. They may be inevit...

The devil is a clear and present danger to our faith. He is the thief who wants to steal, kill, and destroy. Our prideful idea that we must take care of all things, never leaning on others, or asking for help, or sending others into the fray is also a clear and present danger. Sometimes people fall prey to that idea, thinking that only the pastor can provide spiritual care. They forfeit the prayer...

If you believe you must live a perfect life in order to be saved, you will soon end up living a hypocritical life to cover your sin. But you can never hide from God. If you believe that God welcomes sinners, receives us when we fail, or even betray our faith, you will find great comfort in God's mercy and steadfast love. What do you believe? Do you believe in the forgiveness of sins? Do you believ...

Ephesians 4:11-16 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed...

Gathering for worship is so important. You can relate to people in all three levels: as neighbors, friends, and as close friends. God's gift of the Lord's Supper is a further extension of this, for in that we experience a deep intimacy with Jesus and all the company of heaven, together with all the saints who join us at the communion rail. Sometimes we must resort to some sort of virtual experienc...

Perhaps you can identify with being cared for and valued as a child of God. A dedicated servant of God has expressed love and encouragement to you. You have been in the prayers of a prayer warrior. Someone who is a follower of Jesus has visited you, offering God's word of grace and truth. That's where you can be in this picture of Christian love and concern. May it never be that we are in the grou...