In Romans 14, Paul confronts how easily Christians can be divided over matters which are neither commanded nor forbidden by God (aka adiaphora). The adiaphora threatening to divide the Church was how Jewish and Gentile Christians deal with the practices and traditions of the Old Testament in the New Testament Church.

Emotions can run deep when it comes to evaluating one's personal practices and insensitivity is common among those who don't seek to understand another's perspective but choose to judge. This is especially true of Christians when it comes to matters to which God's Word is silent.

Paul encourages his brothers and sisters in Christ to recognize that our real responsibility is to live not for what is no longer important in the sight of God but for Him who died and rose again for us.

Anarchy and totalitarianism arise from idolatry, but God’s gift authority gives us purpose and protection in life, along with the opportunity for true greatness

Bethlehem Lutheran Church

What does it mean to live out of love rather than fear, and what difference does it make?

Bethlehem Lutheran Church

For several Sundays in our Gospel, we have heard about Jesus’ great miracles, namely, the feeding of the five thousand, walking on water, and healing the Canaanite woman’s daughter.

Like the disciples who experienced these things firsthand, by our hearing the Gospel, the Holy Spirit enables us also to confess Jesus as the Christ.

This confession is powerful, and with it the Church will not be overcome by its enemies but will prevail. Together we rejoice that our faith is built on the solid rock of Christ and boldly confess that to others.

Bethlehem Lutheran Church

The faith of the Canaanite woman gives us another example of the benefit of letting Jesus be God. It turns out, He’s actually really good at it!

Bethlehem Lutheran Church

God has the perfect power, wisdom, and authority to effectively govern all things. We don’t, which is humbling, but those who would harm us don’t either, which is a great comfort.