God calls you salt and light. When he does that, he's doing 2 things. 1st, he is reminding who he has made you to be. You are already these things by the grace of Jesus. 2nd, he is reminding you of your calling. God has made YOU salt and light!

How does the way God speaks about us impact our self-talk? There might be times when God calls us to speak more kindly about ourselves. There might be other times in which we need to be reminded to speak more realistically about ourselves. Rule of thumb: Let's speak about ourselves the way God does!

God makes promises to his church. God does not lie. These are the two beautiful comforts we have going into Matthew 16:13-19. Why? Because Jesus makes 3 intensely important promises to his church as he speaks to his disciples.

Jesus' baptism is more than just a historical fact. It's more than a cool connection that you share with him. Jesus' baptism grants your baptism validity. It shows how our Savior placed himself under the expectations of God that he might meet all of them on your behalf. Now, when the Father looks at you, he calls you exactly what he called Jesus on the day he was baptized: "my beloved."

When the wise men visited Jesus, something unbelievable happened. God showed all of mankind that he didn't send his Son for a select few. He sent him for everyone. That means, through Jesus, God grants access to his limitless grace to everyone through his Word.

God sends his son so that he might expand his family. The work of Jesus makes you a child of God. Then, God sends his Holy Spirit to teach you, encourage you, equip you, and empower you to live as part of his family.

Why did God need to get so close to the human race? Why would he not have stayed in heaven on his throne where he belongs and hold to his perfect expectations? Why did God become flesh? To take away the sin of the world, God entered it and when he did so, he revealed his true glory.

Emmanuel literally means "God with us." That's what it took to pry mankind from the clutches of death and despair. It took God himself becoming a man so that he could set you free.

Jesus the Messiah is exactly who he is supposed to be. He's supposed to be more than a teacher and more than a moral model. He's supposed to be the promised Savior of the World.

The coming Savior is obsessed with one thing: calling sinners to himself. This is the very reason for his arrival. Since we have a Savior who has called us to faith, we carry with us his mandate to call others to him.