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Pastor David Reim

Christ, the Firstfruits, Is Risen!

“Now Christ has risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20).

Three important festivals came together at the time of the Passover, therefore also at the time of Jesus’ death and resurrection. All three have great significance for our salvation—significance that we do not want to miss.

Together they make up the season of liberation and salvation, showing how carefully God had planned and prepared every detail of our salvation. He pictured it for us 1500 years beforehand so that nothing would be left to chance.

The Passover

The first and most recognizable festival was the Passover itself. Just as the blood of the Passover lamb saved Israel from the plague of death which brought about their freedom from slavery in Egypt, so the blood of Christ, our Passover Lamb, saves us from death and frees us from slavery to sin and Satan.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread

The very next day the Feast of Unleavened Bread began. Israelites were required to remove all leaven from their homes for eight days. This feast was symbolic of how Christ has cleansed us from the leaven of sin.Read More »Christ, the Firstfruits, Is Risen!

Happy New Year!

Do you ever wonder what is so new about “New Year”?

Oh sure, we add another number to the counting of years. We will call it 2014 instead of 2013, but does that really make it new?

The world still has the same problems. Our flesh is still plagued with the same sins. A succession of broken resolutions reminds us that we haven’t really changed. We truly ought to have been consumed in God’s wrath long ago.

We remember that Achan was stoned to death because he coveted and took some of the plunder of Jericho for himself (Joshua 7). We think of the man who was stoned because he gathered sticks on the Sabbath Day to build a fire to cook the manna (Numbers 15). Remember how Ananias and Sapphira dropped dead because they lied to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5).

Are we any less sinful than they? Because of the many times we have sinned, shouldn’t we have been struck down with God’s righteous judgment? ABSOLUTELY!Read More »Happy New Year!

Using the Reformation

Using a gift is a fine way to express appreciation and gratitude.

The sixteenth century Lutheran Reformation was a great gift from God, for through it God restored to us His greatest gifts. Our full and free Salvation in and through Jesus Christ had been put on the shelf by the Roman Catholic Church, which then substituted works that man himself had to accomplish, and God’s undeserved Grace had been shelved in favor of the notion that God infuses grace into man, enabling people to do His will and thus supposedly merit eternal life.

Those precious gifts were all but lost because God’s Word had been put away on a shelf and all but forgotten, being replaced by the teachings of men.Read More »Using the Reformation

Gifts of the Spirit

“Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge throughRead More »Gifts of the Spirit

5. Of Repentance

75th Anniversary of the SMALCALD ARTICLES “…The Word of God shall establish articles of faith and no one else,
not even an angel.” (Luther, SA, Part II, Art. II)

“Now He commands all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30). Read More »5. Of Repentance

The Miracles of Christ

“…The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me” (John 10:25)

Jesus Heals the Man with an Unclean Spirit

23 Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, 24 saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!Read More »The Miracles of Christ

This We Believe

475th Anniversary of the SMALCALD ARTICLES

“…The Word of God shall establish articles of faith and no one else, not even an angel.” (Luther, SA, Part II, Art. II) 3.Of Cloisters/The Papacy

“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). There is only one way of salvation–justification by faith in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of sins. The Biblical teaching of justification by faith in Jesus Christ is like the bright beam of a lighthouse showing the way to God. The false teachings and practices within visible Christendom are like a thick smoke screen that obscures the light of the gospel and leads people to shipwreck on the rocks of work-righteousness.Read More »This We Believe

This We Believe

A Review of Dr. Martin Luther’s  Smalcald Articles

1. Of the Divine Majesty/Redemption/Salvation by Grace

When God’s Word is attacked, the salvation of souls is in jeopardy. For that reason, Christians must stand up and proclaim the truth of God’s Word boldly and clearly. We do that not only as a testimony to those who promote error but also for the sake of those who have been deceived and led astray by the error.Read More »This We Believe