The simple words "Our Father" pack in a ton of comforting theology. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 120 Q. Why did Christ command us to call God “our Father”? A. At the very beginning of our prayer Christ wants to kindle in us what is basic to our prayer— the childlike awe and trust that God through Christ has become our Father. Our fathers do not refuse us the things of this life; God our Father will even less refuse to give us what we ask in faith. Summary We can't speak of God as our Father without mentioning the ḥěʹ·sěḏ love of God. Isaiah begins this beautiful passage on God's Fatherliness with a proclamation of the kindnesses (NIV; ESV - steadfast love) of the Lord. These English words are examples of how Old Testament word ḥěʹ·sěḏ is translated; they are words that describe the unfailing covenant love of God. This is the love that our Father has legally obligated Himself to in adopting us as His children. In just a few verses Isaiah summarizes the story of God's people. He chose them to be His own, and to make that happen, God Himself "became their Savior... In his love and mercy He redeemed them and carried them all the days of old. Yet they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit, so He turned and became their enemy and He Himself fought against them (v8-10). It would seem having the sovereign, omnipotent Lord God Almighty set against these people would be the end of the story, but it can't be. It's not possible, because of the legal obligation God voluntarily took upon Himself. He cannot, and will not ever abandon His covenant people. Sometimes God, like all fathers, must discipline his insubordinate children, but unlike many fathers, God's discipline is fully rooted and carried out in love. It's this ḥěʹ·sěḏ love that Isaiah appeals to: "Your tenderness and compassion are withheld from us, but you, LORD, are our Father, our Redeemer from old is your name (v15-16)." Every time you open your prayer to your Father in heaven, you are appealing to that same ḥěʹ·sěḏ love that Isaiah claimed. Dig Deeper You've likely heard God described as a 'father' so many times that you never think twice about it. But take a moment and realize what must be true in order for you to legitimately be able to address God as your Father. First of all, it's a recognition that you are created in His image. This is what the Bible means when it calls God's people sons of God: they look, talk, and act like He does. So make sure your conduct always properly reflects your Father. As Jesus commanded you, "Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48)." Second, realize the tremendous price God paid for you to be His child. Just as God the Father "became their Savior" when Israel needed to be set free from slavery in Egypt, Jesus the Son became your Savior by giving His life to set you free from the slavery to sin and make you a child of God. Finally, remember what the catechism says here every time you pray to your Father in heaven: "Our fathers do not refuse us the things of this life; God our Father will even less refuse to give us what we ask in faith." AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, our Redeemer from old is your Name (v16); ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you "will tell of the kindnesses (ḥěʹ·sěḏ love) of the Lord, the deeds for which He is to be praised (v7)." ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - John 21

gave us the second commandment, and reinforced that commandment with passages like Deuteronomy 4:15-19

It's not a coincidence that courtrooms & sanctuaries look so similar! Find out why. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 112 Q. What is God’s will for you in the ninth commandment? A. God’s will is that I never give false testimony against anyone, twist no one’s words, not gossip or slander, nor join in condemning anyone without a hearing or without a just cause. Rather, in court and everywhere else, I should avoid lying and deceit of every kind; these are devices the devil himself uses, and they would call down on me God’s intense anger. I should love the truth, speak it candidly, and openly acknowledge it. And I should do what I can to guard and advance my neighbor’s good name. Dig Deeper (you didn't read that wrong... our order is switched up today!) We're back to Deuteronomy again today, a book we've been in often as we dig into God's Law for our lives in this section of the Catechism. The Heidelberg Catechism is divided up into three sections, often referred to as the 3 G's: Guilt / Grace / Gratitude. As we go through the Law, we're in the Gratitude section, although the Law may often seem to us to fit better in the Guilt section, since through it we see how far from God's perfect righteousness our lives often are! But God's Law fits best in the Gratitude section, because that's how it's presented in the Bible. God does not give His Law to Israel as a condition for freeing them from Egypt, rather He gives it to define the covenantal relationship He's brought them into after graciously freeing them. Here's how one commentator describes this section of Deuteronomy: What follows is not a code of laws, but a pastoral address [from Moses] presenting a vision of covenant righteousness that is not legalistic; it is guided by Torah, but driven by the Spirit of God and arises from a grateful and compassionate heart. In this regard, this "vision of covenant righteousness" that you read about in Deuteronomy applies to you as a Christian whose been set free from slavery to sin in the same way it applied to the Israelites freed from slavery in Egypt, even if at certain points the particulars differ. Summary Courtrooms often have a church sanctuary type of feel to them. Both rooms often have similar architecture, often with deep wood tones. The one leading the proceedings sits slightly above the audience, which is often seated in pews. Both rooms are quiet, and a certain decorum is maintained. Certainly these similarities reflect the serious nature of the subject in both the court and church, but it also pays homage to the same Lord who is present in both settings (v17). Notice, though, that God does not act as the prosecutor, or sit in the judge's seat, or even pronounce the jury's verdict. Rather, God oversees justice using ordinary means: people He's authorized to "make a thorough investigation" into the matter at hand (v18). The judges, lawyers and jury are all doing the Lord's work! The whole system is predicated on honesty, but yet honesty is never assumed. Testimony must be corroborated, claims must be verified and accusations must be proven. Liars, false witnesses and perjurers are to be dealt with severely: the punishment that would apply to the accused if guilty must fall upon them so that when others hear about what happened, they'll be too terrified to lie in court if they every must take the stand. Moses tells them to "show no pity" in invoking the principle of lex talionis: "life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot (v21)." As a Christian, do whatever you need to do to "purge the evil from among you (v19)." The best way you can do that is to make sure you keep the 9th commandment and never bear false witness. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, the God of all justice; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray for the wisdom to be able to discern the truth, and the courage to always speak truthfully; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - John 7

feel pessimistic about the Church, but be encouraged by God's powerful, yet gentle whisper. 1 Kings 19

come to His table; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Luke 19

Ten commandments?? How about 10x10x10? Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 93 Q. How are these commandments divided? A. Into two tables. The first has four commandments, teaching us what our relation to God should be. The second has six commandments, teaching us what we owe our neighbor. Summary He started off so well. This rich young man asked Jesus the question that should be everyone's top priority: "what good thing must I do to be saved?" All of us - every person born since Adam - instinctively knows there's a relationship between salvation and doing good things. But this young man is smarter than most, for he can see that not everything that seems to be good actually is. He wants to focus his efforts on what really counts. Jesus didn't need to think about the question for too long. Although it's a profoundly important question to ask, it's not at all hard to answer: if you want salvation, perfectly follow the commands of the One who is good. Here's where things started to go off the rails for the young man. He asked Jesus, "Which ones?" It's moments like this that we really see the patience of our Savior. He would have been totally justified to burst out laughing at the glaring stupidity of the question, or even to have the young man instantly smote with fire from heaven for daring to suggest that some of God's commands are more important than others. But Jesus doesn't do what the rest of us would have done if we were in His position. Jesus continues to engage the man in conversation. Keep the second table of the law, Jesus tells the man. In other words, love your neighbor as yourself. At this, a smile likely came upon the young man's face. After all, he had certainly never murdered, committed adultery, stolen or lied. Or so he thought as he confidently reported this to Jesus, at the same time wondering if there was a detail or two Jesus could suggest he ought to add to the list, just to be really sure. Somehow the man missed the fact that Jesus had said nothing about the first table of the law: those first four commandments that teach us what our relationship ought to be with the One who said, "Be holy, because I am holy." Jesus goes on to tell the man that perfection requires much more than following ten commandments. After all, nowhere does the Bible command a person to give away all that he has. True godliness includes all of the implications of both tables of the law, whether they've been written down or not. Both this rich young man and the disciples are absolutely crushed by Jesus' answer. Who could possibly meet this exponential criteria for salvation? Dig Deeper We understand God's law to have three purposes: It shows us how sinful we are; It provides a general guide for how society should behave; It shows the saved how to live gratefully. The Heidelberg Catechism properly focuses on the third use of the law: gratitude. But don't forget that you will never really be truly grateful unless you first understand your guilt. This is why we read some portion of God's law in our worship services, so that we are regularly convicted by it; so that each week we're forced to ask with the disciples, "who then can be saved?" So when we hear Jesus answer, "with man, [salvation] is impossible, but with God all things are possible," we can look at these two tables of the law as a guide for grateful living in response to God's grace freeing us from our exponential guilt. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, the One who is good; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for His law, that we've met its conditions in Christ, and pray that we';; use His law as a guide for grateful living. ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - 1 Corinthians 16

Be careful before lobbing the phrase 'not fair' towards God. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 9 Q. But doesn’t God do us an injustice by requiring in his law what we are unable to do? A. No, God created humans with the ability to keep the law. They, however, tempted by the devil, in reckless disobedience, robbed themselves and all their descendants of these gifts. Summary Our opening verse today summarizes how the creation that God described seven times over as being good suddenly became entrenched in misery, murder and mayhem. Sin entered. One man - the man, Adam - missed the mark, and as a penalty incurred the penalty of death, just as God said it would. In that all of us trace our biological heritage to this one man, we not only inherited the sinful condition he introduced, but all we've been able to do in our own strength is to continue missing God's mark, often in increasingly vile ways. Adam was unique, not only because of his status as the first man, but also in that he represented all people. So his inability to keep God's simple command not only doomed him, but it "resulted in condemnation for all people (v18)." Dig Deeper We have a covenantal relationship with God. A covenant is a legal declaration, much like a contract. We enter into covenants all the time, both formally (an employment agreement, a mortgage, or a marriage) and informally (when you shove money into the machine and the car wash and then expect it to wash your car in return). A covenant boils down to the simple understanding that if I do this for you, you'll do that for me. God entered into a covenant with Adam, who represented all who would come after him. God gave Adam life, and in return, Adam must perfectly obey God. As long as Adam obeyed, life would continue. But Adam "broke the command (v14)," and so "judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation... [and] death reigned through that one man (v16-17)." The bad news is that you were born into the misery that Adam unleashed. Even if you somehow could perfectly keep God's law on your own (which you can't), you would still be condemned because of your representative's failure. Before you cry out 'not fair,' consider the awesome good news today's passage describes. What you need more than anything else is a new covenant representative, and that's exactly what the gospel announces. Adam was "a pattern of the one to come (v14)." All who remain in him will die, but God sent a new Adam, one born of a woman, but yet not descended from the original Adam. This new Adam, Jesus Christ, perfectly kept God's covenantal obligations, and thereby earned eternal life for all who are in Him. Know that because you belong in body and soul, in life and in death, to your faithful Savior Jesus Christ, you have a faithful and perfect representative before God. It's through "the obedience of the one man [Jesus] the many [including you] will be made righteous (v19)." AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our God and covenant Father ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for the "gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ," which has overflowed to you (v15). ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Mark 15

How often do you give thanks for what God has given you? Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 86 Q. We have been delivered from our misery by God’s grace alone through Christ and not because we have earned it: why then must we still do good? A. To be sure, Christ has redeemed us by his blood. But we do good because Christ by his Spirit is also renewing us to be like himself, so that in all our living we may show that we are thankful to God for all he has done for us, and so that he may be praised through us. And we do good so that we may be assured of our faith by its fruits, and so that by our godly living our neighbors may be won over to Christ. Summary During Jesus’ travels between Samaria and Galilee he came across a group of ten lepers. The lepers mentioned in Luke 17 are individuals who had contracted leprosy, a rash like skin disease. In addition to the medical concerns affiliated with leprosy, according to the ceremonial law, this made one unclean. Included amongst the consequences of being considered unclean under the ceremonial law was being unable to enter God’s sanctuary and not being allowed around other people who were ceremonially clean, including one’s own family members. For this reason, groups of lepers were known to congregate together, forming a sense of community amongst those who had been cast out of society on account of their skin condition. The rules regarding distancing oneself from those considered ceremonially clean likely explains why the ten lepers yelled toward Jesus instead of approaching him with their request for healing. Fortunately for this group of lepers, the distance between them and Jesus was not an issue, as Jesus offers healing. The command to “go and show yourselves to the priests” carries the implication that by the time they reach the priests, the lepers would be healed. Among the other duties of a priest, it was also their responsibility to verify that those who had an ailment considered unclean, like leprosy, had indeed been healed before they could be declared ceremonially clean. Understanding Jesus’ instruction for what it was, each of the ten obeyed and were healed along the way. However, only one returned to Jesus to give his thanks. Dig Deeper Kate and I (Pastor Alan) have been married for 13 years, which hopefully makes it safe to admit that my least favorite part of the wedding was writing thank you notes afterwards. Part of my struggle was in trying to avoid having them all sound the same, that and the occasional hand cramp. Despite our family and friends knowing that we were grateful for them, we still made sure to write out thank you notes because actions matter. This can be seen in the parable of the ten lepers. While it is likely that all ten lepers felt thankful that Jesus had healed them, only one cared enough to return to Jesus to express his gratitude. Jesus’ rebuke of the other nine shows that he expected more than feelings of gratitude, he expected them to return and express their thankfulness as the Samaritan had done. When it comes to the grace of Jesus and other blessings bestowed upon us by God, his expectation is likewise more than feelings of gratitude. Our gratitude is meant to lead us to action. The good works that we do in the name of Jesus are not a means of earning God’s favor. Instead, these works are a way for us to express our thankfulness to God for what has already been done on our behalf. Which of these lepers’ example have you been following - the nine who were healed and went about their lives, or the one, who upon being healed, took action to show his gratitude to Jesus for what he had done for him? AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who takes pity on His children and heals our diseases; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Ask God to help you make gratitude the primary motivation in your life; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - 1 Corinthians 5

If you feel different than the world around you, realize it's because your head is wet. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 74 Q. Should infants, too, be baptized? A. Yes. Infants as well as adults are in God’s covenant and are his people. They, no less than adults, are promised the forgiveness of sin through Christ’s blood and the Holy Spirit who produces faith. Therefore, by baptism, the mark of the covenant, infants should be received into the Christian church and should be distinguished from the children of unbelievers. This was done in the Old Testament by circumcision, which was replaced in the New Testament by baptism. Summary The grand finale of God freeing His people from their slavery in Egypt was Israel passing through the Red Sea on dry ground. Centuries later, the Apostle Paul would come to understand that this tremendous miracle was a type of national baptism, that as God's people passed through the sea, they came to belong to Him (1 Corinthians 10:1-2). Indeed God understood it this way as well, telling Moses that He had carried His people on eagles' wings and brought them to Himself. Now, at the foot of Mt. Sinai, God once again establishes His covenant with His people: they will be his treasured possession and a holy nation (a people separate from all others). But remember, a covenant is a solemn agreement between two parties based on a contingency. There's a big 'ol if in God's words to Moses: He says they will be a holy nation if they "fully obey me and keep my covenant." In the next chapter, Exodus 20, God expresses these covenantal stipulations in 10 categories we often refer to as the ten commandments, and then much of what follows in the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) give laws and regulations that seem really strange to us. Well, they seemed really strange to the Israelites as well, and by design. One of the key purposes in all of those Old Testament laws was to make God's people look really different than the nations who lived around them. Dig Deeper Today we're focusing on one of the key reasons we baptize the children of believers in Reformed churches is to distinguish them from the children of unbelievers. We understand that these are covenant children, and that the same promises the God made to the Israelites in the desert thousands of years ago now apply to them - only now the contingency (the 'if' part) has been fulfilled by Christ. This means that we must raise our children differently than the world does, and that they from the moment they are received into God's covenant family must live holy lives - that is, lives that are separate from the world. Thankfully on this side of the cross, we no longer need to abide by strange dietary regulations or participate in all sorts of ritualistic ceremonies as we worship. Nor does being a holy nation mean that we ignore the rest of the world, and we must also realize the word nation here has nothing to do with a particular country or geographic borders. But we give our children the mark of the covenant, just as God has always commanded His covenant people to mark & distinguish their children. Just as the prince of England is treated as royalty from the moment he's born, so to must we treat our children as princes and princesses of the King, separated from the sinful world by His grace. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who carries His covenant children on eagles' wings; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for including you in His covenant promises, that Christ fulfilled your obligation, and pray that you would live as the holy person (saint) that you've been declared to be; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Luke 8

When your focus is Christ, life is a gift, but so is death. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 42 Q. Since Christ has died for us, why do we still have to die? A. Our death does not pay the debt of our sins. Rather, it puts an end to our sinning and is our entrance into eternal life. Summary Paul’s words for the Philippians express how Christ is his reason for being. For as long as Paul is breathing, he will live in service to Christ’s message, values, and mission. The words that tend to raise eyebrows are what follows: “to die is gain”. To die is to lose one’s life, so how can that be to gain? The gain to which Paul is speaking is not the loss of life, but what comes after this life: to be with Christ. Paul is wrestling with these two realities. On one hand, Paul desires to be with Christ, yet he recognizes what is left to be done on earth. Remaining in the flesh, in his physical body, Paul can continue his ministry, sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ so that more might hear and believe. Although his desire was to be with Christ, Paul recognized what still lay before him. Paul believed that his work was not complete, that his remaining in the flesh was necessary for the sake of the church in Philippi. However, Paul was not in control of his fate. Paul was writing during his time of imprisonment for Christ. While he expected to be released, this outcome was not a certainty. Regardless of what Paul’s individual fate may be, his desire was to see Christ honored. Being convinced that God had more for him to do in the Philippian church, Paul believed he would be freed. However, if the outcome of the trial turned out to be unfavorable, Paul was not in fear of death. For while there was more to do in his body, Paul was confident that even if his life was taken from him, he would not be worse off, since dying meant to be with Christ. Dig Deeper One of the most common fears is the fear of death. Arguably even more prevalent is the fear of a loved one dying. I have lost track of how many movie villains are the product of a misguided effort to thwart death. Perhaps this villain backstory is reused so often because it makes the “bad guy” relatable. The fear of death, or at least the desire to save others from it is understandable. Yet I can’t help but be reminded of the words of a fellow minister, who stated that “sometimes death comes as a friend in the night." If you have ever seen a loved one suffer in the last days of life, these are words you understand well. As much as we cling to this life, there is something greater in store in the life to come. This life, marred by suffering and sin, cannot compare to the eternal life that awaits. This life is precious, each breath a gift from God. Like Paul, find God’s purpose for your time on earth. And when the day comes where Jesus calls you home, fear not, because to die is gain for on that day you go to be with Christ. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who in His perfect will determines how long we live and when to call us home; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you live in such a way that confirms the words that to live is Christ and to die is gain. ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Matthew 10