Pastor Sullivan's Blog

In the Name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. The final Sundays of the church year direct our thoughts to the end of all things and the return of our Lord Jesus Christ on the Last Day. In today’s Gospel lesson Jesus teaches His disciples about the fall of Jerusalem and the end of the world. He teaches them about both because they’ve asked about both. This chapter begins with Jesus saying of the Temple, “ Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down. ” His disciples ask Him, “ Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age? ” Jesus answers both of their questions, using the end of Jerusalem and its temple as a prototype for the end of the age, so that as it would go for Jerusalem so it would go for the entire world. And just as there was but one way of escape from Jerusalem’s judgment, so too at the end of the age there is but one way to escape...

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. In today’s Epistle lesson St. Paul summarizes the new life we have by faith in Christ. Through faith our sins are forgiven. God declares us righteous through faith apart from the works of the Law. Through faith in the promise of the Gospel God adopts us into His holy family, making us heirs of all His heavenly blessings. Because we are sons of God by adoption, we are brothers of Christ Jesus. Being brothers of Christ and co-heirs with Christ, we suffer in this life as He suffered in this life, knowing that if we suffer with Him, we will be glorified with Him at the consummation of all things. This new life of faith in Christ is beset by many challenges, one of which Christ warns us against in today’s Gospel lesson. There will be false prophets, preachers and interpreters of His Word, who intentionally, and most unintentionally, try to draw us away from the new life of faith. Paul begins by reminding us that ...