SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT "Stand Firm in the Faith" - March 16, 2025 10:30AM

How’s your faith? Is it firm, steadfast, and strong? Or do you find that it seems to be growing weak, uncertain, or even in danger of disappearing at times? As we follow our Lord in this Lenten season, leading up to the distressing events of Holy Week, we are warned today that the same opposition, rejection, and betrayal faced by prophets like Jeremiah, and even Jesus, will also face us as His followers. What did He mean when He said, “You will be hated by all for My name’s sake”? (Luke 21:17). But rather than a dire prediction, Jesus said, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11–12). When challenges arise and temptations overwhelm, we are reminded to remember and observe examples of faith, such as the apostle Paul in his many struggles and even our Lord Himself whose faith and confidence in His Father’s gracious design made Him endure “the cross, despising the shame” with the prospect of His certain victory and eternal placement at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2). That certainty is ours. Faith hangs on to the promise “I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown” (Revelation 3:11). Or as Paul says, “Therefore, my brothers, . . .my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord” (Philippians 4:1). The cross has always been an offense. To this day, the same mystery stands: His royal throne is but a frightful cross of crucifixion—His kingdom hidden to the eyes. When confronted with the facts of God’s Word, many cannot see past this mystery. Yet it is the power of God’s Word that gives people the gift of faith and new eyes to see what was incomprehensible and secret now revealed by the Spirit of God. God’s truth is that in the death of Christ, redemption and forgiveness of sin now avails for the entire world. Sinners are delivered, justified before God by faith in the blood of Jesus shed on the cross and given the ability to repent and believe and become children of God for eternity. For sinful mankind, this life-giving truth is impossible to believe or understand. Only because of the mighty Word of God proclaimed to the world by His church and by the power of the Spirit is that otherwise mysterious Word actually easy and powerful to understand and to believe. Attendance: https://www.immanuelbrookfield.org/at... Online Offerings: https://www.immanuelbrookfield.org/give Immanuel Foundation: https://www.immanuelbrookfield.org/fo...