Faith Comes By Hearing

1 Thessalonians 4 shows that the “end times” readings aren’t something to dread. For the battle-weary church, God's Word bring real encouragement. In a world that looks for hope in elections, entertainment and people, listeners are pointed to the sure and certain hope that comes only from the risen Christ, who meets us in Word and Sacrament and will never forsake His promises.Information about The American Association of Lutheran Churches (TAALC) can be found at www.taalc.org

John’s vision in Revelation 7 shows a great multitude no one could number, standing before the throne in robes washed white in the blood of the Lamb. Dr. Larson draws a clear difference between the world’s idea of a saint, someone admired for their own good character, and the Bible’s teaching that sainthood is a gift won by Christ’s suffering, death, and shed blood. Information about The American Association of Lutheran Churches (TAALC) can be found at www.taalc.org

In this episode of Faith Comes by Hearing, Dr. Larson explores the Lutheran doctrine of the Two Kingdoms, explaining that Christians live as dual citizens—members of both the earthly kingdom of government, vocations, and ordered society, and the spiritual kingdom of the Word, forgiveness, and the Gospel. Believers have the joy to serve faithfully in the world as ambassadors of Christ while keeping their ultimate citizenship in heaven and refusing to separate Sunday faith from everyday life.Information about The American Association of Lutheran Churches (TAALC) can be found at www.taalc.org

1 Corinthians 1:10–18 urges the church to be united in mind and judgment rather than divided by loyalty to pastors or parties. He defines the church not by its building or programs but by the gathering of God’s people around the Word and the Sacraments, confessed clearly through Scripture.  Information about The American Association of Lutheran Churches (TAALC) can be found at www.taalc.org

St. Paul is writing from prison to a beloved church beginning to crack. He addresses selfish ambition and empty glory not with a new demand but with a reminder of what has already been given: encouragement in Christ, comfort in love, and a shared life in the Spirit. For every Christian, it is an invitation to the freedom of true humility, grounded in the mind of Christ, who counted our interests above His own.Information about The American Association of Lutheran Churches (TAALC) can be found at www.taalc.org

Death will come for every one of us, and the question that follows is as old as the grave itself: what happens then? Pastors hear it often because the heart cannot leave it alone. The world offers guesses, speculations and myth; Scripture offers a promise. In this episode, Dr. Larson traces the sure and certain word of Christ Jesus so that those who believe in His name may face that hour with confidence faith knowing the best is yet to come.Information about The American Association of Lutheran Churches (TAALC) can be found at www.taalc.org

God calls His people to refuse bitterness, flattery, and retaliation even when the world answers good with evil. This is not mere moral advice from the Scriptures but the shape of life that flows from Christ Jesus Himself, who embodied non-retaliation all the way to Calvary's Cross and rose again, so that those who lose their life for His sake find it in the One who repaid our evil with with His redemption.Information about The American Association of Lutheran Churches (TAALC) can be found at www.taalc.org

In this sequel addressing the theology that the Christian is at the same time Saint and Sinner, Dr. Larson describes the Christian’s lifelong battle with the old Adam- the flesh. The Christian needs to move from self-improvement plans to relying on the promises of Baptism, the work of the Holy Spirit, daily repentance, and Christ Jesus' atoning sacrifice on Calvary's cross.Information about The American Association of Lutheran Churches (TAALC) can be found at www.taalc.org

In this episode of Faith Comes by Hearing, Dr. Cary Larson contrasts the popular but false “theology of glory," the idea that faithful living obligates God to bless us with success and ease—with the true theology of the cross revealed in Scripture. God meets us not in our achievements but in suffering, Word, and Sacrament and rejecting self-focused religion and trusting the crucified and risen Lord Christ Jesus, who never leaves or forsakes His people.Information about The American Association of Lutheran Churches (TAALC) can be found at www.taalc.org

1 Peter 2:9–25 proclaims that every believer is part of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation—set apart not by personal perfection but by being clothed in Christ through baptism. The clear teaching of Scripture, distinguishes the priesthood of all believers from the pastoral office of Word and Sacrament, calls us to live as free people who proclaim Christ’s excellencies without fear of death, and roots everything in the Great Commission.Information about The American Association of Lutheran Churches (TAALC) can be found at www.taalc.org