Today’s Gospel lesson shows us Jesus’ baptism according to St. Matthew’s account. We need to understand the distinction between John’s baptism and Christian Baptism. But we also must understand why it is that John initially refuses to do so. Finally, we need to ask ourselves what the significance of this text is. It’s kind of easy to gloss over certain accounts and miss the point. This text might be one of them, but it should not be! This Gospel is a powerful witness to the access we have to God through Christ Jesus our Lord. And Satan absolutely hates hearing it. Listen as Elder Wes Keene preaches this week’s sermon at TRC Chattanooga.

Isaiah 42:4 is part of the “Suffering Servant” passages. In it, we learn that Jesus will not be discouraged (or perhaps crushed) until he has established justice in the earth. This means we need to understand the sort of justice Jesus is establishing here. It’s controversial and misunderstandings abound. But it also imposes an obligation on us. Using Christ as our example, it means we also ought not be discouraged. We are in a spiritual war, and we must not shrink back from our calling. Listen as Elder Wes Keene delivers this week’s exhortation as TRC Chattanooga.

The old Christian hymn - We Three Kings Of Orient Are - reminds us of the great tradition of Christian interpretation surrounding the wise men and how it came to be that they knew to look for a star of Israel that would mark the coming of their Messiah and King. These royal travelers from the East came bearing royal gifts from afar and when they found baby King Jesus, they fell down and worshipped him. Listen as Elder Glenn Jones recounts the story of the wise men and how it ties the threads of Matthew's Gospel together in all its glory, teaching all of us how we should come before Jesus for worship every Lord's Day.

January marks the beginning of 2026 and with it comes new goals and expectations for the twelve months ahead. Many Christians make plans every year to read their Bibles and this year should be no different. Listen as Elder Glenn Jones exhorts the congregation of TRC Chattanooga to take up and read the Word of God every day, making it the habit of their lives.

St. John begins his Gospel with a prologue. Riding on top of, and magnifying, themes found in his Gospel, this prologue makes devestating points against the Hellenistic world. The Word was in the beginning, and he was with God. We also learn that the Word tabernacled among us. But what does all of it mean? If the Word/Logos is something foundational to all of existence, understanding that the same Word came and dwelled among us is critically important. But the real center of John’s prologue is in verse 12. We need to know the rights we have been given by God. Listen as Elder Wes Keene explains how John structured his prologue and what it means to us in this week’s sermon at TRC Chattanooga.

St. Paul tells us in Galatians 4 that we are no longer slaves but sons. That is very good news indeed. But there must be more to the story, because everywhere Paul refers to himself as a slave, or a servant. By examining other writings from Paul, we begin to get a clearer sense of how exactly Jesus Christ has saved us, and we can make sense of Paul’s good news in Galatians 4:7. We are free. We are free to live as sons of God. Listen as Elder Wes Keene delivers this week’s exhortation at TRC Chattanooga.

Isaiah prophesied about the coming birth of Christ long before it actually happened. Then when it did happen, Matthew's Gospel referenced Isaiah's writing. For about 2,000 years, we were all pretty happy with that explanation. Until some historical critical theologians got ahold of it and made a mess of things. What should we know about the prophecy concerning Jesus Christ's incarnation? Listen as Rev. David Beckmann preaches at TRC Chattanooga.