Several years ago, I baptized a baby boy in our church. Later, at the baptism party at the parents’ home, I was introduced to the baby’s grandfather, who is a Lutheran pastor and missed his grandson’s baptism because he was preaching that morning. He shook my hand and asked me one question.

“Did you get the boy wet?”

You will all be failures in 2020.

Isn’t that a cheery statement to hear from the pulpit to begin the New Year?!

But it’s true, isn’t it? We don’t need prophets or prognosticators to reveal this to us. Just stand in front of the mirror. Is the image staring back at you the same image that’s always been there?

New year, same you. The same you that’s failed in big and small ways, your entire life.

Galatians 4:4-7 is one of the great texts of the Bible. It teaches the incarnation of Christ, the two natures of Jesus as God and Man, and that through Jesus as the Son of God and Son of Man, we are made heirs of the heavenly Father.

These four verses are used in our Lutheran Catechism to teach to our youth and adult confirmands why Jesus had to be true God and true Man. I’m sure your pastor drilled the meaning of these verses into you in Catechism class.

It is common to be given a nickname when you are in college or the military. Think about some of the nicknames of your college friends or military buddies. Do you remember why those names were given?

My college friends had nicknames like Max, Zod, Wierval and Digger. Mine was simply Z. Max was from the movie Max Duggan. Zod was from Superman II. Digger was the cute little mole character on Shirt Tales. Wierval was some weird mash-up of last names given by upper classmen. Mine is pretty easy to figure out.

We still call each other these names decades later.

Over the years, I have talked to lots of pastors and people about the benefits and blessings of celebrating the Lord’s Supper every Sunday. I tell people that at Epiphany we celebrate communion not just on Sundays, but also festival services like Epiphany, Ascension, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.

At one point I was asked why we receive the Lord’s Supper on Christmas morning This dear person felt it was a little strange for a service celebrating the birth of Jesus to transition into receiving this baby’s body and blood. And I get it — the juxtaposition is a bit jarring.

After Charlie and Jenny were married, they were blessed with two children. But several months into Jenny’s third pregnancy, she suffered a miscarriage. Charlie and Jenny were devastated.

It took them a long time to recover and feel passionate towards each other again. Finally, God blessed them with another child. But there were complications during the pregnancy and their son was born with serious health and mental disabilities.

For the sake of a wager, God allowed Satan to have his way with his servant Job. Satan could do anything to him short of killing him. So, he did.

Job’s children were enjoying each other’s company. The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing. The shepherds were herding the sheep. The camels were doing whatever camels do. The servants were taking care of business.

Just over 3 months ago, it was reported that a woman from southern India had given birth to her first children: twin girls. They will almost certainly be her only children since her age was also reported: she is 74 years old. She had become pregnant through in vitro fertilization. When the twins were born, her husband said: “We are the happiest couple on Earth today. We have our own children.” That’s quite a remarkable, isn’t it?! A woman 74 years old gave birth to twins! The USA Today headline reporting this read: “A 74 year old woman reportedly gave birth to twins, may be the oldest to ever give birth.”

King Nebuchadnezzar is living the Babylonian dream. He has become the man, the myth, the legend. He has everything anyone might desire. He is a gifted and ambitious ruler. He is at the peak of his greatness with his empire extending to present-day Turkey to the east, present-day Syria to the north and even controlling Egypt to the south. He looks out from his palace terrace to see the Hanging Gardens of Babylon – considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Nebuchadnezzar is a rock star, business CEO, international celebrity, military general and popular royalty all rolled into one.

The story of Rahab is a story of judgment.

Rahab knew judgment was coming. All the citizens of Jericho knew, too. They heard what the God of the Israelites had done to the Egyptians with the plagues and drowned the Egyptian Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea. They heard how the Israelites, newly escaped from Egypt, overwhelmed the nomadic Amalekites with Joshua and Aaron holding up Moses’ arms during the battle (Exodus 17:8-16). They heard how the Israelites had defeated the Midianites with one thousand soldiers from each of Israel’s ten tribes (Numbers 31:1-8). They heard about the Israelites defeating the Amorite kings Sihon and Og (Deuteronomy 2-3).