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“A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm… [This] show[s] you how a king may go... through the guts of a beggar” (Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 3). Shakespeare has Hamlet say this to illustrate how death is an equalizer among men. Death comes to all, deny it as you might – repent and prepare before it comes to you, or before our Lord’s return, whichever comes first.

God has given us the New Testament to bring us to faith in Christ, and then to teach Christ’s disciples about life in His Kingdom. We are Christ’s disciples because we have been baptized into His Kingdom, and we remain His disciples throughout our lives by continuing to hear Christ’s Word and receive His sacraments for the forgiveness of our sins and the strengthening of our faith in Him. As His disciples, we have received the gracious promise from Jesus, “Behold, I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20), so we can confess, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling” (Psalm 46:13). Come what may, we have nothing to fear. But as sinners, we do fear the changes and challenges of life, and we lose hope, just as the earliest disciples did in Matthew 8:23-27.

The events of the story of Naaman and Elisha recorded in 2 Kings 5:1-15 occurred in around 850 or 840 BC, over 2800 years ago. At that time, Israel was in conflict with Syria, located north and east of Israel. Just a few years before this story, the king of Israel had lost his own father to the Syrians, so there was bad blood between these two countries. Syria had raided Israel and even taken some Israelites into captivity.

At the Wedding at Cana (John 2:1-11), they had butchered the fattened calf and purchased the best wine they could for their many guests. But they had miscalculated. Mary says that they were running low on wine. And that’s a surefire way to ruin a party.

The Texas Railroad Commission has suspended nearly two dozen permits that allow oil and gas companies to inject saltwater into the ground, which regulators say has contributed to increased earthquakes of greater magnitude in West Texas.

In the Christian church year, the first Sunday after Epiphany celebrates the Baptism of Jesus as recorded in Matthew 3:13-17.