When we thank God for our food before a meal, we are right to do so. For He does provide our food, and He does so through vocation—regular people doing their everyday jobs. It’s Identity: You Serve Based on Who You Are Imagine you are a son, 14 years old, still living at home. […]
Solus Christus: Christ Alone
April 28, 2016 by
What is “Christ Alone”? Our only source of salvation is the life, death, and resurrection of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. Christianity is inclusive because Jesus died for the sins of the entire world; it is also exclusive, for only one way exists to God: Jesus (John 14:6.) “Salvation is found in no one else [Jesus], […]
Our Life with God, Lesson 4: Living with a Clean Conscience before God
April 24, 2016 by
Corresponding to this [God saving Noah and his family through the water], baptism now saves you, not by removing dirt from the flesh, but by the appeal of a clear conscience toward God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 3:21 Is a Clean Conscience Possible before God? The Christian’s way of life […]
Sola Gratia: Grace Alone
April 20, 2016 by
What is “Grace Alone”? At the center of what we believe is the teaching that salvation is an unearned gift of God’s grace. “By grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). […]
Action, Reaction… Overreaction?
April 20, 2016 by
This is our pastor’s newsletter article for May 2016 on the resurrection of the body. We speak of this reality: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. In Church history, however, this may be an understatement. For what happens if you define yourself by what you are not, instead of who you are? […]
Our Life with God, Lesson 3
April 17, 2016 by
Being More than Beggars, We also Join with the Saints and Angels in Eternity In our Christian lives, as we journey from the font to the grave, we walk before God the Father as beggars. But that isn’t the full story. We may be beggars, but we also associate with the holy angels! In Christ […]
Sola Fide: Faith Alone
April 17, 2016 by
What “Faith Alone” means “Faith alone” is a common phrase we Lutherans use. “Faith alone” means that we cannot save ourselves, which also means that our works don’t save us either. God is our Savior. So, how then does faith fit in? Faith is a gift, which God gives to someone in the ways He […]
Our Life with God, Lesson 2: Remaining Receivers… Beggars?
April 10, 2016 by
“We are beggars. That is true.” These were the last thoughts of Dr. Martin Luther on the day before he died. (Martin Luther, LW 54, 476) Unlike Kimberling City, beggars filled the streets of towns and cities in the ancient world and approached the people walking past them. Most of these beggars couldn’t work because […]
Our Life with God, Lesson 1: It Begins with Receiving
April 10, 2016 by
In 1 Corinthians 4:7, St. Paul confronted the Christian congregation at Corinth. Since they had the Holy Spirit, they thought they were in charge of their spiritual life—they were the owners, not the receivers. Paul wrote, “What do you have that you didn’t receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if […]
How Religious Are We as a People?
March 25, 2016 by
This is our pastor’s article for the April 2016 edition of our congregational newsletter. A year or so ago, my eyes took in a graph showing the “measure of aggregate religiosity” in the United States over the last 60 years. The chart displayed a whiz-bang of statistics, which used computer algorithms to track a […]
