Churches in Decatur

“We can start looking inward and asking, am I doing enough? Am I strong enough? Is my faith strong enough? Am I even a Christian? But faith doesn't rest on the strength of the person. Faith rests on the blood of Christ. So faith is not an achievement. It is a gift from our lord, a revealing of the son to us. And so we, like Peter, have had the son revealed to us by the father through baptism, through the preaching of the word, through the lord's supper, and so on. And yet, sometimes we speak as though believing is the last step in some sort of a long intellectual exercise. But Jesus says otherwise. Faith is first and foremost a gift before it is ever our response. The father reveals his son through his word, and thanks be to god for these things.”

“If our faith is based on our own achievements, we will begin to wonder whether our faith is failing when we eventually sin. Faith then is no longer a gift of comfort, but it becomes an ever present burden upon the conscience that can never be satisfied by ourselves. And that is a dangerous place to find ourselves because it moves the object of our faith from Christ and his cross to ourselves. We can start looking inward and asking, am I doing enough? Am I strong enough? Is my faith strong enough? Am I even a Christian? But faith doesn't rest on the strength of the person. Faith rests on the blood of Christ. So faith is not an achievement. It is a gift from our lord, a revealing of the son to us.”

“His church is advancing. The gospel is pressing into territory that Satan claims for himself. Think about where Christ sends his church to preach and give his gifts one at the cross. He sends these things into hospitals where death seems to have the final word, into nursing homes where memories may begin to fade, but baptismal identity doesn't. He sends his church into prisons, broken marriages, cemeteries, guilt. And wherever the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed, Satan has no foundation to stand upon.”