First Lutheran Church • 18 Pentecost • Sunday, October 12, 2025

Devotional

Sermon Summary

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

``The reason that we are here today in this congregation singing these songs, reading this scripture, sharing this meal, is because a descendant of King David was raised from the dead. The promises of the Hebrew scripture that a Messiah would come and save people from sin. Those promises were fulfilled in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. [00:20:24] (22 seconds)  #JesusOurTrueNorth

Jesus is our North Star. Jesus is why this place exists. He is the one we are following. And at church we need to be careful to stay focused on the main thing and not all the other things that church can become about that distract us from what is most important. Our primary is Jesus. [00:20:46] (23 seconds)  #EndureForSalvation

That those who have died with Jesus in baptism will also live with him in heaven. That those who endured in the faith will also reign with Jesus. This is our gospel. This is Our hope. We are Jesus people. We have hitched our wagons to him to go where he goes, because we believe that he was raised from the dead and not only knows the way back to the Father, but also has the power to take us there, to bring us back home to be with God. [00:22:08] (36 seconds)  #AvoidFoolishArguments

The reason? Our obedience to the commands of God? Matter is not about our salvation. It's about the salvation of others. We do not belong to ourselves. Our ethic is not like the world's ethic that says you, do you. Our freedom in Christ is not to be exploited for our own benefit. It is to be used to help others come to know Jesus so they can be saved. [00:27:26] (28 seconds)  #BelongToJesusAndNeighbor

The good news is that God is the one who is doing this work of salvation, and he is doing it through us and in us. Paul ends this part of the instruction with a reminder that God's foundation remains firm. We may have influence, but we are not so powerful as to undo what God has done in someone's life. [00:29:01] (24 seconds)  #CalledToDailyReform

And then our faith is secure because it is laid on the foundation of God, the perfect God, who never fails us, who never lets us down. The foundation of God is secure because the Lord knows who are his. And our assurance of salvation comes not from our teachers and pastors and mentors, but comes from Jesus, who is faithful to us, even if we are faithless and then God comes to us in this incredible grace and he invites us, sinners that we are, to share the gospel of Jesus with others, to be critical points of his work in the world. [00:31:20] (40 seconds)  #PrivilegeOfIntroduction

It's a constant call to reform, to become more like our Savior every day through the choices that we make. It's an invitation to change so that God can better use us to change the lives of of those he is bringing to faith. [00:32:08] (16 seconds)  #MatureFaithForNeighbors

There is no greater privilege in this life than than to accompany someone to faith. Our work as a congregation and as individuals, our work is the work of introduction, to introduce an unbelieving world to Jesus, the one descended from David who was raised from the dead, to the one who desires everyone to be saved. [00:33:10] (24 seconds)  #LiveToGlorifyAndLead

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