Genesis

I have to say that this is the first time that I have ever been on a blog.  Maybe I am just a little behind the times.  Anyway, here are some things to think and talk about concerning the Genesis Service.  Sorry this is late…..

God gives us everything that we need….everything when it comes to our salvation.  Christ died and rose again so that we might have eternal life.  It is not about us.  It is all about God and what he has done for us.  So where does that leave us?

A Catholic priest, who is friends with one of my seminary professors, once said, “The problem with you Lutherans is that it does not matter if we help the old lady across the street or push her in front of the bus.”

The crude point that the priest was trying to make was that as Lutherans we live by the grace of God alone.  We feel that our works often have our own selfish motives behind them, which is sinful.  So what difference does it make?

So the question is…what difference does it make?  What is the point of doing good?  What is the point of our good works?  What matters most; the act of helping someone or the motive behind them? 

Just a few things to think/talk about.

To Him be the Glory……

Vicar Chad

I'm assuming most of you are up on the latest political/scientific/religious debate about cloning, Michael J. Fox's advertising campaign, and just plain politics in general.  If not, click here for a link to catch you up. 

 Just curious what you all think.  Some questions to ponder... should we be talking more politics in church?  When does life really begin?  Where and how do we draw the moral lines?  Anything else come to mind?  

 ben

Sorry I didn't get this up last night.  With sickness and a full day of preaching I was wiped, I could not get off the couch.  On top of that my 1 year old decided she wanted to stay up for a few more hours than normal.  All that aside... some thoughts on this week...

 Thanks to the Miller's for leading worship, authentic and excellent job, awesome faith, what a cool thing to have them here.  

Some of the main points for reflection... Are you sold out, give everything to follow Jesus.  Or is faith more like a good movie.  It's is moving, it is something I talk about, but in the end I put it back on the shelf?  

We also talked about really getting what Grace is, is first understanding how deep our need for it is.  Do we really understand our own depravity?  How can we get there?

 And lastly, talked a bit about worship.  It is the response to God's grace, it is being in awe of who he is, and it is not meant to serve man.  

 Love to hear your thoughts...

peace

ben 

The big question of the day... do you have faith... real convicted, more than cerebral faith.

If you weren't there this won't make much sense to you, but do you approach God with your umbrella in hand?  Do you have faith that mountains could actually be moved? 

A short post today, but hopefully more than enough to chew on.

ben

Sorry for the long absence from blogging. We'll just call it a summer break... that went a tad into the fall. We are currently in the midst of a message series on Jesus' parables. This week was a particularly hard parable. Luke 16:1-13

What makes it hard is that Jesus tells us a story about a dishonest man, who seemingly shows his lack of character by cheating his master after being fired, and then says that the man was commended for his action.

Jesus, by telling the parable this way is emphasizing how earthly treasures, money and pursuits mean little in comparison to the eternal. Don't love what you have, but if you have it, use it with eternity in mind.

We also looked at Luke 20:20-26 and talked about giving to Ceasar what is Ceasers and God what is God's. We learned that if Ceaser's image is on the coin, we need to know that God's image is on men. So give Ceaser the coin, but give God your life.

We ended with the challeng, once again, easy to say and hard to do... the challeng being to look at the heart and walk of your life. In which direction is your heart focused?

I look forward to reigniting discussion again...

peace friends-

ben