Did you know that the first churches were small gatherings in people’s homes? Jesus himself often met with people in their homes to build a community. In that spirit, we’re doing house groups, description below. The first ones are Sun July 31 (5-7) and Wed Aug 3 (2-4). Four more to follow. Sign up today!
Last week, I preached about being sinner and saint at the same time. Humans tend to paint people as good guys or bad guys, heroes or villains. But the truth is that we are both sinner and saint at the same time. Click here for a photo of the horse/frog optical illusion I talked about. Listen to the sermon here.
This week, the Lutheran theme is “Law and Gospel.” People often misunderstand this concept, thinking that the law is bad and the gospel is good. Others misunderstand it by thinking that some parts of scripture are “law” and others are “gospel.”
In Luther’s understanding, the same scriptures – and the same life experiences – can be both law and gospel. As Luther wrote: “The law says, ‘do this,’ and it is never done. Grace says, ‘believe this,’ and everything is already done.”*
I’ll preach an interactive sermon using one of Jesus’ parables. I’ll ask you to identify ‘law’ and ‘gospel’ in the lesson. Then I’ll ask you to apply it to your own life, as one of the key aspects of the gospel, according to Lutherans, is that it is always good news for you. Click here for a two-minute overview of Law and Gospel.
