By Pastor James Groleau

St. John’s Lutheran Church

St. John’s Lutheran Church is a liturgical congregation. That just means we have a set format and order to our worship style so that everyone can participate. It makes everyone equal before God as we worship. There are a lot of traditions that go along with that.

One is, each Sunday there are prescribed readings assigned. I bring that up only to point out that I’m breaking with tradition. (Oh my!!) Being new here to Austin I’m still introducing some new things to my congregation. One of those new things is a Summer series of special visitor/seeker/teaching services. This Summer beginning on Sunday, June 24, we will spend 10 weeks exploring the basics of the Christian faith and why that is important to everyone. Of course you’d expect me to say it’s important. I’m a pastor, but it truly is important.

The Christian faith provides something no other religion in the world can offer. Confidence. What do I mean by that? The Christian faith is wholly and utterly unique in what it teaches. There is only one God and we rebelled against that God. For that we deserve punishment and to a point we got it. However, God is a loving God.

Like good parents who punish and correct their children, not out of vengeance but to teach and direct, God corrects us. In the Bible, when God punishes His children He always leaves a promise that the punishment will not last forever. That is how it has been from the beginning. Go way back. All the way back to Adam and Eve. They defied God and followed a way that would lead to removing their reliance on God. God came down and He pronounced punishment on them. You can read all about it in Genesis chapter three. When you read those words take a good look at verse 15. It is there, while God is pronouncing judgment, that God gives a promise that One will come who will crush Satan’s head and destroy his hold on God’s creation. That One will restore our relationship with our heavenly Father.

It took some time for that promise to be fulfilled, but it did happen. That One has come and His name is Jesus. John 14:30-31 records Jesus’ words, “The prince of this world has no claim on Me. I do as the Father has commanded Me.” In John 19:30, when Jesus said, “It is finished!” He did not mean He was finished. He meant the battle was over, the war was won, your salvation was accomplished! To prove that, He walked out of the tomb three days later. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen in deed! Alleluia!

The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the very center focus of all that we believe and hold dear. 1 Corinthians 15:14 says, “If Christ has not been raised, then our faith has no meaning.” Yet our faith does have meaning because Jesus defeated sin, Jesus defeated the devil, and Jesus defeated death so that you can live.

Jesus said, “My sheep respond to My voice, and I know who they are. They follow Me, and I give them eternal life” [John 10:27-28]. We did not, and cannot, save ourselves. Our God, the one, true, holy, living God came down from His throne to walk among us, and to save us. He came not to be served by us, but rather to serve us; to save us. He would not relegate His children’s salvation to anyone else. He did it all, and being God He did it all perfectly. In that you can have perfect confidence.

To learn more about the peace and confidence you can have, come join us. Beginning Sunday, June 24, we’ll have a series of 10 messages that will help you understand the basics of being a Christian and to understand how to live like a Christian in a messed up world. Anyone and everyone is welcome. If you can’t make it in on Sunday morning, check out our new website. There you can listen to archived sermons and learn more about who we are and what we teach. www.StJohnsAustinLCMS.org.