“If we don’t pray, we remain attached to earthly things, we become small like them, we get pressured by them, we sell ourselves to them — because we give our love and our heart to them.
“We must pray!” — Karl Rahner, Why We Need to Pray
Prayers for the Church in these times
The Lord seems to have increased my burden in prayer for the American Church. I ran across this prayer (in part) this morning:
Revive your Church, Lord God of hosts, whenever it falls into complacency and sloth, by raising up devoted leaders… and grant that their faith and vigor of mind may awaken your people to your message and their mission; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
I don’t want to forget
Worthwhile (and necessary) reading
Over the past few weeks, I have not been released from a burden to pray for the Church, especially in America. At the beginning of this year, the Lord spoke to me about a window of opportunity for the American Church to truly repent. That window is closing. Will we repent? Continue reading “Worthwhile (and necessary) reading”
The difficulty of discipleship
John 6 is at once one of my favorite chapters to chew on… and the most frustrating chapter to read. It is the deep call to discipleship and full participation in Christ.
This is the place where Jesus drives a crowd AWAY. In our world, that’s utter foolishness. We are so thirsty for big crowds! We celebrate big crowds! And Jesus is here thinning things out! Continue reading “The difficulty of discipleship”
The reminder of who we are as the church
In worship yesterday our song of procession was Luther’s great hymn: “A Mighty Fortress is our God.” What a beautiful reminder of who we are as the Church of Christ! Continue reading “The reminder of who we are as the church”
The community of the saints and sanctification
“The sanctification of the church-community consists in its being separated by God from that which is unholy, from sin… For the community of saints this implies three things. First, its sanctification will manifest itself in a clear separation from the world. Its sanctification will, second, prove itself through conduct that is worthy of God’s realm of holiness. And, third, its sanctification will be hidden in waiting for day of Jesus Christ.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Discipleship
