“By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect.” 1 Corinthians 15:10

Paul’s call to serve as a missionary and apostle was an act of pure grace on God’s part. Acts 8:1 and 9:1-2 tell us how much Paul hated Christianity. Later in Acts 26:9-11 Paul confessed that same thing about himself — he had previously hated Christians.

Jesus changed that by appearing to Paul and calling him to faith. Paul was graciously appointed to be an apostle to the Gentiles. He was zealous in carrying out his work to preach the gospel.

What was true of Paul is true of you! By the grace of God you are who you are. He has changed you too. By calling you to faith your sins are forgiven and all your gifts and abilities can now be used to serve your Savior. Whatever your calling may be, you are serving Jesus was you use your gifts to serve others.

His grace to you was not without effect. The Christian parent who patiently loves and guides a child is serving Jesus. The Christian spouse who fills his or her role in a marriage is showing the effect that God’s grace has on the Christian life. The Christian who uses his or her gifts to help another (even when paid for doing it), or who encourages someone facing trials, or who shares the gospel in a private conversation is doing so because God’s grace has an effect.

The reward for these acts often isn’t what we’d like. You may not get recognized or thanked (although sometimes we do). Jesus has prepared an eternal reward of even greater grace for us in heaven. This is our greatest reward!

Like it did for Paul, the grace of God has changed you. Your life is a life of service to the Triune God in heaven. Your moments matter.

By the grace of God, be the child of God that he has made you to be and carry out the work that he has given you to do. That is the Christian faith in action.

Pastor Aufdemberge

Pastor Kneser

Pastor Wempner

Pastor Zarling

Baptism is easy to overlook. Your own baptism may not register in your memory banks because it happened when you were an infant. Or the simplicity of the rite of Baptism and the act of Baptism can make it seem like a minor or simple event. In our minds it can become a routine event — like a graduation — that everyone goes through.

Nothing could be further from the truth! At your baptism, you were changed.

According to God’s promise you were connected to Jesus’ death and resurrection in your baptism. You are free from sin’s curse and prepared for eternal glory. You are empowered to live a new life as a Christian by your baptism.

In Remember Who You Are: Baptism, A Model for Christian Life, William Willimon writes:
Who tells you who you are: Your parents, your children, your nation, your job, your friends, your school, your back account? If you allow others to tell you who you are, they will be only too happy to tell you. But that is a dangerous way.

Through Baptism, a Christian first and finally learns who he or she is. It is the rite of identity. Baptism asserts rather than argues, it proclaims rather than explains, it commands rather than requests, it acts rather than signifies, and it involves rather than describes. When you ask in desperation, “Who, in God’s name, am I?” baptism will have you feel the water dripping from your head and oil oozing down your neck and say, “You are, in God’s name, royalty. God’s own, claimed and ordained for God’s serious and joyful business.” (pp. 27-28)

God proclaimed, at your baptism, that you matter to him! Let that water wash your soul and fill you with the joy that God intends for you to know.

"You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." (Galatians 3:26–27)

Pastor Aufdemberge

Pastor Kneser

Pastor Wempner

Pastor Zarling

"As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received." Ephesians 4:1 (NIV)

“Worthy” in the verse above pictures a balanced scale. On the one side of the scale is “the calling you have received.” You have been called to faith in Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. Through faith in him, you are forgiven for your sins and a member of God’s kingdom. This calling was given to you in the water of your baptism and through God’s Word that creates and sustains faith. All of this was God’s work done in you because he is gracious and loves you.

On the other side of the scale is “live a life worthy.” Our conduct should match our calling. Because we are purified of sin, we turn away from sin and do not want to live in it. This is repentance. We look to Jesus for forgiveness – which he already won for us at the cross! In him, we seek to do things that are pleasing to God. We do not look for or make excuses for sin. We look for ways to reflect the reality that we belong to the holy and perfect Savior.

Seek balance in your life as you trust in Jesus and receive from him the grace he promises to all who believe. Then live in a way that reflects the purity that is in you.

Pastor Aufdemberge

Pastor Kneser

Pastor Wempner

Pastor Zarling

A frequent theme in the Bible is that we humans are weak. Our sin makes us weak; the ease with which the devil can lead us away from God’s will demonstrates that we are weak; our inability to control the events in our lives further proves that we are weak.

Another frequent theme in the Bible is “the all-surpassing power” of God who has saved us! By Jesus’ death and resurrection, we are set free from the guilt of our sins; death has been destroyed by Jesus! We live in the constant certainty of eternal life. We live in the assurance that our guilt is washed away in the blood of Christ and God is not angry with us – not even a little bit!

Paul wrote about these themes in the verses above. We are “jars of clay.” We appear incredibly fragile and unsuitable to be used for anything glorious. And yet, we see the depth of God’s love in ourselves. The troubles – not even death – do not and cannot win! Jesus has claimed you to be a vessel that displays his love for humanity. His forgiveness fills you.

For the rest of your days on earth you will continue to be a “jar of clay.” And for the rest of eternity, you will loved by God and he will fill you with life. Live in the peace of knowing how you are because of God’s grace.

2 Corinthians 4:7–12 (NIV) "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you."

Pastor Aufdemberge

Pastor Kneser

Pastor Wempner

Pastor Zarling