Though several generations removed from Luther’s generation, Francke came of age right on time for a new wave of spirituality to collide with the Reformation in the movement known as Pietism.
Every time someone is baptized, every time bread is broken and wine poured, every time a sinner hears, “Your sins are forgiven in Christ,” Pentecost happens again.
They were still praying, trusting, and hoping. Why? Because they knew who was with them and who was for them: the risen Christ.

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Christ has come, does come, and will come. He has set you free from the prison of sin and death.
If the cross were to happen today, not on Golgotha, but in our own locale, would we take selfies?
I bet you have seen this verse pop up in Bible study before.
We aggrandize time. It certainly possesses power over us. It irreversibly moves us in one direction and can’t be replayed to different ends.
No one twisted Jesus’s arm to make him enter Mary’s womb. No one tricked him into being born into a world strung out on the meth of sin. He came in with his eyes wide open.
One of the most famous things Jesus ever said was “Follow me.” He said it over and over. So much that it was recorded more than twenty times in the New Testament.
I’m going to begin at the beginning. But which one? Birth? Kindergarten? My first drink? The first time I had sex?
The moral high ground isn’t anything to find comfort in. God gives us something better—Jesus.
Even “our faith” is a gift from God’s fatherly hand. Our performance, desire, and perseverance do not factor into God’s will for us.
The words “gift of righteousness” will bring about two completely polar opposite feelings: One of Dread. One of Relief.
Jesus loves His church. He cleans her up. He takes her as His own. And He leads her.
There’s a lot of family drama from Thanksgiving through New Years.