Luther felt the reform of the church could not simply remain a matter of aesthetics and practice. Something much deeper needed to be rooted out.
While God can, and often does, appear to people face to face, he also often employs the use of several types of messengers.
The “further up and further in” we go, the table keeps getting bigger, the guest list keeps getting longer, and the grace keeps on flowing.

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The only churches that live are churches that have died. That still die. And that rise to newness of life in Christ’s life alone.
She does not see a Christian in the mirror. She sees a doubter.
If this opening verse offers to us both door and doorkeeper, then the doorkeeper stands with the door held securely shut.
As the devil awakens after a long slumber, recovering from the resurrection event, he finds his shackles loosened and the glorious screams of torment throughout his dark empire
God's doing for us that gets done is Word and Sacrament stuff. Everything else flows from His speaking to us, baptizing us, bodying and bloodying us. Jesus sees our need.
We focus on what we have, what we don't have, and how and when God is going to give us what we need. This the opposite of faith.
However, right before I affirmed her proposal, it dawned on me, “Isn’t every worship service and Bible study for those struggling with faith, life, and fear?!”
One thing that makes John different than the other three Gospels is the absence of the Lord’s Supper.
The Christian Church is one of the last refuges in modern American society where people who have perpetrated or suffered trauma and violence can gather together to receive the truth about themselves.
We get the exact opposite of what we deserve.
We were created by our heavenly Father to receive all things from Him as free gift.
The idea is that Jesus has called His church to make disciples, and since the church doesn’t look much like the One they are following, the people need to be changed.