This We Believe: Christian Living

This post is part of our “THIS WE BELIEVE” series in conjunction with the “From the Desk” video bog.  You can see the latest entry at the end of the post.
 
Article 8: We believe that God’s justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose.  God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed.  With God’s Word, the Spirit’s power, and fervent prayer in Christ’s name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil.  In obedience to Christ’s commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed.
 
Each week as we’ve explored how our Statement of faith is reflected in the songs we sing.  We know that we are reminded of the truths from scripture when we sing those same truths as we gather – it is for this purpose that Martin Luther felt passionate that the people of God be people who sung!  He is quoted as saying “Next to the word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world.  It controls our hearts, minds, and spirits.”  He created one of the first hymnals that contained 8 hymns, all with the purpose to not only help the congregations engage in worship but to also teach Biblical principles to children and adults alike.

This week, we looked at Article 8, which you can read above.  In it we see that as followers of Christ, we should be changed to be more like Jesus (sanctification) as well moved to serve and love those around us.  One of the songs we sing here at FEFC that reflects this is the song by Keith and Kristyn Getty “O Church Arise.”   Each verse reflects not only the gospel but our response: to stand as soldiers in a spiritual battle, to love and serve those who are broken, to declare the gospel to the world.  This is our call, this is our purpose, this is what we believe.
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Our faith is not one of mere belief, but one of action.  What is God calling YOU to do today?  I pray that you are encouraged and inspired to rise, o church, and serve your king!  Be light to those in darkness, display God’s love to another, and above all declare the Gospel with boldness as you go.
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For His Glory,
-Pastor Zach