If you're interested in any of the online summer offerings from Martin Luther College, you can find information at the MLC Continuing Education page for summer 2015.
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Thursday, April 30, 2015
Summer courses, webinar
For those who have an interest in spiritual writing, two workshops will offered online this summer through the Continuing Education program of Martin Luther College. Look for courses with a THE prefix (for Theology) in the summer course list. Devotional Writing (THE8508), focused on writing spiritual devotions, articles, stories, etc, will run June 8-26. Constructing and Conducting Bible Studies (THE8511) is scheduled for June 29 - July 17. You also might also be interested in a course on Connecting Young Adults to the Church (THE8113), July 15-26, or also a short webinar and discussion on Teaching the Faith (WEB0801), July 27 - August 3.
If you're interested in any of the online summer offerings from Martin Luther College, you can find information at the MLC Continuing Education page for summer 2015.
If you're interested in any of the online summer offerings from Martin Luther College, you can find information at the MLC Continuing Education page for summer 2015.
Saturday, April 25, 2015
“I’m a Christian” – What Does This Mean?
by Kyara Grunst
“I’m a Christian.” This is
something I’m sure we would all be willing to say. But let’s ask what our
catechism would ask: What does this
mean? What makes us “Christian?” You could say that’s an easy question. Of
course it’s Christ that makes us Christian. But again, what does that mean?
First, let’s take a look at what Christianity isn’t.
When I think of a Christian, I will admit
that I usually think about a person who does good works. I think of someone who
donates money to church and to charities, someone who volunteers a lot, someone
who hold doors open for others, someone who does good things. However, this
attitude, called legalism, is not, in essence, Christianity. Legalism is all
about the law. It creates a “Christ and…” mentality where we feel like we need
to add something to the work of Christ. We try to save ourselves by either
keeping all of the rules or by making up our own rules.
Even if the rules we aim to follow are all
doctrines of the Bible, we cannot earn our way to heaven by keeping them. We are not capable of this. We cannot keep
all of the laws of Scripture. We break commandments every day, multiple times
each day. And so being a Christian does not, ultimately, mean obeying the rules
as best as we can to try and earn our way to heaven because that is an
impossible task for us.
Christianity also does not solely mean
being a good person. We often think that as we become better Christians, we
gain better qualities and we become better people. We think that we need to
have a certain number of good traits to be truly Christian. Again this puts the
work on us. It is our duty to become better people so we can be better
Christians. And again, no. With this mentality, Christianity is about our work,
not Christ’s. Besides, what are works without faith?
So what then is Christianity? Christianity is all about Christ. It is about his work for us. Christ humbled himself and came to earth. He didn’t come as a prince in pomp and earthly glory, but instead he came to us in a lowly manger. He lived a perfect life for us, not sinning even once. He did not give in to any temptation the devil put in his way, but stood firm and resisted them for our sake. He then willingly suffered death on the cross and took upon himself the sins of the entire world. He died for us.
And that is not the end of the story. Jesus’
death is not meaningless, because he also rose from the dead. Christ gained for
us the salvation we could not and cannot obtain on our own. He did what we
cannot because he is the perfect and holy Son of God. This is why being a
Christian means we are Christ-centered.
Christ is the reason for everything we do.
Because he has done what we cannot, there is nothing for us to do except thank
him continually. And so we do just that. We thank and praise him with our lives
and with our words and actions. Everything we do is for his glory and to spread
the word of what he has done. Our sole work is to preach Christ crucified and
risen. Through him, we have become new persons. We were born again in our
baptism and have done away with the old self. We are now blameless in God’s
eyes because when he looks at us, he sees Christ’s holiness.
That is what it means to be a Christian.
It means living our lives as a testimony to Christ and his saving work. For
without him, we are nothing. Instead of asking the question, “What would Jesus
do?” we instead ask ourselves, “What has Jesus done?” Our identity as a
Christian comes through Christ and through the salvation he won for us. It
means that we are firmly rooted in him and in his Word so that our lives are
permeated with the joyful message of what he has done. Being Christian means
casting aside who we are and what we have done and instead living in what
Christ has done and who he is – our loving Savior.
Being a Christian, then, is not exclusive
to a single denomination or group of people. But rather, the church—the holy
Christian community—is filled with people from numerous congregations and from
every race and people. Ultimately, being a Christian is not dependent on us
having the same sort of religious organization or the same norm of worship
style. Being a Christian is fully dependent on having saving faith in Christ
and in Christ alone. That is what it means to be a Christian.
Saturday, April 4, 2015
A Glorious Easter Creed
by Taylor Swanson
Taylor wrote this to be used as a personal reflection for Easter Sunday morning.
I am glad to share the confession with you via The Electric Gospel blog.
Have a blessed Easter week.
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On this glorious Easter morning,
we come
together in full confidence of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ.
We confess
we are wholly sinful human beings,
dead in our
transgressions.
But by faith,
given by the Holy Spirit, in the death and resurrection of Jesus,
we are made alive
in Christ.
Our sins are
washed away and we shine like the sun in God’s eyes.
On this day
we are especially thankful for the resurrection of our Lord.
God the
Father sent his One and Only into this sin-stricken world.
Jesus lived
a perfect life, was crucified, died and was buried.
But it did
not end there.
He rose.
But what
does all this mean?
The fact
that Jesus rose means that he defeated death and the power of the devil.
It means
that we will live even though we die.
Our bodies
will be made to be like Christ’s,
perfect and
glorious, and raised up to heaven to be with our Savior.
There will
be no more pain or sadness and no more death,
for Christ has arisen once and
for all.
May we
forever sing hallelujah to the Victor over death.
He is risen.
He is risen,
indeed. Hallelujah.