WHERE IS GOD?

"God is often found in one of the last places we think of—the church. For when the church is at its best, the church tells fresh the story of God's good news across the ages. But the church can become the living embodiment of God's presence; encountered in the love and care demonstrated by the community for each other, for the sake of the world. At its best, the church can be such a community, and can be a symbol of God's presence among us as "God-found," and not "God-hidden." The church can be the arms of God around us when we are hurting, or the voice of God speaking when we feel we haven’t heard from God in years. Such a community can be like the faithful friends who carried their paralyzed friend to hear Jesus. His faith didn't heal him, but the faith of his friends did!(2) The church can be God’s voice, God’s hands and feet as they extend out into the broken places of the world to bring healing, help, and comfort. Through worship and liturgy, prayer and communion, service and sacrifice the church is to reveal the God who spoke and is still speaking.

"God is not often revealed in the roar of the hurricane or the loud-clap of thunder, but in a "still, small voice"—a voice that is often barely audible except to the most patient and still. But when the Church, broken and human as it is, seeks through the power of the Spirit of Christ to accomplish "greater things than these," we see God and hear God, and find God beautifully obvious.

"For those who long to see God, who long to find God in the darkest hour, we may not find God in the dramatic or the victorious, the miraculous or the stupendous. Instead, we may yet hope to find him in the pew, at the table of the Lord's Supper, or in the faithful friends who encircle around, fellow seekers who long to find God too."  Margaret Manning Shull, Slice of Infinity

GOD'S POWER

"God freely admits He is holding back His power but He restrains Himself for our benefit. For all scoffers who call for direct action from the heavens, the prophets have ominous advice:  Just wait."  Philip Yancey, Men's Devotional Bible

AFRAID OF DEATH?

"The Gospel of Jesus Christ always gives us more than we think or expect. The Good News does not end when we die. When we die, we will live with Christ in heaven with all the saints, awaiting the resurrection (Luke 23:43; Phil. 1:23). Our bodies, just like Jesus' body, will rise again on the Last Day. After the resurrection, we will reign with Him body & soul, wearing the crowns of eternal life & sitting on thrones in the new heavens & the new earth. This resurrection hope motivates Paul to take a fearless attitude as He writes:  'O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?' (1 Cor. 15:53) Death is not something for the Christian to fear. Indeed, Paul preaches a defiant fearlessness."  Rev. Andrew Packer, The Lutheran Witness, Sept. 2020