For Those Who Have Been Hurt By The Church...
Late last week, we mentioned Pastor Evan Goeglein, who serves at Faith Lutheran Church in Rogue River OR, and who you all know because he co-hosts Table Talk Radio.
Here's a comforting video on his church's website for those who have been hurt by the church.
"I used to go to church, but then I was hurt so deeply!" How often have you heard that from others in your life? Perhaps those very same words have crossed your lips before.
Either way, I hope you found Pastor Goeglein's words comforting and helpful. They help to put things in their proper perspective for us and serve as a defense against Satan's schemes.
Ok, but what if it's not that you've been hurt by an individual member or two? What if you feel hurt by the church because they've been preaching sermons that are heavy on Law and light on the Gospel? What then!?!
I can personally relate to those questions for sure. At our church, while there hasn't been outright blasphemy or heresy being preached from the pulpit, the sermons still leave much to be desired. The Lord's Supper is rightly administered though and that's a great thing!
No, there is no "perfect" church this side of Heaven, but a big part of me already knows that it's time for us to begin looking for a more faithful church nearby (if one even exists), but until then we will continue to attend our current church until that happens.
Even so, with all the "Purpose Driven" and "Church Growth" and "Missional" nonsense going on right now, it's far too easy to listen to Satan's lies on Sunday morning ("You don't need to go to church today! Well, ok, you do, but not THAT church! Any church but THAT church!").
As always, there's an element of truth in Satan's deception. What tends to happen is I always lose that argument whenever I choose to engage in it with the devil.
The reality is that I still need to hear God's Word preached and I still need to receive His Holy Supper -- at least until we can find a more faithful church. God has made us a part of Christ's Church as it exists there at Trinity Lutheran Church for the time being.
What do you think? I'd love to get your thoughts on this. Please feel free to comment below.
In a Lutheran layman's terms, what Jesus Christ did for me and for you covers all sins, and those include the sins of those in the church that are committed against us, so we shouldn't let Satan try to keep us from receiving God's means of grace each week (Hebrews 10:25).
NOTE: As you know, I am a newly converted Confessional Lutheran who recently escaped American Evangelicalism. That being said, please contact me ASAP if you believe that any of my "old beliefs" seem to have crept their way into any of the material you see published here, and especially if any of the content is not consistent with our Confessions and Lutheran doctrine (in other words, if it's not consistent with God's Word, which our Confessions merely summarize and point us back to) so that I can correct those errors immediately and not lead any of His little ones astray. Finally, please be aware that you might also discover that some of the earlier pieces I wrote on this blog back in 2013 definitely fall into that category since I was a Lutheran-In-Name-Only at the time and was completely oblivious to the fact that a "Book of Concord" containing our Confessions even existed. In addition, there are some entries that are a little "out there" so-to-speak since the subject matter was also heavy influenced by common Evangelical concerns/criticisms that perhaps wouldn't be too big a deal for us Lutherans. I know that now and I'm still learning. Anyway, I decided to leave those published posts up on this website and in cyberspace only because we now have this disclaimer and only to demonstrate the continuing work of Christ and the Holy Spirit in my life (Hebrews 12:2; Philippians 1:6). Finally, please know that any time we engage in interpreting a specific portion of Scripture exegetically, it will always follow the verse-by-verse notes from my Lutheran Study Bible unless otherwise noted. Thank you for stopping by and thank you in advance for your time, help, and understanding. Grace and peace to you and yours!
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Here's a comforting video on his church's website for those who have been hurt by the church.
"I used to go to church, but then I was hurt so deeply!" How often have you heard that from others in your life? Perhaps those very same words have crossed your lips before.
Either way, I hope you found Pastor Goeglein's words comforting and helpful. They help to put things in their proper perspective for us and serve as a defense against Satan's schemes.
Ok, but what if it's not that you've been hurt by an individual member or two? What if you feel hurt by the church because they've been preaching sermons that are heavy on Law and light on the Gospel? What then!?!
I can personally relate to those questions for sure. At our church, while there hasn't been outright blasphemy or heresy being preached from the pulpit, the sermons still leave much to be desired. The Lord's Supper is rightly administered though and that's a great thing!
No, there is no "perfect" church this side of Heaven, but a big part of me already knows that it's time for us to begin looking for a more faithful church nearby (if one even exists), but until then we will continue to attend our current church until that happens.
Even so, with all the "Purpose Driven" and "Church Growth" and "Missional" nonsense going on right now, it's far too easy to listen to Satan's lies on Sunday morning ("You don't need to go to church today! Well, ok, you do, but not THAT church! Any church but THAT church!").
As always, there's an element of truth in Satan's deception. What tends to happen is I always lose that argument whenever I choose to engage in it with the devil.
The reality is that I still need to hear God's Word preached and I still need to receive His Holy Supper -- at least until we can find a more faithful church. God has made us a part of Christ's Church as it exists there at Trinity Lutheran Church for the time being.
What do you think? I'd love to get your thoughts on this. Please feel free to comment below.
In a Lutheran layman's terms, what Jesus Christ did for me and for you covers all sins, and those include the sins of those in the church that are committed against us, so we shouldn't let Satan try to keep us from receiving God's means of grace each week (Hebrews 10:25).
NOTE: As you know, I am a newly converted Confessional Lutheran who recently escaped American Evangelicalism. That being said, please contact me ASAP if you believe that any of my "old beliefs" seem to have crept their way into any of the material you see published here, and especially if any of the content is not consistent with our Confessions and Lutheran doctrine (in other words, if it's not consistent with God's Word, which our Confessions merely summarize and point us back to) so that I can correct those errors immediately and not lead any of His little ones astray. Finally, please be aware that you might also discover that some of the earlier pieces I wrote on this blog back in 2013 definitely fall into that category since I was a Lutheran-In-Name-Only at the time and was completely oblivious to the fact that a "Book of Concord" containing our Confessions even existed. In addition, there are some entries that are a little "out there" so-to-speak since the subject matter was also heavy influenced by common Evangelical concerns/criticisms that perhaps wouldn't be too big a deal for us Lutherans. I know that now and I'm still learning. Anyway, I decided to leave those published posts up on this website and in cyberspace only because we now have this disclaimer and only to demonstrate the continuing work of Christ and the Holy Spirit in my life (Hebrews 12:2; Philippians 1:6). Finally, please know that any time we engage in interpreting a specific portion of Scripture exegetically, it will always follow the verse-by-verse notes from my Lutheran Study Bible unless otherwise noted. Thank you for stopping by and thank you in advance for your time, help, and understanding. Grace and peace to you and yours!
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Thank you for visiting A Lutheran Layman! Please feel free to leave a comment or a question since we do not exercise censorship. We've seen a similar policy with other blogs and it's worth repeating: Please act as if you're a guest in my home, and we'll get along just fine. I think anyone would agree that the kind of back-and-forth that is characteristic of blogs/chat forums and social media is becoming tiresome for all of us. Still, we should confess, edify, and love (and contend and defend when needed). Bottom line? Search the Scriptures! Apply Acts 17:11 to anything and everything you find here and, if you do happen to disagree with something you find here (which is certainly ok), or think I'm "irresponsible" and "wrong" for writing it, then please refute my position by supporting yours with Scripture and/or the Confessions. I don't think that's an unreasonable request, especially for those who identify themselves as "Christians" here, right? Besides, Proverbs 27:17 tells us "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another" and 2 Timothy 3:16 says, "all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness." If you have an opinion that's great, I welcome it, but try to support it using God's Word. I mean, if the goal here is to help us all arrive at the truth of God's Word (myself included), then it should be easy to follow through on this one simple request (I'm talking to all you "Anonymous" visitors out there). Grace and peace to you and yours!