Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Grace and Peace Episode 1
Presbyterian Church of Easton
September 1, 2020
Grace and Peace Episode 1
Presbyterian Church of Easton
September 1, 2020
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:2
Heidelberg Catechism Question 1. What is your only comfort in life and in death?
A. That I am not my own, but belong— body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.
A. That I am not my own, but belong— body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.
The Holy Ghost Church in Heidelberg was divided. Would they celebrate communion as Protestant Reformer Martin Luther taught? Or would they do it as the Protestant Reformer Ulrich Zwingli taught? The division was so great that the President of the College of Wisdom and the Pastor of the Holy Ghost Church got into a fistfight at the communion table before a stunned congregation.
Hopefully, the Presbyterian Church of Easton does not have problems like this. But all churches have divisions. And whenever a church experiences a pastoral transition these divisions must be dealt with.
The Holy Ghost Church dealt with their divisions by developing a catechism, a series of questions and answers for teaching. And in the very first question, they tackled their most glaring problem. Did they belong to Luther or Zwingli?
The answer they came up with was, neither. They did not belong to Luther. They did not belong to Zwingli. They belonged to Christ. They read in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “... Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.”
Belonging to Christ gave them great comfort. Their sins were forgiven. They were protected from danger and the devil. And belonging to Christ gave them great benefits. God sent his Holy Spirit to empower them to accomplish His plan for salvation. With the Holy Spirit, they were assured of eternal life and were motivated to live lives pleasing to Christ. These comforts and benefits are available to us too if we belong to Christ. Belonging to Christ is a gracious gift from our loving God.
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the blessing of Christ. Through his sacrifice on the cross, he bought us, and now we belong to him. We thank you for forgiving our sins, protecting us from evil, transforming us into a new life, and promising us eternal life. We are greatly comforted by all of this. And so we pray in the name of our savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the blessing of Christ. Through his sacrifice on the cross, he bought us, and now we belong to him. We thank you for forgiving our sins, protecting us from evil, transforming us into a new life, and promising us eternal life. We are greatly comforted by all of this. And so we pray in the name of our savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
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