Bethany Bullet Sermon Message - Week of March 18, 2018

Sermon: “Faith Alone…It’s Never Alone”

Text: James 2

As the season of Lent draws to a close those who as part of their spiritual disciple forsook something this season are most likely quite glad that Easter will be here soon.   “Giving up something” for Lent can indeed be a great benefit in our discipleship and growing closer to our Lord in His suffering.

That being said, the thing which Lent ultimately calls us to refrain from is: sin!  Not just for 40 days, but for all our days!  We’ll need that Easter, our personal Easter when we rise, to take place before we are free from sin forever.  Yet, even now we who are both, ever and always saints and sinners hear the Lenten call to not only forsake but to take – up – our cross daily.

Cross bearing is nothing less than a response to the faith by which we alone are saved; that bears witness to that faith being never alone.  In other words, fruits follow faith.  A life of relying on Christ will be at the same time a life of reflecting Christ.  Now, it won’t be perfect, not even close, while we are the Lord’s new creation in Christ, our nature still clings to the old Adam too!  Luther reminds us of the struggle the saint/sinner experiences when in speaking about baptism he says, “We should daily remember God’s promise made to us in baptism, drown the old Adam, and rise anew to live before God in righteousness.”

That is another way of saying, we are saved by faith alone; yet ours is a faith that is never alone.

 -Pastor Kevin Kritzer