Today one of her request was that we go back to our old church in Garber. We are members of that church and went there for a few years but stopped because it was an hour drive and we couldn't join in with so many of the fellowship activities like we wanted to. She was so excited and had such a great time! After church we went to Brother Tom's house for a cookout and to celebrate her birthday.
I am so proud of her and so happy that one of her requests was to go to church!!! Love that girl!!
But Jesus said, "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children."
3 comments:
Good Morning!
It's great to hear from you! Blessings to you and yours! What a wonderful request from your little girl...it's just a sweet blessing for her to want to go to church. Take care of yourself and stay steeped in His Word. ~Cynthia
Thank you Cynthia! It warms my heart every time she requests to go to church!
Thank for you for your response.
Don't you think it is important to have a specific event that you can point to and say: "THEN, is when God saved me!"?
We Lutherans do NOT believe that baptism is mandatory for salvation. All the saints in the OT, the thief on the cross, and many martyrs have died without baptism. We believe they are saved and in heaven. It is not the lack of baptism that damns someone to hell...it is the lack of faith/belief that damns one to hell, as Christ states in Mark 16:16.
Many evangelicals think that Lutherans believe that salvation must come through Baptism. This is flat-out wrong! Baptism is one of several "when"s of salvation. It is always the Word of God that saves. (Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God). A sinner can be saved sitting in church listening to a sermon; listening to a Gospel program on the radio; or reading a Gospel tract. Baptism is NOT mandatory for salvation.
However, Baptism is God's mark upon us that he truly has saved us. We belong to him. Unless someone intentionally fakes believing, fakes repenting, and fakes a genuine desire to receive Christ's "mark" in baptism, the person being Baptized DOES receive Christ's mark stating: YOU, child, now belong to me.
In the evangelical conversion, you have two viewpoints, Arminian and Calvinist. The Arminian believes that he is saved when HE makes a decision to have faith and believe/repent. The problem is that when HIS faith is ebbing low, he begins to question the sincerity of his "decision": "Did I really do 'it' right?" His salvation was partly dependent upon HIM!
The Calvinist, on the other hands, believes that he is either born the Elect or he isn't. There doesn't need to be any specific time of conversion, as long as at some point in his life, the Calvinist declares to the world his faith and belief---he IS one of the Elect. However, ask many Calvinists when they were saved and they will give you a blank stare and then answer, "Well...my salvation was a 'process"!"
Are there any examples in the Bible of ANYONE being saved by a process??
Receive the mark of Christ, brothers and sisters. In Holy Baptism, God's marks you as "MINE!"
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