Welcome from Pastor Patrick Curley

“Lessons for the Heart”

   By Pastor Patrick Curley

It’s back to school month; back to packing lunches, getting up a little earlier for some and, of course, doing homework.  And for some, it’s a kind of back to church month, too.  Summer rest and recreation is behind us and now it’s time to get back into the routine including weekly worship.  But leave your calculators, notebooks and pencils behind.  You won’t need them Sunday because church isn’t school.

Now I realize we do teach at church. We have classrooms for everything from Sunday School and Bible study to confirmation.  Jesus told us, “teach everything I have commanded you.” We use books, especially God’s Book, the Holy Bible.  Even the sermon can be a kind of lesson but still, going to church isn’t like going to school.

We aren’t really appealing to the mind at church but rather to the heart.  Our lessons are to do more than impart knowledge and encourage good citizenship.  We are giving the revealed wisdom of God’s grace which has nothing at all to do with how smart or good we are or think we are.  It is all about God’s love in Christ Jesus. Jesus studied hard and took the test for us. And He passed with an A+.  His report card now becomes our own through faith.  We who flunked now pass for Christ’s sake. This isn’t cheating; it’s grace.

If the church were only a school then probably most of you already know enough.  You know Jesus died for your sins and rose from the dead. You know He is True God. You know He will return at the end of time.  Sure, you know but that isn’t the only thing about salvation.  It’s also believing. Faith is believing what you don’t know or can’t see and study.  It’s trusting God’s promise for yourself.  So faith requires constant renewing and strengthening.  Faith requires worship around Jesus’ Gospel and study in His Word. It’s not just to remember what we once were taught. It’s rather to believe until we die in what Jesus gives us.

Even if you have a PhD. in theology, you’ll always need church to renew a living faith. It’s something given, not learned or earned.  You will never graduate from your need of God’s abundant grace in Jesus Christ given through the Word and Sacraments each time we gather in God’s name. See ya’ Sunday,