Colossians 1:13-14 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

1. FAITH: No matter________ __________ you are, Jesus ___________ you!

2. FIGHTING: No matter _____________ you are, the Holy Spirit _____________ ______________ you!

3. FREEDOM: No matter _____________ you are, God is _____________you!

Scripture Readings
1 Kings 17:17-24
Colossians 1:1-2
Luke 7:11-17

Take It With You!

Here we will offer thoughts and meditations on the message to help us as we contemplate and discuss and wrestle with what we are hearing.

Our daily activities, religious or nonreligious, do nothing to establish, reestablish, promote, preserve, or perfect our relationship with God. Christ's righteousness makes us secure at our core before God. Thus, before God we live a "receptive" life and experience a passive righteousness. But at the same time Luther saw the counterpart to such passiveness before God is our active, energetic engagement with the world....The Creator has created human beings in his image for a life of activity, in which they exercise the dominion he has given them in this world alongside all other people. With regard to the nature of the work and excellence with which human activities are carried out (assuming they are in accordance with God's will), there is no difference between those of Christians and a non-Christians. The distinction simply refers to the fact that Christians carry out their activity in faith and that it flows from faith.

Charles Arand and Robert Kolb, The Genius of Luther's Theology. pgs. 54-55