Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Feeling Distracted?

This world is full of distractions. And, to be quite honest, I love distractions! In particular, I love distractions of the athletic sort! I don't know if you all know this, but I am a big football fan. In particular (this may shock some of you), I am a Denver Broncos fan! When the Broncos are on TV everything is right with the world (unless they are losing, heaven forbid). Nothing can distract me from the TV because the Broncos are on and I am completely caught up in the game. Whatever is happening around me, no matter how important, inevitably takes a backseat to the game. This distraction becomes my focus, and this can prove to be dangerous.

This same sort of thing happens in the church all the time. Hebrews 12:2 says, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the AUTHOR and PERFECTOR of our faith..." When it comes to our Christian life and our salvation, we are to look to Christ alone who began our faith in us and will bring it to perfection. But this is hard to do. We get caught up with so many distractions, even in the church. The church is to focus on Christ, but often we find ourselves focusing on Christ PLUS our programs or Christ PLUS our community outreach. Both our programs and our outreach are critically important things, but if they begin to distract us from Christ they become like a Broncos game, the distraction becomes our focus!

For the month of October we are going to do a sermon series on what it means for us to focus on Christ alone, not just for our salvation (though certainly for that) but for our Christian walk as well. Since October is the month in which we remember Reformation, we will discuss what the Reformers emphasized in their rediscovery of the gospel, that we are saved by grace ALONE, through faith ALONE on account of Christ ALONE. Please join us as we leave our distraction at the door and focus on Christ alone!

Pastor Bob

Faith Lutheran Church • 123 Park Lane • Moorpark, CA 93021 • (805) 532 1049 • Send Email