1 Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death?
A. That I am not my own,^1
but belong—
body and soul,
in life and in death—^2
to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.^3
He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood,^4
and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.^5
He also watches over me in such a way^6
that not a hair can fall from my head
without the will of my Father in heaven;^7
in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.^8
Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit,
assures me of eternal life^9
and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready
from now on to live for him.^10
^1 1 Cor. 6:19
^2 Rom. 14:8
^3 1 Cor. 3:23
^4 1 Pet. 1:18; 1 John 1:7; 2:2
^5 1 John 3:8
^6 John 6:39
^7 Matt. 10:30;Luke 21:18
^8 Rom. 8:28
^9 2 Cor. 1:22;5:5; Eph. 1:14;Rom. 8:16
^10 Rom. 8:14
2 Q. What must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort?
A. Three things:^1
first, how great my sin and misery are;^2
second, how I am set free from all my sins and misery;^3
third, how I am to thank God for such deliverance.^4
^1 Luke 24:47;1 Cor. 6:11;Tit. 3:3
^2 John 9:41; John 15:[6-]7
^3 John 17:3
^4 Eph. 5:10
“The Heart of the Matter”
There’s a popular theory that in times of wild economic consumption zombie movies and television shows make a comeback and in times of economic desperation vampires are the preferred genres. In both cases, there’s a numbing effect on the soul, a bloodletting and a blood-thirsting, the sucking away of life and vitality. I’ve gotten into the AMC hit series, The Walking Dead, featuring a global apocalypse pitting viral-infected humans turn zombies and a community of survivors. One thing zombies don’t have are hearts.
Continue reading “Lord’s Day 1 (Q/A 1 and 2): THE HEART OF THE MATTER”