Super Sunday

I love my church.

Have I mentioned that before? I'm pretty sure I have.

But recently I have started to realize that I love THE church.

The church universal. The manifestation of Christ in our fallen world.

Today, the realization that as I worshipped and sang and prayed in my little corner of the world, there were many, many other groups of believers, of all denominations, races, and nationalities, doing the same thing.... Well, it just warmed my heart and made me feel proud (not the sinful kind of proud....the Holy Pride....An oxymoron if there ever was one!)

Honestly, each Sabbath I leave my church feeling awed that I get to be the recipient of such wonderful truths.

Sometimes I feel like I should stop going for a while just so I can catch up!

Every Sunday our congregation reads aloud a portion of the Westminster Shorter Catechism. Oh how I have come to love catechisms!

Have you caught on that I'm Big into Loving tonight?

I am the Love Blogger. Posting about Love.

Maybe I should change the title of my blog to reflect my new found mushiness. (But then all of you with safety gadgets on your computer servers would probably be banned from coming to my Love Blog.)

And I would NOT love that.

The Westminster Catechism question today was Q.90 -
How is the Word to be read and heard, that it may become effectual to salvation?

Answer: That the Word may become effectual to salvation, we must attend thereunto with diligence, preparation, and prayer; receive it with faith and love, lay it up in our hearts, and practice it in our lives.

In this question the word "salvation" is to be understood as commonly used in the New Testament to refer to the whole process of transferring us into Christ's kingdom by regeneration, faith, repentance, adoption, justification, sanctification, and eventual glorification (see Rom. 8 and 1 Cor. 15).

In other words, for our salvation to be effective (again, using the definition above), we have plenty of action words to do. Attend thereunto. Receive. Lay it up. Practice.

And we wonder why the Word of God does not seem all that powerful in our lives at times. Somehow I doubt that God is falling down on His part. He's given us the means (aka tools) of grace. But somehow we think that we can just look at the tools and the work will get done.

Off to work out my salvation in fear and trembling - and finally starting to get a glimpse of what that means - And that it's fine for God to have said it. (Don't you know He just appreciates me giving Him the A-OK?...)



P.S. My lovey-dovey, "Isn't this the greatest day ever?", Life is Beautiful mood came crashing down right before midnight when I had to take my 15yo, Justin, to the ER for an emergency appendectomy. I'm guessing God allowed me to have that Amazing Nap yesterday because he knew I would not be sleeping again for 31 hours. I only wish He would've given my hair the heads-up.