What an opportunity we have this Sunday:  Faith in Action!!  Faith is not just something we believe in our minds or feel in our hearts; it is something we live out each day.   James 2:26 says:  “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.”  Now don’t get me wrong, faith is a gift from God, received through Spirit-filled Baptism and God’s Word.  Ephesians 2:8-10 says:  “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” 

         Yet, while faith in Jesus is a gift, it connects us to a love that always takes loving action as Jesus did!  Good works always follow faith!  Yes, God has prepared all kinds of good deeds for us so that our faith in Jesus is seen.  As Christians, we are called to live out our faith, to be Jesus’  hands and feet in a world that needs His love. Putting faith into action means Jesus empowering us to serve, give, forgive, and love others, even when it’s inconvenient or challenging.  This Sunday is a God prepared opportunity for us to carry Jesus into our community, living out our faith!  Remember, we have a brief worship at 9:30am in the church, going out to our projects by 10:15am.  After serving our community, we gather for pizza back at the church.  So, in the words of John 3:18, “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”   Your fellow “little child,”    Pastor Craig