Thoughts that seem important by Pastor Tart

"You should not believe your conscience and your feelings more than the word which the Lord who receives sinners preaches to you."
Our beloved Dr. Martin Luther wrote these words and I often go to them when my conscience bear down on my like a heavy burden on a hot day. So often, our conscious and feelings will tell us on that no one like us deserves any good from God or others. We struggle with sin and temptation. We say the wrong thing at the wrong time. We anger others. We prop ourselves up with good works that eventually fade like the grass in the face of a freezing rain. We find ourselves running from God instead of to him.
Martin Luther helps to see that our conscious and feelings are not to drive us away from God, but to God and to God's mighty Word. A Word that says, "there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus" A Word that says, “We are saved by Grace through faith and this is not our own doing, but it is a gift of God”. We fall into the hands of a God who understands and accepts our humanity and loves us anyway.
From this Grace we discover a freedom to live not driven by guilt, but by the joy of doing good for others. We who have received God's generosity, become generous with others and our possessions. Become not a guilt driven people, but a joy and love driven people.
So as we prepare for our Reformation Sunday Celebration let it be a celebration of good and clear conscious that comes from the generous grace of God poured out upon us on the cross.
Remember: Your conscious is for Grace and not condemnation.