Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ –
How many stars are there in the sky? Who can count them?
Yet God created and knows each of them.
How many different kinds of animals in the forests and deserts and oceans? We have not come to the end of discovering them all, but God has created each one in its unique way.
Nor has God been less meticulous with us, for, even though all humans have the same body structure, a face with nose, eyes, and mouth, and all our various parts, yet each of us is uniquely different from another.
Not only has God created each of us, He knows us intimately and cares about every facet of our lives and activities.
David, the psalmist, wrote about this characteristic of God in Psalm 139:
“O Lord, You have searched me and You know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways.” (Psalm 139:1-3).
This truth stands behind our academic theme for 2021-22. To be living with Christ is undergirded by the truth that we are all created by God and that He knows our inward thoughts and feelings.
This is why we are pausing before confession and absolution to prepare our hearts and minds. Myself or Vicar will say:
“We take a moment to pause, reflect, and examine ourselves—considering the times and places where we failed to Live with Christ, yet trusting the Holy Spirit to continue His work within us.”
Then on the screen it says:
(projected on screens: A moment of silence is taken to call to mind particular sins. If you are not burdened with particular sins, do not trouble yourself or search for or invent other sins, thereby turning confession into a torture. Instead, call to mind one or two sins that you know and let that be enough.)
Use God’s creation of Confession and Absolution to lay your burdens down at the altar of God.
In the love of Christ! Pastor Hartwig