Our pastor was planning on beginning a series on Joseph (of "coat of many colors" fame) but ended up being out sick, so we had a guest pastor in his place. So I will just have to wait a week before I can blog on that series.

During the service we usually will have a series of call-and-responses or a catechism question in which the congregation will give the answer in liturgical fashion. Growing up, I never understood the reason for liturgy, and so I found it rather dull and meaningless. I've grown to appreciate it more, however. In today's service we responded to the first question of the Heidelberg Catechism. How wonderful it is to raise up one voice as the body of Christ in speaking this biblical truth:

Q. What is your only comfort, in life and in death?

A. That I belong--body and soul, in life and in death--not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil; that he protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit his purpose for my salvation. Therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.