Trinity Lutheran Church, White Lake, SD

Dear Fellow Followers of Jesus:
What is the Christian faith all about? How does the Christian faith make a difference in a person’s life? You have heard many sermons and at the end of the messages you might be tempted to say: “So what?”
The Christian faith is centered on Jesus Christ. Without Jesus Christ there is no Christian faith. Without Jesus Christ life in this world is pointless. Without faith in Jesus Christ nothing really matters.
In 1 Corinthians 2 the Apostle Paul writes about the heart of the Christian faith and the main message of the Christian faith, by stating, “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (The Holy Bible: English Standard Version) [1 Corinthians 2:1–5].
The heart of the Christian faith is to know nothing except Jesus Christ crucified. None of us can save ourselves from our sins and trespasses. None of us can be righteous in God’s sight with our own powers. None of us deserves any of the many blessings God gives us through faith in Jesus Christ.
God the Father has given us Jesus Christ for our salvation. God the Father has blessed us with faith in Jesus Christ who came to save us by being crucified for our sins. Believing in Jesus Christ crucified means more than believing in His sacrificial death. Death could not hold Jesus down for long and on the third day Jesus was resurrected to new life never to die again. We cannot have a resurrected Christ without a crucified Christ. We cannot have a crucified Christ without a resurrected Christ. God’s Holy Spirit brings us to saving faith in Jesus Christ crucified and risen for us and that makes all of the difference in our lives.

In Jesus Christ’s Service,
Pastor Richard Milbrandt