This past week we witnessed again the consequence of the fall into sin. We watched the news and saw that a young man entered into his school inn Santa Fe, Texas, and killed 10 fellow classmates and teachers. Christians around the nation and the globe immediately sent out messages that they were praying for the victims families and for all that were traumatized by the tragedy. The greatest thing a Christian can do in any situation is pray, as Jesus says, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened." (Matthew 7:7-8).  Christians believe that their prayers, because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, are answered by their Father in heaven. We pray the Lord's Prayer and we petition our God for everything for both our physical and spiritual needs. The greatest gift the baptized are given is the gift to ask their dear Father for anything in the Name of Jesus and be taken care of by their true Father for all their needs of body, soul, and life. 

It is at this time also that many people in the world mock Christians and say that prayer is not enough. We need to do more than just get on our knees and pray to some God that could possibly exist. We need to ban guns. We need to fix our school system. We need to increase gun control and increase the governments involvement in our daily lives to promote peace and safety. Christians are told that their prayers are not enough, action is also needed. Well, they are right. Prayer is given to the church and this is the greatest gift we are given. The greatest thing the church can do is pray. However, the church also is given the office of the keys and the gifts of various vocations. 

The Church is given authority on earth to forgive sins. The Church then is given the gift of preaching the Law that reveals the sin of the world and the Gospel that forgives every sinner their transgressions. This is the greatest comfort the church can receive. We know that in the preaching of the Gospel and the distribution of the sacraments, we are forgiven by God absolutely all of our sins. This offers assurance for everyone that they have a gracious God who loves them. Wouldn't this love impact the world? Wouldn't this love change the heart of man and create in him a clean heart that desires to live in faith toward God and in fervent love toward all around him? Yes, we pray. We also preach the Gospel and create in man a clean heart that receives forgiveness and lives in forgiveness with all around him.

The church also is the gathering place of many and various vocations. The greatest vocation we all walk in is children of God, children of the light, baptized children who live in forgiveness and love with all around us. We live as those who are destined for heaven; therefore, we live now in sacrificial love just as Christ first and always loves us. We also walk in the vocations of husband and wife, loving each other unconditionally until death parts us. We walk in the vocations of father and mother, taking responsibility for our children's actions, no matter how old they get. We raise our children in the faith, in the knowledge that they have a gracious God who loves them and forgives them unconditionally. We teach them that the church is that haven in this world of sin, stress, anxiety, and depression. This is where we act as the church. We act as the absolute location for forgiveness and love in our society. This is what will change the world. Yes, there will still tragedy and destruction, because there is still sin in the world. We then, as baptized children, continue to live in this sinful world, not of it, but in it, and continue to live our life together in forgiveness and love. 

May we as the church pray unceasingly and continue to petition our Lord above for forgiveness, life, salvation, and all our needs of body and life. May Christ our Lord continue to bless us with His forgiveness and may the Holy Spirit keep us in the true faith in forgiveness and love toward each other and all around us. 

Peace be with you. May the devil be silenced, the world be hushed, and the Old Adam be drowned anew so that you hear only the peaceful voice of your Savior Jesus who says, "I forgive you. I love you. I claim you as My own forever," Amen.

Jesus' Sheepdog