Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church Orlando FL

Sola gratia emphasizes grace as the reason for our salvation. In other words, salvation comes from what God has done rather than what we do. Ephesians 2:8-9 teaches, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Sola Fide emphasizes salvation as a free gift. The Roman Catholic Church at the time of the Reformation emphasized the use of indulgences (donating money) to buy status with God. Good works, including baptism, were seen as required for salvation. Sola fide stated that salvation is a free gift to all who accept it by faith. Salvation is not based on human effort or good deeds.

We often give God our leftovers. “If I get done with all my other stuff, then I’ll make sure to leave time to pray/read bible/go to church, etc…” God is calling us to live a transformed life. God is asking us to see what happens when we trust in Him with the best of what we have and the first of our possessions. What happens when we stop giving God our leftovers and start trusting God with everything?

Hurricane Irma hit and we lost power.  So we decided to meet in the hallway of our church with no air conditioning and let the Holy Spirit move.

I’ve always loved the expression, “Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.” Maybe you know someone who is soft-spoken but somehow preaches the Gospel with their life louder than words could ever articulate. As Christians, we are told we are the light of the world, not the megaphone of the world. So let us shine the light and love of Christ in all we do!

As followers of Christ, we are called to be His hands and feet, but what does that actually mean? This week we look at what it means to be authentically serving, truly loving, and selflessly giving.

We are blessed to have with us our guest preacher Nicole Eastwood!!

You see it everywhere: people claiming to be #blessed. You may have even used those words yourself (I know I have). We consider luck to be a bad word - luck takes God out of it. So we say we are blessed, acknowledging that our gifts are of God. Then we read the beatitudes, this list of blessings, from Jesus' sermon on the mount. And that doesn't really sound like us at all. We're not the oppressed (for the most part). So what is blessing, and why are we blessed anyways? 

There are those that would say things are just getting worse: violence, pollution, greed, etc… We are a people that believe in a hope for a better tomorrow and that the best is yet to come.

For the next two Sundays we’ll be lifting up the power of prayer.  Why do we pray?  How exactly are we supposed to pray?  When we come to realize that the God of the mighty cosmos draws near to us in our prayer, a humbling transformation occurs in our hearts and lives that surpasses any other earthly experience.