Ascension Lutheran Church

www.ascensionlutherankcmo.org

August 27 - Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost

The Lord Jesus Christ Is the Son of the Living God

Jesus asked His disciples: “But who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15). The question is also put to us: Who do you say that He is? Flesh and blood do not reveal this to us, but by the ministry of the Gospel, the Father in heaven reveals His Son to us on earth, who has become flesh and suffered death for our salvation. Thus, we believe and confess that He is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). As He died for our transgressions and was raised for our justification, He looses us from all our sins and preserves our life within His Church, against which even “the gates of hell shall not prevail” (Matthew 16:18–19).

His salvation is forever, and His righteousness “will never be dismayed” (Isaiah 51:6). He comforts us with the Gospel in His Church, so that “joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song” (Isaiah 51:3).

Therefore, “according to the measure of faith that God has assigned” (Romans 12:3), we also offer ourselves “as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” (Romans 12:1) through Jesus Christ, our Lord.