Your questions please!

Your questions please! I would be very happy to entertain whatever questions come to your mind regarding the Bible, theology, Lutheranism, liturgy, church history, or current religious issues, and publish answers (such as I am able to talk intelligently about them!) in the church bulletin and on this website. 

For visitors to this site, this may be an opportunity to ask questions about St Stephen, Christianity in general or the Lutheran church in particular, or anything else that is on your mind.

To submit a question, you may submit it under the 'Your Questions Answered' tab, or simply send me an e-mail at pastor@ststephenpittsburgh.org, hand me a note, or otherwise communicate with me. Your identity will be kept confidential, and I will TRY(!) to keep my answers as concise as possible. Put on your thinking caps!                                                                            Pastor Frontz

June 22, 2014 - Proper 7A

Proper 7 Year A – June 22, 2014

Jeremiah 20-7-13; Romans 6:1b-11; Matthew 10:24-39

St Stephen Lutheran Church

The Rev. Maurice Frontz

This large crucifix which dominates our front wall in our worship space

is a beloved piece of art for many of us, perhaps for all of us.

Certainly our church would not be the same without it.

It is evocative of John 3:16,

‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,

that all those who believe in him may not perish,

but have eternal life.’

It is a visual reminder of what is proclaimed in the Word and in the Sacraments;

the forgiveness of our sins for Jesus’ sake.

But what if we were to look at this crucifix slightly differently?

What if we were to remember that Christ not only came to forgive our sin, but to condemn it?

What if we were to consider that Christ not only was crucified for us,

but our old selves were crucified with him?

What if we were to believe not only that Christ died for us, but that we died as well?